Faraway
Explore Alula by playing eight Regions, then score your journey backwards. Understand Sanctuaries, exploration numbers, card drafting and the key beginner decisions.
Build a line of eight Region cards, choose when to gain Sanctuaries, and solve scoring objectives in reverse order.
Faraway is a compact card-drafting puzzle from designers Johannes Goupy and Corentin Lebrat. You explore the fictional continent of Alula from left to right but score your journey right to left.
Why It Stands Out
Every new card can help fulfil the requests printed on cards placed earlier. This makes a seemingly simple eight-card tableau a test of long-term timing and resource planning.
How to play Faraway: setup and eight-round overview
Shuffle the 68 Region cards and give each player three in hand. Display one more Region than the number of players in a central row. Shuffle the 45 Sanctuary cards into their own face-down pile. Keep the scoring pad ready. This is the standard setup from the English base-game rules.
A game has eight rounds. During each round, everyone secretly chooses a Region from hand, reveals it simultaneously and places it to the right of their existing Regions. Players may then earn a Sanctuary, depending on the number they played. Finally, players choose new Region cards from the centre, starting with the player who played the lowest exploration number.
Continue until every player has eight Region cards. There is no new Region draft in the eighth round; scoring begins instead. You can play your earned Sanctuary in the final round if the usual Sanctuary rules allow it.
What is a Region card? Each is numbered from 1 to 68, belongs to a biome, and may show resources, clues or a quest for endgame Fame. The exploration number controls turn order for drafting and whether it earns a Sanctuary when compared with the preceding Region.
When do you receive a Sanctuary?
Starting with your second Region, compare the number on your new card with the number on the Region immediately before it. If the new number is strictly higher, you find a Sanctuary. On the first round nobody receives one, because no previous Region exists.
When you qualify, draw one Sanctuary plus one additional Sanctuary for every Clue you have on your visible Regions and Sanctuaries. During the subsequent draft step, choose one of the Sanctuaries you drew to keep in your play area and return the remainder beneath the Sanctuary deck. This improves choice, not the number you may retain that round.
Sanctuary effects may add resources, clues, biome symbols or Fame opportunities. Because Sanctuaries remain active as the Regions are reversed for scoring, an early Sanctuary can support several later objectives. Be sure to check the relevant Sanctuary icon rather than treating all Sanctuaries as generic points.
Reverse scoring explained: why card order matters
The trickiest rule is also the central appeal: place Regions from left to right, score them from right to left. At game’s end, turn your eight Regions face down while keeping Sanctuaries visible. Reveal and score the rightmost Region first, then proceed leftward. When calculating one Region, consider that Region, all Regions already revealed to its right, and your Sanctuaries. Regions still face down to its left cannot help it yet.
After all eight Regions, total the Fame granted by Sanctuaries separately and add the result to the Region scores. The highest Fame total wins. If players tie, the tied player whose eight Regions have the lowest combined exploration-duration numbers wins.
A practical scoring example
Imagine your first Region (far left) has a quest requiring two matching resources. You can satisfy it using symbols placed on Regions later in your journey, because those later cards will have been revealed when you finally score the first card. Now suppose the same quest sits on your final Region (far right). At the moment it scores, only itself and your Sanctuaries are visible. It cannot use symbols from Regions that will be turned over later.
Teaching shortcut: put a finger on the card you are scoring. You can count resources to its right (and from Sanctuaries), not unrevealed cards to its left. The precise resources and prerequisites printed on each card remain authoritative.
Draft order versus Sanctuary timing
There is a useful tension between exploration numbers. A low number tends to secure an earlier choice from the public Region row. A higher number than your previous Region can earn you a Sanctuary. One card may accomplish both goals in a particular situation, but you often have to choose.
For example, your current final Region might be 31. Playing 54 can earn a Sanctuary, but a rival who plays 12 will draft before you. Playing 18 gives up the Sanctuary opportunity but could let you take the Region your tableau needs. Numbers in this example illustrate the timing only; no specific card effect is assumed.
Do not forget that selected Regions are not replaced during the draft. Later drafters choose from a smaller row. This matters most when you have few cards that can satisfy an earlier quest, or when a particular biome symbol is missing from your plan.
How quests, resources and Clues work together
Regions may show resource icons such as Uddu (stone), Okiko (chimera) and Goldlog (thistle). Their quests ask you to have resources or fulfill conditions when you reveal and score that Region. A single resource icon can satisfy multiple quests; you do not physically spend it when checking a request.
Some Regions and Sanctuaries also grant Clues. Clues increase the selection of Sanctuary cards you draw when you qualify for one. This is especially helpful early, when you can use a wider choice of Sanctuaries to fill multiple missing requirements instead of depending on a single random card.
For a beginner, focus on quests you can realistically support. Chasing a rare symbol can be justified if it unlocks several objectives, but pursuing it for one uncertain quest can prevent you from gaining easier Fame elsewhere.
Five beginner strategy checks
- Read your first Regions as objectives: they score late in the reverse sequence, so you have more future cards to collect whatever they need.
- Watch your exploration-number slope: rising numbers can earn Sanctuaries but may reduce your choice of the next Region.
- Value resources across several quests: one icon may help multiple cards during scoring; identify those combinations.
- Keep the far-right scoring restriction in mind: quests you place near the end need support from themselves and existing Sanctuaries.
- Count your expected Fame, not your card count: a dramatic-looking objective is weak if its condition remains unmet.
This list is original strategic analysis, not additional official rules. In general, prioritise achievable combinations over isolated high-value aspirations.
Who is Faraway for?
Faraway suits groups who like short, thinky drafting games and want a meaningful decision without a long rules teach. Simultaneous Region selection keeps turns moving, although new players may need one complete game to understand which Regions can support a reverse-scored quest. It is more calculation-heavy than a straightforward push-your-luck filler.
For other compact card games, compare Sea Salt & Paper, Fantasy Realms, and Skyjo. Those games reward different patterns; none uses Faraway’s eight-card reverse-scoring structure as its central mechanism.
Edition and player-count note
Catch Up Games and its UK distributor list the original game as 2–6 players, ages 10+, approximately 25 minutes. Some North American retailer listings describe their edition as 2–5 players. Check the player count printed on the box you purchase; this guide follows the publisher’s original 2–6 rules.
Faraway FAQ
How many rounds are in Faraway?
Eight. Every player plays one Region per round, producing a final line of eight Regions.
Do Regions score left to right?
No. They are laid from left to right but revealed and scored from right to left at game end. Sanctuaries remain visible throughout scoring.
Does a higher numbered Region always give more points?
No. Its number controls exploration duration, draft priority and the rising-number Sanctuary trigger. Its Fame depends on the specific quest printed on the card.
Can I gain a Sanctuary on the first round?
No. A new Region must have a higher number than the previous Region, and there is no previous Region in round one.
When do I add a Sanctuary I just earned?
During the following end-of-exploration step, after the new Region cards are selected. Choose only one of the Sanctuary cards you drew.
Can one resource satisfy several quests?
Yes. Icons are counted when testing quest prerequisites; they are not discarded after one quest scores.
How do ties work?
The tied player with the lowest total exploration duration among their Region cards wins, according to the base-game rulebook.
Official sources and editorial scope
Catch Up Games — official Faraway product and downloads
Hachette Boardgames UK — English edition, designers and player count
Checked October 2026. Rules and examples describe the standard base game, without mixing expansion cards into the setup. Strategic advice and the invented scoring illustration are editorial explanations rather than verbatim rules or hands-on playtest claims.