Previous to Gen Con 2024, the BGQ workers put collectively a listing of our most anticipated video games that might be accessible on the con. After scouring the checklist, I selected Path Story: America. I like video games that go away gamers free to discover and make discoveries, with a story rising organically as they achieve this, and this sport appeared to supply simply that.
In Path Story: America gamers are wanderers trekking throughout the wilderness of Thirties America. The sport is for 2-4 gamers and lasts 90-120 minutes.
Gameplay Overview:
The sport board is made up of a sq. grid with every sq. representing certainly one of 4 terrain sorts: mountain, river, forest, and meadow. Throughout setup, a number of story tokens are drawn from a bag and positioned on marked borders between these areas. There are 4 various kinds of story tokens, and every can have 1-3 stars on it, indicating that encounter’s problem stage.
Moreover, every participant has their very own participant board, which is the place they monitor their abilities: intelligence, power, and agility, in addition to retailer reminiscences (gained from encounters), collected objects akin to meals, and inspiration crystals.
On a participant’s flip they take one of many 5 attainable actions:
- Scout – draw a narrative token from the bag for every border alongside their house that doesn’t have already got a narrative token. This additionally offers the participant expertise cubes, which might be spent later in the course of the reflection motion.
- Journey – Transfer as much as your most motion alongside paths containing at the least one story token. When a participant strikes they need to select one story token they handed over and place it in entrance of them on the desk, then instantly resolve the encounter sort depicted by the token.
To take action, draw a card from the deck matching the encounter sort, then resolve the cardboard by performing a talent check by rolling cube. The variety of cube rolled is set by what number of cubes a participant converts into expertise from the monitor for the required talent, in addition to any inspiration crystals they select to exhaust. The six-sided cube present totally different quantities of stars on every face, starting from zero to 2.
To efficiently go a check you have to roll the variety of stars indicated by the story token (1-3). Passing will usually achieve the participant some profit, and failing might both haven’t any penalties or end in a penalty, akin to taking a despair card which can cut back factors at sport’s finish. Both method, after resolving the problem, the participant collects the encounter card and strikes the story token to a saved reminiscences house. - Journal – Spend collected story tokens to be able to place story playing cards you’ve gained from encounters below your journal. Playing cards tucked below your journal will every rating some extent on the finish of the sport.
- Camp – Throughout this motion a participant will draw a camp card and achieve the listed advantages: normally this contains consuming, which is a method for gamers to replenish their talent cubes (which, as talked about above, might be transformed to expertise to roll cube throughout exams). If different gamers are shut sufficient, they’ll additionally transfer to the campsite to achieve a profit, or a number of advantages if they offer the camper certainly one of their story playing cards.
- Replicate – Gamers spend their expertise to be able to transfer wanderlust (compass) tokens from their board, thus releasing up extra storage areas, to the primary board. Doing so creates a haven at that participant’s present location. Having havens in particular terrain sorts offers the participant everlasting advantages related to that terrain sort for the remainder of the sport.
The sport continues, with gamers taking one of many above actions every flip. As soon as the sport finish is triggered, every participant takes another flip, then factors are tallied to find out the winner.
Sport Expertise:
Path Story lived as much as my expectations of a story sport with an emergent story. It’s enjoyable to see how the playing cards work together with one another, and the way one card generally results in one other, akin to once I drew a card known as “Rustling Leaves” which led to drawing one other card and discovering a deer. I might have pursued the deer for meals, however selected as a substitute to pet it.
While you be a part of one other participant’s campsite you’ll be able to “share tales” by giving them certainly one of your story playing cards. It’s enjoyable to think about sitting round a campfire speaking about that point you met a carnival employee at a touring circus who taught you to brawl. While you be taught from a “Buddy” card you achieve a talent that stays with you all through the sport, reminding you of that interplay. Different playing cards may offer you objects you’ll be able to carry with you, providing advantages all through the sport. Generally even failure can restore your hope, and hope can be utilized to mechanically reach a later check. Drawing inspiration from reminiscences of your dad and mom or exceptional locations you’ve visited may also provide help to succeed. Expertise changing to expertise, and expertise main to raised abilities makes full thematic sense.
