I recommend this game for people who are getting into role-playing games but aren't 100% comfortable getting into character or crafting stories. This game helped me so much with connecting plots and thinking "how would my character think, what would they do?" It has helped me leaps and bounds, I can't even express it enough.
The thing I enjoy most about this game is telling your story at the end of the game. It's so fun to come up with your character and talk about your journey.
I fell in love with this game. 1st time I tried something like it. The art and paths really draw you into it. Not to mention the starting method with origin, motivation and destiny. Rune mechanism is also reeeally cool!
TL;DR: Excellent game for those who both love or hate competitive games as well as amateur authors and story tellers. And a great solo experience too. A great lighter alternative to Roll Player and whilst not as good mechanically, sets up and plays a lot faster and provides a fantastic way of facilitating the creation of story of a hero and how they became one. Enjoyed it a lot solo but wish I had someone to tell my story to! 😆 If you love CREATING HEROES or looking for inspiration for a protagonist for an RPG or novel definitely check this out! As for competitive play, the UNIQUE thing I can see is that this as a 'friendly game' where regardless of the outcome at the end, all players should enjoy telling a short life story of their heroes more than feeling like 'winners' or 'losers'. So it should work well for groups with members who hate competitive games playing WITH ultra-competitive players I like the components too. The Runes are plastic but feel and sound almost like they are made of clay giving them an ancient feel (I actually WANT them to become worn and dirty) Oh, and yeah, the art is gorgeous too. 😊
Tom, You made 1 mistake in your explanation. You reveal both your Origin (1st card) and Motivation (2nd Card), but conceal your Destiny (3rd Card). Your Destiny card is only revealed when you score at the end of the game.
Am I wrong or in the rules though the icons you need to success in a challenge are below the difficulty level wether you choose a path or the other. The icons on the right are the rewards and not the symbol you can use. So Tom has been playing with a self-inflicted malus? Other videos I watched seems to confirm this too.
I didn't actually have as great a time with this game. The one thing that I felt is that you don't actually have as much choice of your adventure/character as the game makes you think you do. When I played this, and it was multiple times, I found that I had to EITHER tell a great story OR win the game. Sometimes, I just had to take a card because it was there...not because I wanted my character to have it. Sometimes, I had to take a card because it filled out my runes better rather than "fit" my story. The game does not distinguish between triumph points and the tragedy points at the end of the game...which is great. That way you could chose to go dark or light and it wouldn't matter. Except, and this is my final complaint, it punishes you if you go completely dark and rewards you more for going completely light. If you are at a disadvantage by choosing to go dark (or tragic) then it really isn't building your own adventure...unless you want to lose. Otherwise I completely agree with Tom and can be a fun, easy game with AMAZING art work. But, it is not a "build your own adventure"...unless you want to lose. If you want to win, you will be paying more attention to the rune collection, symbols, and not going dark than anything else.
Yeah, it definitely feels like they were focusing on the narrative and didn’t really look at whether it and the gameplay/scoring jived with each other; still interesting, but needs some work.
Not true, I just played my first game of it last Tuesday and I went totally dark and I had a modifier that if I was 2 Moons or lower I get 4 points. And so I did and I only lost by two points because I forgot to try to match the symbols that are not runes, so I had a couple non matching ones that screwed me. But other than that for my first game I was really really evil, like the other players hated my actions so it was an amazing experience
This right here 100% it's not as open ended as everyone makes it seem. It's quite limiting most of the time. My gf had situations where she had to switch out all of the cards and in the end take one because there was no other choice
Looking forward the the Name of the Wind and Stormlight expansions for this! (The Name of the Wind expansion will be shuffle-in, but they announced that the Stormlight expansion will be stand-alone.)
It's because of this game that I read The Name of the Wind. I'm really looking forward to that expansion. I am also a good chunk of the way through reading the books in the Cosmere. I have Way of the Kings on my shelf just waiting to be read. About a quarter through Elantris right now
Similar for me. But I read the reckoners because of that game and then started reading the cosmere books because I liked them and after I finished them I moved on to kingkiller Chronicle because it was recommended to me as similar. On the first one now
That's a good perspective. Now I can see why people like the game more than I do. I am very competitive and found that you either had to make your own adventure or win the game. I appreciate this perspective. Thanks!
