Awaken Realms has a reputation for making "big" games. Massive boxes. Hundreds of miniatures. Rulebooks that look more like legal dossiers than entertainment. But when the original Fall of Avalon hit tables, it was polarizing. Some loved the oppressive atmosphere; others hated the "menhir tax"—that relentless, grinding resource sink that felt more like a chore than an adventure. Tainted Grail Kings of Ruin is the answer to those complaints. It isn’t just a sequel or a standalone expansion. Honestly, it feels like the developers finally figured out how to let the story breathe without strangling the player in upkeep.
You’re back in Wyrdness-infested Avalon, but things are different. The scale is tighter. The mechanics are sharper.
What Kings of Ruin Changes for the Better
If you played the first game, you remember the constant dread of a menhir dying. You'd spend half your session farming food and energy just to keep the lights on. In Tainted Grail Kings of Ruin, the "Management Phase" has been gutted and rebuilt. It's faster. It’s less about survival bookkeeping and more about moving the needle on the narrative. The game still wants to kick your teeth in—don't get me wrong—but it does so through tough combat and agonizing narrative choices rather than making you count every last berry in your inventory.
The gameplay loop feels more intentional now. You have three new protagonists: Gerraint, a disgraced knight; Claudion, a scarred veteran; and Elise, who is... well, she’s complicated. Each one brings a completely unique deck-building strategy to the table. Unlike the original cast, these characters feel like they have more "synergy" built into their base kits.
Combat and Diplomacy remain the twin pillars of the experience. They still use the "link" system where you match symbols on the left of your card to the symbols on the right of the previous one. It's a puzzle. Sometimes it’s a frustrating one. You’ll stare at your hand for five minutes trying to figure out how to avoid taking six damage from a Wyrdness Bear, only to realize you’re one energy short. That’s the Tainted Grail experience. It’s crunchy. It’s mean.
The Narrative Weight of West-Avalon
The story takes place in the western part of the island. It’s a region defined by the "Kings of Ruin"—legendary figures who were supposed to protect this place but ended up as its greatest curse. Krzysztof Piskorski, the lead writer, has a knack for making fantasy feel lived-in and miserable in a way that’s strangely addictive.
You aren't a hero. You're a survivor.
There’s this specific moment early in the campaign involving a localized "Wyrdness storm" that perfectly illustrates the design shift. In the old game, this would have been a pure resource drain. Here, it’s a narrative event that forces you to choose between saving a group of NPCs or gaining a permanent "Knowledge" perk. The game constantly asks: what are you willing to lose to win?
✨ Don't miss: All Might Crystals Echoes of Wisdom: Why This Quest Item Is Driving Zelda Fans Wild
The New Exploration System
One of the biggest mechanical shifts in Tainted Grail Kings of Ruin is how the map evolves. In the first game, the map was static. Once you explored a location, you knew what was there. Now, we have "Travel" and "Settlement" mechanics that actually change the tiles you’re standing on.
Imagine a village. You visit it in Chapter 2, and it’s a dump. You perform a quest, maybe you drive off a band of scavengers. In Chapter 5, that tile literally flips or gets replaced. The world reacts to your presence. It makes the "Journal," which is still a massive, heavy book of choose-your-own-adventure text, feel like a living document.
The Wyrdness itself has been refined. It’s no longer just "the fog that kills you." It’s more of a shifting reality. You’ll encounter "Wyrdness Echoes"—basically ghosts of past versions of Avalon. These encounters provide some of the best writing in the game, offering glimpses into the lore of King Arthur and his failed knights without feeling like a dry history lesson.
Why People Get Tainted Grail Wrong
A lot of reviewers call this a "boss battler." It isn't. If you go into Tainted Grail Kings of Ruin expecting Kingdom Death: Monster or Monster Hunter World, you’re going to be bored out of your mind. This is a narrative RPG first, a deck-builder second, and a survival game third.
The "fun" doesn't come from rolling a natural 20 and slaying a dragon. It comes from the tension of having two health left, one card in hand, and realizing that the choice you made three hours ago just saved your life because you happened to be carrying a specific rusty key.
It's about the "Aha!" moments.
