During the Labor Day weekend, my wife and I finished the first arc of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.  Let’s give it the run down and I’ll tell you what I thought.  Along the way, I’ll give you my wife’s thoughts as this is a co-op game.

Game: Pathfinder Adventure Card Game

Players: 1-4

Playtime(setup/play/clean-up): ~30 minutes

Set Ending: Yes

TL;DR-Great game that was a ton of fun to play.  I’m looking forward to the next part of the adventure path.  I am cautious about the future though-80%

 

How You Play: Players take the role of iconic Pathfinder characters and investigate different locations.  How this translates to a game is at start, players build decks of card with different cards in each location.  These cards range from traps, people you can met, monsters to fight, and items/weapons/arms/spells you can find.  On your turn, you flip a card from the blessing deck( a built in timer for the game), and can flip the top card of a location deck you are at.  The card may call for a roll.  Each character has the six normal Pathfinder/3.5 stats and these are represented by different dice type you roll.  Players can play cards to add more dice to the roll.  Combat works just the same as finding an item or evading a trap.  Play continues at a location until the players find a henchmen who they fight and then they can try to close a location.  Players may move between locations and have different types of encounters this way.  This continues until players find the lead main villain who, when beaten, means the game is over and the players have won.

 

Mechanics:  The mechanics of the game are well put together.  Nothing to hard to figure out when you know what you’re doing.  Turns go quick and play is fast.  Nothing comes out of left field that makes the game grind to a halt.  I found it pretty easy and so did my wife.  We both liked the way the game plays. 5/5

 

Theme:  The theme and theme/mechanics mix of the game are “interesting.”  Not bad “interesting,” but “interesting.”  The game does not use a D20.  This fact is kind of strange as the game is based on Pathfinder.  While not horrible and a deal breaker by any means, it does make the game feel a little bit less like the Pathfinder RPG and more like different third party RPGs I’ve played.  I reiterate, that’s not bad, but I doesn’t feel like the Pathfinder RPG.  Also, I and my wife and I a strange revelation.  The way you recharge powers/cards/spells made us think of 4th Edition Dungeons and Dragons.  Some items were one time use, but a lot of cards had recharge abilities and made us think 4e DnD.  Again, not bad, but it makes us think of other RPGs.  That all said, at WORST the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game makes us think of other RPGs, NOT a card game.  It was a fun with nail biting moments when we HAD to make a roll or I would die and we would lose the quest.  Good time without a person having to DM.  4/5

 

Instructions: Here is where things are not as great.  The instruction book isn’t a long read, but it is kind of difficult to get the important information out of.  This is Paizo’s first real game that I have played.  The book does get the game across, but I had to check out watch-it-played youtube videos so I could figure out different questions.  A major one was the blessing deck.  My wife and I read the rules and both thought you drew cards from it.  We were both very wrong.  Now we both know it is a timer deck that you only place cards on.  The rules don’t have many pictures or breaks.  This is great for an RPG book, but for a game, I need more examples and pictures of play.  It’s not horrible, but it does need outside help. 2.5/5

 

Art/Components:  Paizo has never made crap, and they didn’t with this.  Hard cardboard with a well put together box.  Great stuff.  For the art, a lot comes from the Pathfinder RPG.  Not bad.  If you like the Pathfinder art style, you will like this game.  It’s as simple as that.  I’d like more new, but I got over 500 cards for $80 bucks.  I know art costs, so I’m happy with what I got. 4.5/5

 

Final Thoughts:  This is a great game.  You want to play an RPG and don’t have a group?  Get the game.  You want an RPG and no one want to DM?  Get this game.  Basically, this is a fantastic game that my wife and I love.  My wife and I both can’t wait till the next adventure releases. 80% 16/20

 

Caution in the Future:   What I am concerned with is what will happen in the future.  The game is great, but the mechanics are very similar throughout the entire game.  That is great, but if the next adventure is the same, then I will be disappointed.  The adventure game does vary some things, but I can’t help but compare the game to the Lord of the Rings Card Game.  My wife does not completely agree with the comparison, but she does think that the Lord of the Rings game has more variety.  The game instructs the players to make new piles of cards, the draw differently, to completely make new adventures and go quest alone, and more crazy things.  While some of those mechanics openly do not work so well, the game shows no fear in finding new ways to play.  I would like the makers of this card game to look at that one and see how the Pathfinder Adventure card Game can grew.  I’m cautiously optimistic that Paizo will make something new and awesome, but I also have a touch of bad feeling that something might go awry.

I’m catching up on all the games I’ve bought over the summer.  This game comes from meeting the guys at Albino games at Origins.  What drew me in was their custom Cthulhu T-shirts, and they offered me a deal on two of their games: “Ace of Spies” and “Genegrafter.”  Let’s see what I thought of “Ace of Spies!”

 

TL;DR-This is an excellent game.  Plays very similar to “Ticket to Ride,” but adds in an element of direct competition.  Theme comes out well and the mechanics are tight.  Great game-82.5%

 

Mechanics-Think “Ticket to Ride” with only cards, BUT fixes some of the major problems in “Ticket to Ride.”  In the game you have mission cards.  These cards show a number of symbols( hand lens, suitcase, spy, or location) that are either all one color or a color and grey.  The symbols are matched by cards from one of three decks representing three cities that you must spy on.  When you have cards with all the symbols on a mission card, you can turn in the mission for points.  On your turn you can either: draw two cards, play an agent, draw new mission cards, or discard cards to perform new actions.  The basics of the first three actions is pretty self-explanatory.  Draw cards to make missions.  Play agents for their special agent powers.  Draw new mission cards to score points.  The last is the key that makes this game stand out.  In “Ticket to Ride” when you draw cards that don’t really have a use…..TOO BAD!  The can just sit in your hand till the games done.  This game enforces a 10 card hand limit.  When you don’t want to draw cards, you can discard cards for effects such as forcing others to discard cards or search the deck or discards to get cards you need for each mission.  As someone who LOVES “Ticket to Ride”, but hates being locked out of cards, this is a phenomenal improvement to a “mission completion” style game.  4.5/5

 

Theme-In this game you are all spies working against one another.  Since on any turn you can discard cards to mess with any other player, this is done excellently.  The mechanics really serve the theme well.  Also, each card has some flavor text which is awesome.  However, there is no real story that ties everything together besides any story you bring to the game yourself. 4/5

 

Art-The art is fairly well done.  Its nothing amazing, but its done well and gets the points across.  My only real complaint is that the symbols for points (spyglasses) look like the symbols for the symbols needed to complete the missions.  They are in different places, but still, it might serve to make them different to keep things a bit different. 4/5

 

Instructions-The instructions are pretty well written.  I still have a few questions, and some points are not explained very well.  But, all in all nothing game breaking is in the rules.  4/5

 

Final Thought-As someone who plays “Ticket to Ride” almost daily on my Ipad, this is a breath of fresh air.  It occupies enough room that you can play in a bar on a small table.  Nothing is overly complex, and its easy to teach.  Great game.  And for 35 on Amazon it’s worth the money 16.5/20-82.5%