David Ewing Yeah, it definitely feels like they could have done a better job making the scoring and story line up with each other, but it’s still a nice experience if you have the right mindset.
This is easily in my top 3 of 2-player games. My wife and I picked it up on a whim and played it constantly for several days. The mechanics are simple enough to learn and exploit with good strategy, but the luck of the runes gives it the "what could happen?!" vibe. And if your table likes to dig in on the story-telling element, at the end of the game everyone goes around the table and tells their hero's story based on the cards they picked up. The event descriptions are light enough that you can easily personalize it to your tastes. Overall a fantastic game, one that I highly recommend not only for gameplay but also for stellar components. Also, we added a house-rule that basically lets a player get one extra turn at the end of the game for each card they're missing from their story. Otherwise it can sometimes feel like you get doubly punished because you failed a SINGLE CHECK earlier in the game.
Actually, one time my wife and I played it, she didn't have but one simple card in the last level. I finished but went totally dark...and ended up losing the game.
I'll stick to Roll Player as it expands to different games and soon you'll be able to take a character created there for an adventure. This is very gorgeous but is too basic for my liking. Maybe they will update it somehow to make it more interesting when they release Call to Adventure: Stormlight
I kickstarted this, and have enjoyed playing it. The only thing to remind people of, is that the rule-book is terrible. They released a revised one on Board Game Geek.
I've really enjoyed this game, but it is hardly material for a seal of excellence. Because it is very, very light, to the point that there's not much game to it, really. I think most people play games casually, but even casual games have a structure that makes it possible to really play it, getting deep, paying attention to other players strategies, becoming a much better player. In this one, there's none of that, it is a relaxing storytelling system with a touch of game in it. But it is a neat system. I am hoping they will keep expanding and perfecting it, because there could be a great game there.
@@GachaIgnis Everything you said here is what I was thinking. It has a lot of potential. Just, you have to play it casually instead of competitively. Winning and a great story usually doesn't go hand-in-hand on this one.
I compare this game to 7 Wonders in that you're crafting your own tableau with some interaction with others, but whereas 7 Wonders left me without... ahem... wonder, I felt a great sense of immersion with Call to Adventure. Maybe it's the fantasy theme that I like better than the antiquity theme, perhaps it's just more of a personal journey than building an empire that grabs me, I dunno. All I know is that I'll pick up CtA any day whereas I'll unlikely play 7W ever again.
I’m a bit disappointed with all this narrative and interesting ideas, all they could think of a winning condition besides rack up points, that will surely break the narrative while playing and would make the endgame feel empty. It’s quite a big turnoff for me.
Same as the competitive but you draw an adversary to face off against at the end. You remove the adversary cards from the decks and choose one to go up against. You also remove all the "direct conflict" anti-hero cards from the respective deck and create a new deck with them. This new deck is the adversary deck and will be drawn from throughout the game to make creating your backstory more challenging.
Definitely the most disappointing game of 2019 for me so far. I got over the art quite quickly and it is just a bunch of half baked mechanisms that are poorly tested. Really hoping the KS expansions help save it.
I recommend this game for people who are getting into role-playing games but aren't 100% comfortable getting into character or crafting stories. This game helped me so much with connecting plots and thinking "how would my character think, what would they do?"
It has helped me leaps and bounds, I can't even express it enough.
The thing I enjoy most about this game is telling your story at the end of the game. It's so fun to come up with your character and talk about your journey.
This is rapidly ascending my list of favorite games. I am hoping even more people discover it after this review - thanks Tom!
Tom randomly created Aladdin.
I was scrolling down to see if anyone said this so I could say the same comment.
He may of created his adventure in Arabian nights
I also really enjoy playing the game and absolutely can't wait for the expansions.
Yes the art is part of the adventure. I'm new to gaming and a visual artist. So I will buy it for that reason alone.
I fell in love with this game. 1st time I tried something like it. The art and paths really draw you into it. Not to mention the starting method with origin, motivation and destiny. Rune mechanism is also reeeally cool!
TL;DR: Excellent game for those who both love or hate competitive games as well as amateur authors and story tellers. And a great solo experience too.
