The Shipwreck Arcana FAQ
45 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
The Hours Card
- When an arcana card fades, does the row slide over so The Hours always places on the oldest card?
- If your newly drawn fate can only go on The Hours but your held fate has a legal play, must you play the held fate?
- Can you play a fate on The Hours when you have another legal play?
- What happens when neither of your fates can be played on any arcana card?
- What happens to a fate played on The Hours, and does it move before the card it lands on fades?
Arcana Cards
- After you play a fate on The Fall (Inevitable), do you announce whether it will fade?
- On Iron, does the 'higher than my highest visible fate' check look only at fates on Iron, and can you choose either fate that qualifies?
- Can you play on a card like Asunder that needs a visible fate when no fate is visible?
- Does The Blind Man's Free ability still cost doom when its card fades?
- Must you move a fate onto The Thief after you play, and what if you cannot?
- Do arcana card conditions like Iron and The Ghost check the table before or after you place your fate?
- Can you play a fate on The Ghost when no fates are visible on the table?
- If I play a 7 as the first fate on Iron, will Iron never fade?
- Do you shuffle promo arcana cards into the deck with the base game cards?
Fate Tokens and Number Lines
Faded Card Powers
- If you can play elsewhere, but using Shadows would leave The Hours as your only legal play, can you use Shadows and play on The Hours?
- How does Shadows work when The Feast lets you play two fates in one turn?
- Can the +1 faded power (Shadows) turn a 7 into an 8?
- Does the +1 power (Shadows) change a fate's hours for The North Wind (Tiers)?
- What does the Shells (Old?) power tell the group, and can it be used on a newly drawn fate that matches last turn's fate?
- Can you use Shadows to play on Dawn when you hold a pair?
- How does the +1 power (Shadows) interact with forced plays when the kept fate changes value?
- Are the extra predictions from Twice or The Wish free, and are both predictions made together?
- Can you use Sinners (Discard Lower) after the group has started reasoning from your not using it?
- Does using a faded power that comes before a prediction, such as Saints or Songs, force the group to predict that turn?
- Do newer faded powers overwrite older ones when there is no free slot?
- Can the Scythes (Help) power discard an attached Amplify or Slow power?
- Where does an arcana card go when the Sparrows (Cycle) power replaces it?
- Can Sinners (Discard Lower) remove the fate you just played?
- What does the Amplify (Sands) faded power do when the card it is attached to fades?
- Must the number X in Saints (Higher Than?) be a visible fate?
Player Turn
- Can you signal whether the fate you are playing is your new one or the one you kept from your last turn?
- Do fates placed under an arcana card stay until the card fades, and which fate goes back in the bag after a prediction?
- Which fates count for card conditions like sum or odd on your turn when a fate was placed under a card earlier?
Communication
- Can players talk about which fates were played earlier and recount past turns?
- Is using Skies (Relocate) to show your fate to the group a violation of the no-signalling rule?
- Can you tell the group which arcana cards your fate could not be played on?
- Can I steer the group away from a number because I am holding the last copy of that token?