Faraway is a colorful tableau building game with the unique twist of backwards scoring. Ever since I was first introduced to this game I have been hooked by its captivating artwork and mind-bending scoring system. Once I got over the initial shock of scoring backwards I was delighted to find that there is a lot of strategy (combined with a healthy amount of luck) packed in an otherwise simple game. Here is everything I’ve learned over many plays of Faraway to help me improve my game – hopefully it helps you, too!
Understand and exploit the card distribution
You might think that a game as simple as Faraway would be extremely well balanced, with all colors and icons being equally distributed. That’s what I assumed until I sat down to do the research for this article, when I discovered that it’s actually incredibly unbalanced. This is great, since it opens up opportunities for us to find strategic advantages!
I went through all of the Region Cards and tried to simplify everything for you. Let’s take a look:
| Color | # of Cards | # of Icons | # of Times Required | Icon Multipliers | Color Multipliers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | 17 | 14 | 35 | 14 | 6 |
| Green | 17 | 10 | 28 | 14 | 3 |
| Blue | 17 | 18 | 39 | 17 | 17 |
| Yellow | 17 | – | – | 18 |
To break this chart down quickly, you can see that the of the 68 total cards there are 17 of each of the four colors. There are no yellow Icons, but here’s where it gets interesting: Blue Icons occur far more frequently than Red Icons, while Green Icons are relatively rare. Blue Icons are also required more frequently on cards than Red and Green icons, and have more Multipliers available for scoring.
I also broke down the distribution of Sanctuary Cards:
| Color | # of Cards | # of Icons | Icon Multipliers | Color Multipliers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | 5 | 7 | 3 | 4 |
| Blue | 5 | 9 | 3 | 4 |
| Green | 5 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Yellow | 5 | – | – | 4 |
This distribution follows the same trend as the Region Cards – there are more Blue Icons present than Red, which are in turn more frequent than Green Icons. There are an equal number of Icon Multipliers and Color Multipliers for all three colors (and Yellow has the same number of Color Multipliers as the other three colors).
I then decided to combine the two to get a complete picture of how many Cards and Icons of each color are available in the game. Then, I compared the availability of each color Icon to how frequently it is required for scoring.
| Color | Total # of Cards | Total # of Icons | # of Icons/Needs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red | 22 | 21 | 0.60 |
| Green | 22 | 15 | 0.54 |
| Blue | 22 | 27 | 0.69 |
| Yellow | 22 | – | – |
So what does it all mean? I have come to the conclusion that, all else being equal, you should tend to prioritize drafting and scoring with Blue cards and cards that require Blue Icons for scoring.
In Table 1, you can see that there are more multipliers avaible for Blue colored cards, so Blue cards will tend to score better than Red or Green cards. Similarly, in Table 3 you can see that there are more Blue Icons available relative to the number of times they’re required for scoring, so you are more likely to be able to satisfy the requirements of cards that require Blue Icons.
It must be said that the math is actually more complicated than I’ve made it here. There are many other considerations to be made when choosing your strategy – this is just one data point to help guide your path. Don’t worry, I’ll get into many of these other considerations now!
Aim to have at least 5 Sanctuaries
It took me a few games of Faraway to realize the power of Sanctuaries. I now understand that they are usually the deciding factor in a game, and it is very difficult to win unless you have at least 4 or 5 Sanctuaries.
Of course, in order to secure a Sanctuary you have to play a card with a higher number than the one before it. This means that in order to get 5 Sanctuaries you can only have 3 ascending sequences in your set of 8 Region Cards. Ideally, you would try to only have 2 ascending sequences which would leave you with 6 Sanctuaries but this is usually difficult and impractical.
The benefit of acquiring so many Sanctuaries is all the additional Icons, Colors, Clues, Multipliers, etc. that they provide. Not only that – when you have Clues available you can take your pick of several Sanctuaries to fulfill any requirements you need. This becomes extremely powerful and helps to unlock the potential of all of your Region Cards.
Play low-numbered Clue cards early, if possible
Many players like to play cards with lots of requirements and scoring potential early in the game, but I have found that this is a mistake. Instead, you should generally try to start with lower-numbered cards so that you are set up to acquire more sanctuaries early in the game. It’s even better if you can lead off with a low-numbered Clue card on your first or second turn.
TIP: So far, I’ve only been able to play Faraway online on BGA. But, you can order/preorder it here direct from Pandasaurus Games.
The best cards for this are numbers 6, 8, 12, 15, and 22. Most Clues occur on much higher-numbered cards, so if you get one of these cards early consider yourself lucky. Play them early to get a better pick of Sanctuaries throughout the game.