A great lighter alternative to Roll Player and whilst not as good mechanically, sets up and plays a lot faster and provides a fantastic way of facilitating the creation of story of a hero and how they became one.
Enjoyed it a lot solo but wish I had someone to tell my story to! 😆
If you love CREATING HEROES or looking for inspiration for a protagonist for an RPG or novel definitely check this out!
As for competitive play, the UNIQUE thing I can see is that this as a 'friendly game' where regardless of the outcome at the end, all players should enjoy telling a short life story of their heroes more than feeling like 'winners' or 'losers'. So it should work well for groups with members who hate competitive games playing WITH ultra-competitive players
I like the components too.
The Runes are plastic but feel and sound almost like they are made of clay giving them an ancient feel (I actually WANT them to become worn and dirty)
Oh, and yeah, the art is gorgeous too. 😊
THIS!
Tom,
You made 1 mistake in your explanation. You reveal both your Origin (1st card) and Motivation (2nd Card), but conceal your Destiny (3rd Card). Your Destiny card is only revealed when you score at the end of the game.
Am I wrong or in the rules though the icons you need to success in a challenge are below the difficulty level wether you choose a path or the other. The icons on the right are the rewards and not the symbol you can use. So Tom has been playing with a self-inflicted malus? Other videos I watched seems to confirm this too.
"Someday, I will be great and marvelous."
You already are, Tom.
I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH. Haven't stopped playing it since I got my kickstarter copy.
I didn't actually have as great a time with this game. The one thing that I felt is that you don't actually have as much choice of your adventure/character as the game makes you think you do. When I played this, and it was multiple times, I found that I had to EITHER tell a great story OR win the game. Sometimes, I just had to take a card because it was there...not because I wanted my character to have it. Sometimes, I had to take a card because it filled out my runes better rather than "fit" my story. The game does not distinguish between triumph points and the tragedy points at the end of the game...which is great. That way you could chose to go dark or light and it wouldn't matter. Except, and this is my final complaint, it punishes you if you go completely dark and rewards you more for going completely light. If you are at a disadvantage by choosing to go dark (or tragic) then it really isn't building your own adventure...unless you want to lose. Otherwise I completely agree with Tom and can be a fun, easy game with AMAZING art work. But, it is not a "build your own adventure"...unless you want to lose. If you want to win, you will be paying more attention to the rune collection, symbols, and not going dark than anything else.
Yeah, it definitely feels like they were focusing on the narrative and didn’t really look at whether it and the gameplay/scoring jived with each other; still interesting, but needs some work.
Not true, I just played my first game of it last Tuesday and I went totally dark and I had a modifier that if I was 2 Moons or lower I get 4 points. And so I did and I only lost by two points because I forgot to try to match the symbols that are not runes, so I had a couple non matching ones that screwed me. But other than that for my first game I was really really evil, like the other players hated my actions so it was an amazing experience
This right here 100% it's not as open ended as everyone makes it seem. It's quite limiting most of the time. My gf had situations where she had to switch out all of the cards and in the end take one because there was no other choice
Professor Dungeon Master brought me here. Excellent review. Definitely getting this game.
The People’s champ, Tom is The Rock!
Looking forward the the Name of the Wind and Stormlight expansions for this!
(The Name of the Wind expansion will be shuffle-in, but they announced that the Stormlight expansion will be stand-alone.)
For sure. I'll be snatching up the stormlight archive one as soon as I see it
It's because of this game that I read The Name of the Wind. I'm really looking forward to that expansion. I am also a good chunk of the way through reading the books in the Cosmere. I have Way of the Kings on my shelf just waiting to be read. About a quarter through Elantris right now
Similar for me. But I read the reckoners because of that game and then started reading the cosmere books because I liked them and after I finished them I moved on to kingkiller Chronicle because it was recommended to me as similar. On the first one now
Kind of hope they do an expansion with Mistborn
Third card, destiny, is played face down at setup, no?
Played this game last week. We had so much fun making our stories that we just figured out who won by points as an afterthought.
This!
That's a good perspective. Now I can see why people like the game more than I do. I am very competitive and found that you either had to make your own adventure or win the game. I appreciate this perspective. Thanks!