However what in regards to the precise mechanics of the sport? How does all that theme translate into gameplay? Right here is the place we’ve got some hits and a few misses. For a sport that’s comparatively mild by way of gameplay, the foundations aren’t all the time intuitive or clear. For probably the most half, the examples given within the rulebook helped make clear the place I had doubts, however I felt some particulars, particularly regarding finish of sport scoring, might have been defined higher, and it might have been good to have a FAQ part in the back of the rulebook.
The perform of the cubes within the sport can be considerably fiddly and complicated. It’s exhausting to recollect particulars like the way you truly get extra cubes in your talent space (by consuming throughout a camp motion), after which these talent cubes transfer into your expertise space once you roll cube, to later be spent to create havens.
However every talent space can solely maintain three cubes, so for those who transfer a dice over when it’s already full, that dice is just misplaced, which performs into having to time your actions proper, however I’m unsure I appreciated the way it all got here collectively. It really works, however left me feeling prefer it might have been cleaner and extra fleshed out. The principles additionally point out that, once you create your first haven for a particular terrain sort, you utilize a dice to mark the haven field in your board, however there isn’t actually a very good place to place that dice with out masking up helpful icons.
One other space wherein I’ve my doubts is the replay worth of this sport. I might have appreciated to see extra board configurations and extra selection within the playing cards. Whereas a unique story will unfold each time, after enjoying a few occasions you’ll already acknowledge a whole lot of the playing cards. I believe this can matter extra to some than others. For some, simply the pleasure of experiencing the sport shall be sufficient to hold it by a number of periods, however others might discover they need extra by way of gameplay depth and selection. The luck issue may additionally be a deterrent for some, as almost each check comes right down to a cube roll. You are able to do some issues to mitigate that luck, and for those who work it out and plan forward issues normally work in your favor, so I didn’t thoughts that this sport leaned slightly on the fortunate facet, however I do know that can hassle some.
In addition to that, most of the mechanisms had been enjoyable and made sense. Encounters may result in different encounters, creating an fascinating little story, then these encounters develop into reminiscences you may journal about later, or share round a campfire. It’s enjoyable to take a look at your board on the finish of the sport and see the story you’ve created and the abilities you’ve accrued. Extra enjoyable, actually, than truly scoring the sport, which feels slightly anticlimactic and simply comes right down to icons on the journal playing cards.
Lastly, I believe the sport runs a bit lengthy for what it’s, particularly with 4 gamers. A two participant sport might be fairly fast, however including extra gamers didn’t actually really feel prefer it added something to the sport by way of immersion, solely by way of size because the finish situation stays the identical. Truthfully, I really feel prefer it ought to have been made with solo play in thoughts. It’s the type of sport I would like to play solo, so it felt unusual that the foundations didn’t even point out that. There’s some interplay between gamers with the camp motion and racing to create havens in some areas, however probably not sufficient to really feel like an interactive sport. It virtually feels cooperative, although it isn’t. As somebody who likes to play good, I didn’t thoughts that, however simply want there have been solo guidelines moreover enjoying multi-handed.
Last Ideas:
In any case of that, my emotions on Path Story: America are combined. I very very like the story constructing and the thematic touches. I believe this sport makes a very good effort to couple fascinating mechanisms with intriguing story-building, however for me, it fell simply wanting my expectations.
Sport size, some fiddly points and complicated or generally uninteresting guidelines all convey it down a number of levels. For these purely concerned about Path Story: America for the story side, those that need to simply sit and be immersed within the expertise whereas mechanisms step apart, it is a nice sport. It’s low-stress and total fairly pleasant and gracious by way of scoring and interactions. However for those who’re a gamer who places mechanisms earlier than theme, a whole lot of the enchantment is perhaps misplaced, because it’s much less partaking once you’re simply going by the motions and enjoying for the win. This sport is in regards to the journey, not the vacation spot, which is both its saving grace or its detriment, relying in your preferences.
Last Rating: 3 stars – An attractive, story-driven sport that’s price attempting for those who’re a fan of the style
Hits:
• Thematic and immersive
• Provides the sense of making one thing distinctive on the finish
• Attention-grabbing abilities and methods to mitigate luck
Misses:
• Can run a bit lengthy with 4 gamers
• Complicated and fiddly guidelines hinder gameflow
• Luck of the roll could also be a turnoff for some