Play high-requirement cards in the middle game
Once you’re through the first two or three rounds and picked up some Sanctuaries it’s time to start really prioritizing your scoring potential. If you’ve started your game playing low-numbered cards then you probably have some higher-numbered cards in your hand that have more scoring potential. Now is a good time to play those cards because:
- They tend to have higher scoring potential
- You will still have time to fulfill their scoring requirements in later rounds
- You’ll finish an ascending sequence and refresh your hand with low-numbered cards to start a new one
Prioritize cards with Clues for Sanctuary options
I keep coming back to Sanctuaries, but that’s only because they’re so important. When drafting cards throughout the game, you should tend to place more importance on cards with Clues. Clues give you more options to choose from when you gain a Sanctuary, giving you a much better chance of getting the Icons, Colors, and/or Multipliers you need to score big.
That doesn’t mean that you should blindly draft Clue cards with no regard for anything else. But I’ve found that if I’m on the fence between two cards I usually get more value out of the card with a Clue. Of course, if I really need a specific Icon to fulfill the scoring requirements of a couple of other cards then I’ll probably take that one.
It also must be said that Clues become less valuable later in the game. If you play a Clue card on the 7th turn you’ll get, at most, 2 extra Sanctuary options to choose from in the game. Clues played earlier in the game give you many more opportunities to choose Sanctuaries that are valuable to you.
Focus on 2 or 3 scoring mechanisms
In my experience, the most reliable way to score big in Faraway is to focus on just 2 or 3 ways to score. You get more value from going all-in on just a few scoring mechanisms than you will by being greedy and trying to score in every way possible.
If you try to score in a bunch of different ways, chances are you won’t score very much at all. There simply aren’t enough turns in the game to allow you to meet a wide variety of scoring conditions. It’s best to focus on scoring with cards that require just two or three types of Icons, and focusing on one or two types of scoring multipliers (Icons, Colors, Clues).
Even if you’re focusing on just a few scoring mechanisms it’s inevitable that you’ll end up scoring small amounts of points in other ways. These can add up and are definitely useful, but the bulk of your points usually come from the 2 or 3 scoring mechanims you’ve chosen to focus on.
Map out the Region Cards you’ll play in advance
There are only 8 turns in a game of Faraway, so you have to make every one count. It’s important that you have a plan mapped out for the next two or three turns instead of taking each turn individually. This usually means thinking about the order in which you’ll play the cards in your hand and which card(s) you’ll draft.
CHECK IT OUT: If you like fun tableau-builders, you’ll also enjoy Forest Shuffle. Check out my Complete Strategy Guide to Forest Shuffle.
As it is in almost everything in life, plans change. But having a plan (even a mediocre one) is better than having none at all. If you can draft a card that will work better than one you’ve planned, go for it and then make a new plan. The point is that you should always be working with a purpose, keeping a long view of the game in mind. Which brings me to my next tip…
Stay flexible & look for unexpected opportunities
It’s nice to have a great plan in place, but there is no substitute for dumb luck. Always be on the lookout for unexpected scoring opportunities as the arise. Sometimes the perfect card will present itself even if you hadn’t planned for it, and it warrants a complete pivot in your strategy.
Don’t get tunnel vision just because you feel beholden to a plan – evaluate every Region Card and Sanctuary Card as they come up and see how they could impact your final score. It’s quite common that if you stop and think for an extra few seconds you’ll see an opportunity you hadn’t planned on.
Save a low card for a necessary first draft
It seems like almost every game of Farway comes down to needing one or two more Icons to satisfy the scoring conditions of a few big scoring cards. In these instances, it’s always nice to have first pick of the cards in the center because you have a better chance of getting the Icons you need.
Let’s say you need one more Red Icon to score big with 2 or 3 Region Cards you’ve already played, and you’re choosing a card at the end of round 6. If you can take a very low card (think 1-10), sometimes it’s worth it even if doesn’t look like it will score you any immediate points. You can play that low card in Round 7 and likely get first pick of the Region Cards at the end of the round, giving you a much better chance of securing that Red Icon you need to play in Round 8.
Draft cards that your opponent needs late
Faraway often feels like multiplayer solitaire with very little player interaction, but advanced players know better. It’s always smart to keep an eye on what your opponents are doing so that you can undermine their plans. This is especially true in two-player games, where every point you deny your opponent is as good as one you score for yourself.
Especially late in the game, take a moment to look at what your opponent is hoping to do in the last couple of rounds. Do they need a specific color of Card or Icon to score a bunch of points? Have they been collecting Clues all game and are now looking for more Clue Multipliers? This is a perfect opportunity to snipe those cards away from them – especially if they can also help your own cause.
It’s quite common that you already have the cards you want to play in your hand, so you can simply hate draft those cards away from your opponent without even considering their potential benefit to your own score.
Thanks for reading! If I missed something or you have your own opinions, please drop a comment below.
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