Also, let’s talk about the minis. Awaken Realms is basically a miniature company that happens to make games. The sculpts in Kings of Ruin are horrifying. In a good way. The "Mount" miniatures—which are a new mechanical addition—actually serve a purpose. They aren't just plastic fluff; they provide inventory space and movement buffs. It’s a nice touch that integrates the "deluxe" components into the actual gameplay loop.
🔗 Read more: The Combat Hatchet Helldivers 2 Dilemma: Is It Actually Better Than the G-50?
Addressing the Complexity
Is it too complex? Sorta.
If you’ve never played a heavy campaign game, don't start here. Go play Sleeping Gods or maybe Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. This game has layers. You have to track your character's health, energy, terror, and food. You have to manage a deck of cards. You have to keep track of "Global Statuses" in the back of the journal. It's a lot.
But for the veteran? It’s peak design.
The "Easy Mode" and "Story Mode" options are also much more robust this time around. The designers realized that some people just want to read the book and move the plastic guys around without dying every fifteen minutes. They’ve added "Official Variants" in the rulebook that allow you to customize the difficulty. Honestly, I recommend playing on the standard difficulty for the first few chapters just to feel the intended "grimness," then adjusting once you understand the rhythm.
Combat vs. Diplomacy: The Eternal Struggle
Most players gravitate toward Combat because, well, killing things is intuitive. You get a sword, you hit the monster. But in Tainted Grail Kings of Ruin, the Diplomacy deck is arguably more interesting.
Diplomacy isn't just "talking." It’s a mental tug-of-war. You’re trying to move a marker toward the "Victory" end of a track while the NPC tries to push it toward "Defeat." You’re using logic, intimidation, and empathy as your weapons. Some of the hardest encounters in the game aren't monsters; they're stubborn village elders or grieving widows who won't let you pass.
The way these two systems interleave is brilliant. Your character might be a god at fighting but a total moron when it comes to talking. This forces you to split the party or think carefully about who enters which location first.
💡 You might also like: What Can You Get From Fishing Minecraft: Why It Is More Than Just Cod
Technical Specs and Table Space
Let’s be real: you need a big table.
- Player Count: 1-4 (Best at 1 or 2).
- Playtime: 2-3 hours per chapter.
- Campaign Length: 15+ chapters (easily 50+ hours).
- Table Footprint: Massive. You need room for the map, the journal, the player boards, and the various card pools.
Playing this solo is actually my preferred way. The "True Solo" mode in Kings of Ruin is much better balanced than in the original game. You get extra actions and better resource scaling, which prevents the game from feeling like a slog when you don't have a partner to help carry the load.
Final Practical Insights for New Players
If you’re looking to dive into Avalon, keep these things in mind to avoid frustration.
First, don't hoard your resources. In many RPGs, you save your best items for the "final boss." In Kings of Ruin, there is no guarantee you’ll make it to the next chapter. Use your items. Burn your one-time-use cards. Survival is a game of inches, and holding onto a healing potion while you’re at 1 HP is a recipe for a "Game Over" screen.
Second, pay attention to the "Wyrdness" icons on the map. Exploration is tempting, but the Wyrdness will warp your character in permanent ways. Some mutations are actually helpful, but most will slowly cripple your ability to perform basic tasks. Plan your routes. Don't just wander aimlessly.
Third, customize your deck early. You get "XP" for almost everything. Don't just buy the expensive cards. Look for cards that provide "Free Links"—symbols that don't cost energy to connect. Action economy is the most valuable resource in the game. If you can play three cards for the price of one, you’re winning.
Fourth, read everything. The flavor text isn't just fluff. Often, the journal will drop subtle hints about which stats you'll need for an upcoming encounter. If the text mentions a "foul stench and a dark cave," you might want to make sure your Combat deck is ready or that you have a torch in your inventory.
Lastly, embrace the failure. You will fail a quest. An NPC you like will probably die because you made a "wrong" choice. That’s the point. The story of Kings of Ruin is about what happens after the heroes have already failed. It’s a game about picking up the pieces.
To get started, clear off your largest table and set aside a dedicated weekend. Don't try to rush through the first three chapters in one sitting; the mental fatigue is real. Focus on upgrading your "Energy" stat first—it’s the universal currency for doing anything impactful. Once your energy pool is stable, the game opens up, and you can truly start to explore the dark, beautiful mess that is West-Avalon.