Zenith
Gameplay Overview
Zenith puts you in a tug-of-war over the solar system, and it plays exactly like the name implies. Five planets sit at the center of the table, each one a track with three spaces you're pulling toward yourself, card by card. On your turn, you have three choices. Play a card into a planet's lane to gain influence there and trigger its effect (everything from stealing an opponent's card, to moving a planet, to yanking resources away from them), and the more cards you've already stacked into that lane, the cheaper the next one gets. Discard a card to claim the Leader token instead, which hands you a bigger hand and a small resource boost. Or pour your Zenithium into one of three technology tracks tied to the game's three factions, banking a long-term payoff instead of an immediate swing. You win by pulling a single planet fully to your side three separate times, by claiming four different planets outright, or by claiming all five. Every single card is doing double or triple duty (it can shove a planet, drain your opponent, or fund your own engine) so no turn ever feels like a throwaway. What that adds up to is a game where you're leaning forward the entire time, trying to read exactly what your opponent is setting up before they get to spring it.
Published
2025
Status
owned
Players
2 - 4 Players
Our thoughts
This one split us right down the middle the first time we played it, and the split was really about the emotional experience more than the mechanics. Ollie loved it instantly. Madeline did not. It's a tug-of-war game and it genuinely feels like one: balanced well enough that it never feels hopeless, but tense enough that when you're already emotionally worn down, the temptation to just throw your hands up is real. That first play landed at the end of a long day, and for Madeline it read less like a fun unwind and more like an actual stress trigger. With a little more emotional bandwidth going into later plays, though, the game clicked, and it became clear just how well it's actually balanced.
It does provoke a bit of playful bickering at the table. Necessary? Not really. But it's a race through space, and there's something irresistible about a little competition against that backdrop. That said, this is really only the right game for players who genuinely love high player interaction, where most of the strategy is in disarming and outmaneuvering the person across from you. If that's not your thing, the tension here can read as a lot rather than as fun. Ollie, in particular, loves playing against another person's intelligence, and Zenith is squarely built for that instinct.
Alongside Pillars of Fate, this is one of our favorite two-player battlers, and it feels juicier than a lot of the other lane battlers we've played while still staying easy to grasp. We especially love how flexible the resources are: a card can shove a planet toward you or mess with your opponent's plans right now, or you can discard it for immediate resources or bank it toward your technology track for a longer-term payoff. The whole experience feels like frantically adjusting a dozen dials on a spaceship mid-crisis, which is exactly the feeling a game about fighting for the solar system should give you.
Try this if you like...
High player interaction where disarming your opponent is half the strategy
This isn't a game where you can just build quietly in a corner. You're actively reading, blocking, and undercutting the person across from you.
Real tension you can feel in your body
You're on edge for nearly the entire game, constantly anticipating and reacting, which is a huge part of what makes it exciting and also exactly why it's not for everyone.
A tight, well-balanced tug-of-war
The back-and-forth never feels hopeless. There's always a lever left to pull, even when you're behind.
Multi-use resources that reward flexible thinking
The same card can shove a planet toward you, wreck your opponent's progress, or fund a slower long-term payoff, so every card in your hand is a small decision tree.
Outsmarting a clever opponent as the actual appeal
If what you love most is playing against someone's intelligence rather than just the board, this is squarely built for that.
Follow the same spark
What to play after Zenith
Not just games that look alike—these are the specific connections we felt at the table.
Pillars of Fate
2025 · 2 Players
Our thoughts coming soonWhy it connects
Our other beloved head-to-head battler, and a close cousin in spirit. Both are lean, cutthroat duels where outmaneuvering your opponent's plan matters as much as building your own.
Ichor
2025 · 2 Players
Our thoughtsWhy it connects
Shares that same "outwit your rival" DNA, just filtered through a chess-like movement system instead of a card economy. Both are two-player duels where reading your specific opponent over repeated plays matters more than solving the game once.
