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About Faraway
Faraway is a small card game with one brilliant structural trick: you lay eight cards down over the course of the game, and at the end you score them in reverse order. A card can only be satisfied by things played before it, which means the card you play last is scored first and needs the least support. Rewiring your brain for that is the whole game.
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Is Faraway Right for You?
Best for
Faraway is for players who enjoy a puzzle with a twist in the rules rather than a big table presence. It takes twenty minutes, fits in a coat pocket, and the reverse scoring produces genuine head-scratching in a game this small. It plays well from two to six with almost no change in length, which makes it unusually flexible.
Maybe skip it if…
The reverse-order scoring genuinely confuses some people, and a player who has not internalised it will end the game with a row that scores almost nothing. There is also very little interaction; you are racing, not fighting.
How to Play Faraway
Setup
Deal each player a starting hand of region cards. Lay out the sanctuary offer.
On Your Turn
- Simultaneously choose one region card from hand and reveal it.
- Resolve in order of the numbers shown, with lower numbers choosing new cards first.
- Add the played card to the right end of your row, and take sanctuaries where earned.
How to Win
After eight cards, score your row from the last card played back to the first. Highest total wins.
💡 Strategy Tips
A high-numbered card gives up card choice but is often worth it. Turn order in this game is a resource you can spend.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Building the row as though it scores left to right. This is the mistake, and almost everyone makes it in their first game.
- Always playing the lowest number to get first pick. Card choice matters, but a high number that fits your row is usually worth more.
- Collecting sanctuaries without checking their requirements against what you have already played. They are not free points.
- Planning all eight cards from the start. The offer changes constantly and rigid plans fall apart by the fourth card.
Advanced Strategy
- Think of your row as being built right to left even though you place left to right. Every new card should be satisfiable by what is already down.
- Cards played late need almost no support, so save your demanding cards for early placements when you still have room to fill them.
- Watch what colours are drying up in the offer. Committing to a requirement nobody can fill is the main way to lose badly.
- Take a weaker card with a low number when the offer is about to reset. Position sometimes outweighs the card itself.
Variants & House Rules
Faraway: Unearthed
An expansion adding new region types and scoring conditions for players who have the base deck well learned.
Solo mode
A target-score variant included in some editions, which works reasonably as a puzzle even though the game is built for a table.
Video Guides
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Our Verdict
Faraway is a genuinely clever design in a very small box. The reverse scoring is not a gimmick; it changes how you evaluate every single card, and the game is over before the trick wears off. For twenty minutes and a modest price, it is one of the smartest things on this list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the scoring backwards?
Each card can only be satisfied by cards played before it, and you score from the last card to the first. It means late cards are easy to satisfy and early ones are not.
How many players is it best with?
Three or four. It supports two to six and the length barely changes, but the offer is most interesting in the middle of that range.
Is it hard to learn?
The rules take five minutes. Understanding the scoring properly takes one full game, which is worth knowing before you teach it.