David Ewing Yeah, it definitely feels like they could have done a better job making the scoring and story line up with each other, but it’s still a nice experience if you have the right mindset.
This game looks AMAZING! I can actually play it with my younger kids (though some scary looking cards might stay in the box)
This is easily in my top 3 of 2-player games. My wife and I picked it up on a whim and played it constantly for several days.
The mechanics are simple enough to learn and exploit with good strategy, but the luck of the runes gives it the "what could happen?!" vibe. And if your table likes to dig in on the story-telling element, at the end of the game everyone goes around the table and tells their hero's story based on the cards they picked up. The event descriptions are light enough that you can easily personalize it to your tastes.
Overall a fantastic game, one that I highly recommend not only for gameplay but also for stellar components.
Also, we added a house-rule that basically lets a player get one extra turn at the end of the game for each card they're missing from their story. Otherwise it can sometimes feel like you get doubly punished because you failed a SINGLE CHECK earlier in the game.
Actually, one time my wife and I played it, she didn't have but one simple card in the last level. I finished but went totally dark...and ended up losing the game.
I'll stick to Roll Player as it expands to different games and soon you'll be able to take a character created there for an adventure. This is very gorgeous but is too basic for my liking. Maybe they will update it somehow to make it more interesting when they release Call to Adventure: Stormlight
I was looking for this review 48 hours ago, and now you release it!
This vs Res Arcana?
I know they're different , but looking for opinions on which to get (first) :)
Thanks
I kickstarted this, and have enjoyed playing it. The only thing to remind people of, is that the rule-book is terrible. They released a revised one on Board Game Geek.
I am so curious for that one and wished for the judgement to be excellent. I would have purchased it immediately. Now I am not sure..
I've really enjoyed this game, but it is hardly material for a seal of excellence. Because it is very, very light, to the point that there's not much game to it, really. I think most people play games casually, but even casual games have a structure that makes it possible to really play it, getting deep, paying attention to other players strategies, becoming a much better player. In this one, there's none of that, it is a relaxing storytelling system with a touch of game in it.
But it is a neat system. I am hoping they will keep expanding and perfecting it, because there could be a great game there.
@@GachaIgnis Everything you said here is what I was thinking. It has a lot of potential. Just, you have to play it casually instead of competitively. Winning and a great story usually doesn't go hand-in-hand on this one.
How is this not a pure solo game?
Sounds like a Role Player game but only in concept. That said, which do you guys like more? This or RolePlayer?
Call to adventure was far more enjoyable for me.
❤
I like the mechanic of rolling runes instead of dice.
Love this game!
A fun game to play I am glad I purchased it
I compare this game to 7 Wonders in that you're crafting your own tableau with some interaction with others, but whereas 7 Wonders left me without... ahem... wonder, I felt a great sense of immersion with Call to Adventure. Maybe it's the fantasy theme that I like better than the antiquity theme, perhaps it's just more of a personal journey than building an empire that grabs me, I dunno. All I know is that I'll pick up CtA any day whereas I'll unlikely play 7W ever again.
Those are dice. They are d2.
Seems like a bit heavier version of Splendor. Build engine, take cards from three levels. Kind of.
I actually find it a bit less brain burning than Splendor just because there is an element of chance and pushing your luck rather than exact figures.
I’m a bit disappointed with all this narrative and interesting ideas, all they could think of a winning condition besides rack up points, that will surely break the narrative while playing and would make the endgame feel empty.
It’s quite a big turnoff for me.
What's the solo mode like?
Same as the competitive but you draw an adversary to face off against at the end. You remove the adversary cards from the decks and choose one to go up against. You also remove all the "direct conflict" anti-hero cards from the respective deck and create a new deck with them. This new deck is the adversary deck and will be drawn from throughout the game to make creating your backstory more challenging.
They need to make a Star Wars version of this.
Stanger_in_the_Alps a lovecraft version of this*
Definitely the most disappointing game of 2019 for me so far. I got over the art quite quickly and it is just a bunch of half baked mechanisms that are poorly tested. Really hoping the KS expansions help save it.
How many times did you play it before it got stale?