My favorite moment in any of my card combo board games is the turn where everything lines up. You play one card, it feeds the next, that triggers a third, and suddenly you are doing something the table did not see coming. Trials of MAYA looks like it was built around that feeling, and the previews keep delivering exactly those turns. Fair warning: I have not played the finished game myself, since these are previews of a prototype. What follows is what the playthroughs show, and they show plenty.
Why Trials of MAYA belongs with card combo board games
The clearest example comes from BoardGameCo’s 1v1 playthrough. Playing a mobile champion, host Alex describes the core loop of stacking movement and attacks: “My guy’s main thing is a degree of maneuverability that can be incredibly powerful. Like, whenever I activate a red card, I jump equal to my red symbols, which is a lot.” That is combo card games logic on the arena board, where one keyword multiplies off everything else you have set up. He also frames the bigger picture well. “You’re only seeing one small slice of what this game does, but effectively it’s a MOBA game,” Alex says, adding that “there’s a lot of ways you can play this.” When your action cards can be strung together this many ways, the ceiling on a single turn gets high fast.
What is Trials of MAYA?
Trials of MAYA is an expandable card-driven arena combat game. It combines three genres: MOBAs, classic 90s tactics games, and TCGs without booster packs. It plays 1 to 4 players in 60 to 180 minutes for ages 14 and up. Siege runs as 2v2, The Battle for Dhaara, and 1v1, Skirmish for Vyati. It launches on Gamefound September 8, 2026.
The sliding card row makes the combos sing
If you have played other combo card games, you know the risk: build-up turns that drag. Trials of MAYA seems to sidestep that with a sliding action row. In Chesborn’s teach of how the sliding card row works, host Alan explains, “you’re going to slide your action cards… they have a number in the lower right-hand corner, and that is how much energy you’re going to get.” He closes with the line that sold me: “The most time we spent playing this was us studying our cards and planning our turn… But actually playing the cards and doing the stuff out here in the actions: slick, easy, smooth.” That split between deep planning and quick execution is the sweet spot. It rewards you for thinking ahead without punishing the table with a slow resolution. The champions bring their own flavor to those chains, too. Over in Chesborn’s sibling playthrough, the hosts keep calling it “a gorgeous game” while relishing multi-round setups and specific cards, and describe Dangsa as “a swiveling, kicking kung fu expert.” Different champions, different combo shapes. Every card comes from a fixed pool assembled through deck construction, so your big turns are the product of planning rather than lucky pulls. If chaining action cards into one satisfying sequence is your idea of a good time, the Trials of MAYA campaign is live on Gamefound now, and you can test the combos on Tabletop Simulator first.
Rulebooks and public metadata are on BoardGameGeek, the full breakdown is on the official page, and the campaign is live on Gamefound now.