So i just played my first game of figures, no echoes. And I really enjoyed it (winning may have factored in...). I really think that figures "fixes" base innovation. I'm not saying base is broken, but I feel like it does fix the things that can make base innovation feel like a runaway game. What I mean, is sometimes in innovation it feels like the player who is winning keeps winning. Maybe that's because I'm not very good at the game, but sometimes I feel like that happens. It doesn't have negative utility nearly as much as Dominion. You do give up an action to claim an achievement, but that's not really negative utility because at the same time you are denying that achievement from your opponent. Base innovation fixes this by offering 105 paths to victory. But sometimes you just don't get those draws that you need to foil the opponent's plans/further your own. I feel like Figures fixes this by allowing your opponent to draw a figure (which I feel like are very powerful) giving them some compensation for you jumping ahead. Also, increasing the benefit from sharing gives you a boost when your opponent is ahead in icons, again more negative utility. In addition, it doesn't add overly complicated things, like echoes did. Although, I guess it can create some very complicated interactions with karmas and echoes and such, but because there are far fewer expansion cards in play. Overall, I enjoyed that one game of Figures than all the games of echoes I have played, because I felt like I knew what I was doing more. I may have to get figures, just from that one game.