Tips faraway

Picking a Starting Hand

The starting cards will dictate the rough direction in which you will be headed for the remainder of the game. When looking at your first 3 cards (or first 5 in the advanced variant) and your first card to choose after that, getting a card with a clue is very important. However, you won't need more than 2 or 3 clues in the game. Or at least, you should not necessarily focus on getting more; chances are, you naturally will.

Especially in the advanced variant, which gives you a little more control, one solid strategy is to choose two cards that have the potential to yield a high (>= 10), fixed amount of fame points directly, and having your third card be lower than your other two and have a clue.

Another opportunity to look for is getting 2 or even 3 cards that score fame for the same symbol. For example, a card that scores 3 fame points per uddu stone, another that gives you 2 per uddu stone, and another that gives you 1 per uddu stone. That equates to 9 fame points for every card with a stone played after those.

Of course, control over your starting hand is limited. But if you look for clues, then high numbers, then matching scoring, you should find at least some perspective.

Collecting Symbols for Prerequisites

Cards that have a many different prerequisites are fine - at least in the beginning. It's not that hard to get them all fulfilled. For example, you may get one card that yields 15 fame points if you have 2 okiko chimeras + 1 goldlog thistle, and another card that yields 12 fame points if you have 1 thistle + 2 uddu stones. That's five symbols in total (reusing the thistle), which is absolutely doable, and often easier to achieve than, say, 3 thistles and nothing else.

NOTE: The uddu stone is the most common of the three wonder symbols. The goldlog thistle is the least common.

Symbols on sanctuaries apply to every card. Most of the symbols needed to fulfill prerequisites should come from sanctuaries. Try to get between 5 and 7 per game. Considering that a game lasts 8 rounds and you can't get a sanctuary on the first round, that means only having 0 to 2 breaks in your streak of ascending cards.

Choosing Cards to Play

Playing cards in ascending order gives you more opportunities to search for sanctuaries, which are crucial for obtaining victory - and there are no bad sanctuaries. Just some that might not fit your strategy. Play cards with clues early on to receive a better selection of sanctuaries. Ideally, play a card with a clue and a low number as your first card to maximize those chances. When in doubt, prioritize the clue, as having a choice between two sanctuaries yields significantly better results than just pure luck of the draw, and since the higher cards with clues also tend to have complex prerequisites, which you want to have ample time / cards to fulfill.

Later, try to stick to the ascending order unless a card will greatly benefit from being played earlier (such as, for example, cards scoring based on sets of the 4 colors). Weigh this against the average sanctuary (that you will not get if you break your streak), which is perhaps worth somewhere around 5 fame points.

Don't focus too much on playing cards to fulfill the prerequisites of previous cards. Focus instead on cards that score many fame points. The symbols on your sanctuaries should take care of most of the prerequisites. Also, don't blindly try to fulfill every last prerequisite just out of principle. You'll exhaust yourself and miss opportunities to pivot. Always think about the potential reward first.

Picking Sanctuaries

Symbols on sanctuaries apply to every card. This can be especially helpful for the last few cards you play, and can allow you to play cards with high fame yield even at the end (where they will likely fit your streak best, as cards with high fame potential also tend to have a high number).

Scoring options on sanctuaries take all cards into consideration, but the scoring options mostly aren't very powerful. Pick a sanctuary with a scoring option if it has a symbol you want as well, or if it yields 2 points per a symbol that you are already focused on.

There are sanctuaries as well as regions that score for having sets of the 4 colors. If you're playing the base game without expansions, all other things being equal, choose a sanctuary with a color. Having sanctuaries of a couple of different colors can make color-set-based scoring conditions much more effective, even towards the end. If you're playing with the "People From Below" expansion, this is not a hard and fast rule anymore, since the expansion also introduces scoring based on colorless cards.