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Game Info
Year
2019
Collection
Ratings
Creator Score
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Description
Garolium Scraggart, beloved ruler of the people, has died. Despite an upbringing of real hardship she rose to the highest rank in the royal court and did what she could to make sure the poorest in Brighthelm were not forgotten. She died too young, her work half done. A tournament has been announced to find her successor. Brave knights have travelled down royal highways. Bold paladins have knocked on royal doors. So too have bards, lords and heroes. All looking to take over Scraggart’s reign and rule the realm to their desires. And every one of them has been sent back to whence they came. Because Garolium herself had devised the tournament. It was the last thing she did, and she decreed it would only be open to those of the most limited means. Those whose potential had been locked by the chains of ill-fortune and poverty. Brighthelm's paupers. She had spent her whole life building their ladder and nobody was going to kick it away.
In Paupers' Ladder, players are a pauper in Garolium's tournament. Along with your bird companion, explore the wild and treacherous land of Brighthelm as you strive to learn three of the five virtues: generosity, fellowship, bravery, knowledge, and magnificence. Battle a bestiary of creatures, undertake quests, find ingredients to craft powerful recipes, and discover the sights and wonders of an exciting new world along the way. But beware! You're not the only pauper in town. the land of Brighthelm is illustrated with a playing board and over 400 cards depicting equipment, quests, recipes, monsters, ingredients, encounters, cities, villages and more besides.
On your turn you use both your Pauper and your Bird, in either order. Each character may move from the Region they occupy into any adjoining Region, or stay where they are. Paupers’ can pay to travel extra Regions. Your character now explores the Region they occupy.
The aim of Paupers’ Ladder is to learn any 3 of the 5 Virtues. Virtues are learned in different ways. For instance, you learn the Virtue of generosity by discarding a certain amount of gems from your purse. When a player has learned 3 Virtues, they have won the game.
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Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 9
This page: 9
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Showing 1–9 of 9
Video KXoxeoaSwOA
The Dungeon Dive Review at 0:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89841 · mention_pk 264410
Click to watch at 0:35 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Accessible and breezy to learn
- Fits nicely between Talisman and Prophecy in vibe
- Engaging theme with quirky popper characters
- Solid solo content with future expansion potential
Cons
- Expansion Moon Towers is expensive, especially with shipping
- Non-combat encounters could be broadened further
Thematic elements
- Social mobility, meritocracy, virtue-driven victory, and the whimsy of a quirky fantasy world.
- Fantasy realm during a royal tournament to succeed Skaggart; the poorest are given a chance to climb the ladder to power through virtue-based quests.
- Array
Comparison games
- Talisman
- Prophecy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- asymmetric character powers — Each popper has a unique ability and starting item that influences play but shares core mechanics.
- Asymmetric Player Powers — Each popper has a unique ability and starting item that influences play but shares core mechanics.
- deck-driven encounters — Entering regions draws from region-specific encounter decks with diverse events.
- Hand Management — Optional rule starting with three hazard cards that must be played before drawing anew to heighten planning.
- Hazard combat resolution via cards — Combat uses a card deck for strength checks to slay hazards and monsters rather than dice.
- Hidden Victory Points — Win by completing three virtues (e.g., knowledge, generosity, fellowship, bravery, magnificence).
- House-rule hand management — Optional rule starting with three hazard cards that must be played before drawing anew to heighten planning.
- Movement and exploration — Poppers and bird companions move along pathways to explore regions and trigger encounters.
- Resource Management — Gems serve as currency to buy equipment, pay for actions, and influence outcomes.
- resource management and currency — Gems serve as currency to buy equipment, pay for actions, and influence outcomes.
- Set collection and recipe completion — Complete recipes by gathering ingredients to gain knowledge and other benefits; two of three ingredients needed per recipe.
- Solo mode with life tracking — Solo scenarios add life points and predefined challenges for individual play.
- Virtue victory condition — Win by completing three virtues (e.g., knowledge, generosity, fellowship, bravery, magnificence).
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is a breezy nicely paced fun little adventure game
- I really can't recommend this game enough
- dead easy to learn
- it's such a breezy little kind of lighthearted adventure game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video BsWIaYs09vc
The Dungeon Dive Playthrough at 0:14 sentiment: positive
video_pk 89567 · mention_pk 264405
Click to watch at 0:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Casual, accessible play with a clear progression toward virtues
- Engaging companion mechanics (bird training) and talents
- Vibrant production and flavorful components
- Expansion content (Bright Helm with Moon Towers) adds depth and new strategic options
Cons
- Solo time-tracking and rule-keeping can be fiddly and easy to forget during filming
- Moon towers and certain hazards can be punishing without careful planning
- Rule interpretation can vary in a casual play session, requiring occasional lookups
Thematic elements
- A hunter–gatherer adventurer fantasy where a pauper (popper) and a bird companion explore, learn recipes, defeat hazards, and pursue virtues through quests and treasures
- Fantasy land Brighthelm with regions like Gray Haven, beaches, forests, mines, swamps; moon tower era implied by Moon Towers expansion
- Casual, exploratory, narrated as a day-in-the-life adventure with a personal hero (Darius Burr) and city quests
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Movement — Regions (beach, forest, mines, mountains, swamps) provide encounter cards and items. Exploring reveals hazards, treasures, and potential quest triggers.
