Overview: A digital adaptation of Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. An RPG centered around cards and dice rolling.
20190811:
Out of the various games I acquired from the Humble Board Games Bundle by Asmodee Digital, I decided to play Pathfinder Adventures.
Gameplay Log:
Tutorial (1 hr 40 minutes)
First scenario (1 hour)
Steam Game Time: 2.6 hours
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Advantages to actual board game:
: Cheap
: Software handles all the numbers
: Ease of set-up - the actual board game requires collecting and finding the necessary cards as they are required
+ Core gameplay was fun
Neutral:
~ What's the point of giving the character a nickname?
~ There is a tutorial, but it's not the best possible
~ Card deck building game but limited to a stash of 10 cards which inhibits deck-building abilities [20190813: The board game from which this game was adapted did not allow for any stash. I suppose one could argue that a character can only hold so many items and bring so many allies on his/her adventure. Moved from "Major Con" to "Neutral."]
Cons:
- Intrusive tips; tips should disappear, be in a different position, or be movable
- Didn't understand the point of gold. I went to the "Store" and there was nothing being sold. [Update: I later started the game and the Store was properly populated with items; apparently I had encountered a bug]
- Some of the terms used in the tutorial weren't explained well*
- The source game can be played with 1-4 players (1-6 with the character add-on deck), but this adaptation is only built as a single-player experience.
Major Con:
- Bugged: an in-game pop-up which didn't close.
*Specifically Discard/Bury/Banish. Discard: card goes from hand to discard pile. Cards in the discard pile have the opportunity to return to the character's deck and/or hand. Bury: card is lost for the rest of the scenario. Banish: card is lost from card pile forever. To add to this, we have Recharge: put a card at the bottom of the character deck.
Summary:
While the core gameplay was fun, the game had some bugs and UI issues which dampened the experience. And although I rarely play multiplayer/co-op nowadays, the lack of multiplayer is a big hit to the experience.
One interesting aspect of the game is the fixed deck size per character. Each character deck is composed of a certain number of cards and the player must add/reduce/swap out cards to meet those numbers. My initial reaction to this was negative. However, upon learning that the source game also operated under this condition, I took some time to understand the mechanic. I reasoned that it is similar to games which limit a player's inventory. In some RPGs, such a system is managed by a player's maximum weight capacity. As this is a card game, a fixed deck size seems like an appropriate alternative.
Overall, I'm on the fence on whether or not I'd revisit this game. Having only played the first scenario, I have no information on how repetitive the game will feel. My fear is that the game would feel like a grind.
Pathfinder Adventures (PC) (2017)
Relevant Links:
Pathfinder Adventures Website
Pathfinder Adventures (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Pathfinder Adventures (Steam Store Page)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords - Base Set (BoardGameGeek.com)
20190811:
Out of the various games I acquired from the Humble Board Games Bundle by Asmodee Digital, I decided to play Pathfinder Adventures.
 |
| Kyra (left and bottom right) and Merisiel (right) |
Gameplay Log:
Tutorial (1 hr 40 minutes)
First scenario (1 hour)
Steam Game Time: 2.6 hours
Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Advantages to actual board game:
: Cheap
: Software handles all the numbers
: Ease of set-up - the actual board game requires collecting and finding the necessary cards as they are required
+ Core gameplay was fun
 |
| Merisiel (bottom right) |
Neutral:
~ What's the point of giving the character a nickname?
~ There is a tutorial, but it's not the best possible
~ Card deck building game but limited to a stash of 10 cards which inhibits deck-building abilities [20190813: The board game from which this game was adapted did not allow for any stash. I suppose one could argue that a character can only hold so many items and bring so many allies on his/her adventure. Moved from "Major Con" to "Neutral."]
Cons:
- Intrusive tips; tips should disappear, be in a different position, or be movable
- Didn't understand the point of gold. I went to the "Store" and there was nothing being sold. [Update: I later started the game and the Store was properly populated with items; apparently I had encountered a bug]
- Some of the terms used in the tutorial weren't explained well*
- The source game can be played with 1-4 players (1-6 with the character add-on deck), but this adaptation is only built as a single-player experience.
 |
| Taking down the Sandpoint Devil |
Major Con:
- Bugged: an in-game pop-up which didn't close.
*Specifically Discard/Bury/Banish. Discard: card goes from hand to discard pile. Cards in the discard pile have the opportunity to return to the character's deck and/or hand. Bury: card is lost for the rest of the scenario. Banish: card is lost from card pile forever. To add to this, we have Recharge: put a card at the bottom of the character deck.
Summary:
While the core gameplay was fun, the game had some bugs and UI issues which dampened the experience. And although I rarely play multiplayer/co-op nowadays, the lack of multiplayer is a big hit to the experience.
One interesting aspect of the game is the fixed deck size per character. Each character deck is composed of a certain number of cards and the player must add/reduce/swap out cards to meet those numbers. My initial reaction to this was negative. However, upon learning that the source game also operated under this condition, I took some time to understand the mechanic. I reasoned that it is similar to games which limit a player's inventory. In some RPGs, such a system is managed by a player's maximum weight capacity. As this is a card game, a fixed deck size seems like an appropriate alternative.
Overall, I'm on the fence on whether or not I'd revisit this game. Having only played the first scenario, I have no information on how repetitive the game will feel. My fear is that the game would feel like a grind.
Pathfinder Adventures (PC) (2017)
Relevant Links:
Pathfinder Adventures Website
Pathfinder Adventures (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Pathfinder Adventures (Steam Store Page)
Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords - Base Set (BoardGameGeek.com)
Date/Time
Sunday, August 11, 2019
@
21:00
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