Board Games That Don't Need Expansions: Trials of MAYA

I have made my peace with a hard truth about this hobby: I love board games that don’t need expansions. My budget and my shelf both thank me when a single purchase is the whole experience, with no season pass of add-ons waiting behind it. So when a game arrives promising nine champions and hundreds of cards in one box, I pay attention. Trials of MAYA is making exactly that promise, and the previews back it up. I should note I have not played the finished game, since these are previews of a prototype. But the sheer quantity of content is not really in dispute.

Why Trials of MAYA counts as board games that don’t need expansions

The first thing previewers mention is how much is packed in. In Ryan Lott’s hands-on look, he cannot get over it: “I cannot emphasize how much is in this box.” He played four champions and found that “they all fundamentally acted and played differently,” then walks through upgrades where “you’ll be able to go and upgrade and give yourself more health and more energy, or you can upgrade your specific character.” His verdict is simple: “Go check it out. It is really cool.” That is the appeal of truly complete board games. The variety is not gated behind future purchases. It is the champions, the decks and the upgrades that already ship together.

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.

No booster packs, no random pulls

The part that seals it for me is that the content is fixed, not collectible. The Dice Tower spells it out: “This is not a collectible game. There’s no randomized pulls or booster packs, but instead it comes with nine champions and 340 unique illustrated action cards.” Your decks come from deck construction out of a set pool, so you are building from everything in the box rather than chasing rare cards. That is what standalone competitive board games should feel like. It helps that the box itself impresses people before a single card is played. In The Boardgames Chronicle, Michael runs through the contents: “You will have four characters in the base set. You will have cards to activate them… You will have experience points to actually upgrade them and develop. You will have minions they will control… You will have missions. All of this in this beautiful box with very interesting gameplay.” He also praises the prototype quality directly: “Very good quality… Remember guys, this is all prototype components. So, I’m really astonished.” He frames it as one of those games where “rules are not overly complex, but the depth of the game is applying them and finding the combos.” That is a lot of longevity for a single box, no expansions required. If you, like me, prefer to buy once and be done, Trials of MAYA fits the bill. The campaign is live on Gamefound now, and you can try it on Tabletop Simulator before backing to see just how much game is really in there.

Rulebooks and public metadata are on BoardGameGeek, the full breakdown is on the official page, and the campaign is live on Gamefound now.