- combat resolution via outcome cards — Combat strength is the sum of the popper’s base strength plus a drawn outcome card (1–6). The goal is to meet or exceed the target strength of the enemy or hazard.
- Cube Tower — Moon towers introduce more powerful endgame challenges guarded by moon wardens; crescents are used to power combat and rewards in moon towers.
- hazards, curses, and mitigation — Exploration can yield hazards and curses (e.g., Willow's Hovel). Some curses require cleansing by visiting cities or performing specific actions.
- moon towers and crescents — Moon towers introduce more powerful endgame challenges guarded by moon wardens; crescents are used to power combat and rewards in moon towers.
- quests and virtues — Evidence of progress is tracked through quests and virtues. Players collect two of the three regional recipes and interact with cities to complete virtue-related tasks for victory.
- region-based exploration — Regions (beach, forest, mines, mountains, swamps) provide encounter cards and items. Exploring reveals hazards, treasures, and potential quest triggers.
- Resource Management — Gems are earned and spent to train; crescents and other region-specific items enable power or trophy-related actions. Pearls and other items serve as ingredients or rewards.
- Resources and currency — Gems are earned and spent to train; crescents and other region-specific items enable power or trophy-related actions. Pearls and other items serve as ingredients or rewards.
- Time Track — A time mechanic governs turn progression in solo play; time can be earned by defeating hazards, learning recipes, completing quests, or learning virtues, and it can be spent to discard hazards.
- time track and turn economy — A time mechanic governs turn progression in solo play; time can be earned by defeating hazards, learning recipes, completing quests, or learning virtues, and it can be spent to discard hazards.
- training and abilities — Poppers (and birds) can be trained by paying gems to flip cards and gain trained abilities that modify future actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is not going to be a learn how to play video this is just kind of a casual little let's play where we're going to take a few turns and kind of just see what we can see in this wonderful and delightful little fantasy land
- the main goal of the game is to acquire three of the five different virtues
- it's a very simple game
- I love this achievement book
- Moon towers expansion
References (from this video)
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Video RmRxWFttYwo
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Review at 0:08 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88912 · mention_pk 252026
Click to watch at 0:08 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Plays in a short period of time (35-45 minutes)
- Simple and straightforward rules
- Offers a lot of different stories and exciting plays
- Cheery and cozy art style
- Reasonably sized game with expandable content
Cons
- Can get somewhat difficult at higher levels
- Not a lot of flavor text on quests, requiring players to create their own narrative
Thematic elements
- Learning virtues by going on an adventure
- The world of Bright Helm
- Player-driven storytelling
Comparison games
- Elora
- Realm of Playing
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Character progression — Poppers have unique equipment and hometowns, and can gain talents by completing virtues.
- Companion mechanics — Players can train bird companions with unique abilities that can perform actions similar to poppers.
- Modular Board/Regions — The game features different region decks (beach, forest, mountain, swamp, mine) that are drawn from depending on the location.
- Monster combat — Fighting monsters using strength from player cards, equipment, recipes, and dice rolls, with choices on how to use defeated monsters.
- Quest Completion — Completing quests in different cities and from region decks as a way to gain virtues.
- Set Collection — Collecting ingredients to learn recipes and complete virtues.
- Variable player powers — Each popper has unique equipment, and talent cards can provide special abilities.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Popper's ladder which yes the base game is only for two to four players but there are two different ways to play solo.
- Popper's ladder is what I'm talking about and I'm way too excited about it.
- It is a game all about coming up with stories going on an adventure but the nice part about this and I think what really sets it apart in this genre of adventure games and exploration is that it is on the simpler Lighter Side and I mean that in a very good way.
- This is one of the biggest meeples I have ever seen.
- I like set collection and I love completing recipes so that's one of the things that I do a lot in all of these plays.
- It's a little bit more customizing what the experience is like and just making your popper seem more interesting and very unique for each play.
- it is a really nice game and I mean that in that it is not like this Doom and Gloom type of oh we gotta save the world or everything's falling apart and it's it's a terrible thing this is about learning virtues yes you're fighting some monsters yes your popper and your bird can die time can run out but it is just nice.
- I almost call this like a cheery and cozy sort of Adventure game which you don't see a lot out there.
