A few years ago I bought the game Pathfinder Adventure (from now labelled PA), a card game in the D&D-like Pathfinder universe.
Beyond my tendency to make impulse purchases, I was attracted to this game because the keywords D&D, RPG, and solo blinked pretty much in the description.
I decided to remove the dust on this (big) box, and after a few hours of play here is my synthesis.
PS: I own the french version of this box, which turned to be an important detail, see below.
The packaging is very nice, and there are only cards (and a few dice). this gives an important clue: PA is not an RPG, it's a tactical game with cards, just in a Pathfinder universe. So here there is no role-playing, don't be fooled by the famous classic D&D classes or attributes. So first conclusion, if you want to do role-playing, go ahead.
The rules are clear... when they exist, otherwise you have to guess. For example, the purpose of the game is not explicitly explained, I had guessed it when I read the rules. If the principle is easy (once guessed), the management rules are numerous and not intuitive, and each card brings complementary rules. So it's very rich, but it takes time to know the cards, which are numerous (more than 1000 in the basic edition). I discovered after my first hours with PA that the "downloads" section of the site dedicated to this game at Paizo had precious resources. Yes, I could have guessed it :) For example, the US rulebook is much more complete than the FR one, and from the 1st paragraph the goal of the game is clearly described. So if you like tactics, card games, and an abundance of rules that contextually modify the basic rules, PA seems like a good game to me.
A quick word about the cards, which are beautiful:
But ... it's clearly a game for those with perfect eyesight, because even with my glasses, reading the elements written on these cards is difficult (it looks like Arial 6 on my screen, to give you an idea).
Then I realized that there was a digital version of Pathfinder Adventure, called Pathfinder Adventures (yes, why AdventureS?). So yes, it's less sexy (for those loving owning things), only solitary (where you can play up to 4 or even 6 with the physical version), but as often, the computer version is much cheaper, and above all, it manages for us all the mechanics of the game. We can thus concentrate only on tactics, and no longer have to read and reread the rules to know who has to do what when (when we clearly find the information we are looking for). And, it's clearly a detail, but since PA manages the experience of your characters in a (very) minimal way, the Steam version saves you from having to make crosses on a beautiful card to materialize your hard-earned bonuses. And it's while watching a stream of this computer game that I realized that I had guessed the goal of the game :)
So? I probably won't play the tabletop version of PA again, if I want to play a tactical game I clearly prefer a classic wargame. And if I want to play a role-playing game, this game doesn't meet my need, it's not enough to have "Pathfinder" written on the box for that. Will I play the Steam version? Maybe I will:
- it's ridiculously cheap, 20€ for the all adventures (where the box costs 60€ for just the basic adventure)
- it runs the game mechanics for me
- I don't need multiplayer
Or maybe not, because I'm not really a fan of the very principle of the game (but you understood it, I was the one who was wrong about the type of game, and not the game itself which is intrinsically bad).