If you’re like me, you’d love to jump into a fantasy campaign… but life doesn’t always make it easy. In fact, it sometimes makes it next to impossible. And it seems like there aren’t a lot of options designed for single players. I mean sure, there a a ton of great fantasy video games, but sometimes it’s nice to roll actual dice, to hold onto something physical, like cards or pencils.
One of the very few options that I’ve found is Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. It allows you to easily play a single player game and play vs. the deck. It’s easy to play as more than one character as well. The stories are interesting and well written, and you even get to level up your characters over the course of the game!
You will need a space to set things up, preferably a table that you can come back to and play at your convenience, although, I have found creative ways to take a small deck and dice with me on trips, enabling me to play in hotels and other places such as conventions. If you’ll be playing at home though, it’s nice to have and leave everything set up.
This brings me to another point if you’ll be leaving your game set up…….. cats. My cats are almost always a menace to any game left set up! I’m sure to come back to dice and cards scattered all over the place! So if possible, cover the game or ban them from the room. The latter option of course ends up making it their life’s goal to enter. You know your cats best, so you’ll be the best judge of how to deal with this menace, but don’t underestimate them. ;P
With the menace hopefully taken care of, it’s really nice to have a space to spread the game out, as there are multiple paths you can take.
There is a bit of a learning curve, especially if you’ve never played a trading card game. Knowledge of tabletop RPG’s will help immensely too, as there are many similar principles and mechanics. Don’t be discouraged though! Watching a YouTube video which shows you how to play along with the directions and you’ll be up and running on your own in no time. It’s worth the time spent learning for the hours of enjoyment you’ll get out of the game.
PACG is also a lot of fun as a multiplayer game, so you can have any guests jump in and out as well! (My daughter and I have had fun playing together whenever the mood suits her!)
Aother of my favorite features is that there are a bunch of different class decks which can be purchased seperately and used in any game! My favorite is the Druid deck, but there are also Bards, Rogues, Barbarians and Rangers just to name a few. Most come with the iconic Pathfiner heroes to play as (including my favorite, Lini!)
Lastly, and and one of the best things about PACG briefly mentioned above, are the stories and absolutely beautiful art. I used the Mummy’s Mask base set as the featured picture for this article since it was my first foray into the game and I love Egyptian mythology, but there are lots of others, including the newest, the Core set, and the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path. The new sets bring some new rules and adjustments that improve the game but still work with all previous sets and decks, which for me personally much appreciated.
I’ve had a blast with PAGC, and if you’re looking for a single player game with the option of multi-player, it might be great for you as well, so check it out!
-Clint
Feralia - Home of the Feralia fantasy novels by Clint Cassa 