- I want to see what I can do with every popper come up with different stories see what I can see increase the difficulty level have really wild experiences.
References (from this video)
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Video -_DsyATEPAU
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Top List at 0:54 sentiment: positive
video_pk 88598 · mention_pk 302134
Click to watch at 0:54 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Really cool adventure
- So much stuff included in the card decks
- Expansions offer separate adventures for different stories
- Quick but fleshed out world
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Adventure
- Around the world
- Weaving a tale of character's travels and experiences
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card flipping — Flipping over cards and putting it out on a map.
- companion — You have a bird companion who can also travel out there.
- Expansions — Expansions actually don't just get mixed in together, you kind of have separate adventures.
- Set Collection — Picking up ingredients and trading some stuff, picking up all this sort of cool equipment.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It's so fun to see the story of someone's life just go by.
- The Pursuit of Happiness I played this solo when it first arrived 10 times I got it to the table immediately I just started playing through adding in expansions this is about the story of an individual's life you go through life stages.
- it's a card based game tons and tons of cards.
- but just seeing that and telling the story of their life once you get to the end.
- It's really nice and I I don't find it depressing because I know that you're they're gonna get to old age and then that's it life is over but to look back and tell the story and to have experienced all that is just really fun.
- I will end with another storytelling thing that I have that I know is extremely hard to find and out of print but I will mention it here just because it is fantastic for storytelling and that is the story World Series.
- The cards all have these really really intricate illustrations on them.
- It actually has questions on the back that can help you with storytelling and kind of looking at what's in depicted in that image.
- Every card I shouldn't say every I think almost every single card in the entire set has another card's image sort of hidden in the background so it actually helps with bringing those together if you draw them at the same time.
- I love these for storytelling.
- Solo is fantastic for me because you know I love solo that's that's who I am.
- most of the games on these shelves fall into that because I like telling stories as I'm playing.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video nMQCA_C9zoQ
The Dungeon Dive Top List at 29:31 sentiment: positive
video_pk 87584 · mention_pk 274236
Click to watch at 29:31 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Extremely positive
Pros
- So special to me and to the channel
- Brilliant game
- So cozy, so inviting, so effortlessly fun
- Neat world to be in, so different, so pleasant
- Evolution of Talisman meets Runebound
- Better solo rules, bunch of expansions
- Players are 'poppers', not powerful heroes
- Different quests, cities to go shopping, encounters in cities
- Boat expansion with encounters and gambling mini-games
- All kinds of little things to do create a rich and vibrant world
- Feels like early British folk and progressive rock bands designed a board game
- Never goes dark, provides whimsy and joy
- Beautiful world of Adventure
- Glad the game is continuing to expand and update
- Number one game
- Special game to the channel
- It's from one guy, a passion project
Cons
- Players are 'lonely poppers'
- Some horror creatures can be creepy (e.g., 'bodocks')
- Occasional darker elements in expansions (e.g., 'horrific creatures')
Thematic elements
- Becoming a 'popper' to gain virtues through various means like fighting monsters, crafting potions, and completing quests.
- Whimsical, folk-inspired world
- Personal journey of a 'popper' with a bird companion.
Comparison games
- Talisman
- Runebound
- Lands of Galor
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- exploration — Features four major cities on the map and an expansion adds a boat for travel and encounters.
- Mini-Games — Includes little gambling mini-games and other small activities.
- Monster fighting — Players can fight monsters to get virtues.
- Quest Completion — Players can go on quests to gain virtues.
- Set Collection — Players can put together potions based on recipes to gain virtues.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Fallen land second edition what what can I say about this game it is perhaps the perfect Adventure game
- the best documentation I've ever seen in a board game this is the gold standard for all board games to offer this kind of documentation
- Popper's ladder feels like if um if early King Crimson and and uh like and early Genesis and and steel span and Fairport convention if all of these kind of early British kind of new wavy not New Wave but uh British folk and and progressive rock bands got together and designed a board game it would be something like popper's ladder
- it is my number one
- it's such a special game to the channel and just because it's so different and it's from one guy it's that passion project it's it's it's one guy just making his dream game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 4Q1Xe92xmwI
The Dungeon Dive Unboxing at 0:23 sentiment: positive
video_pk 87214 · mention_pk 313057
Click to watch at 0:23 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Sense of joy and whimsy.
- Lots of cool little things going on, especially with expansions.
- Charming world and character design.
- Discoverable elements and adventure.
- Substantial solo mode.
- Compact box size and board with minimal table space.
- Dual turns for popper and bird companion speeds up exploration.
- Thoughtful design by Paul Stapleton.
- Mix of old-school feel with new-school quality of life features.
Cons
- Expansions are not included in the second edition base box.
- Moon Towers expansion is a separate scenario and not mixed with other content.
Thematic elements
- Players take on the role of 'poppers' from the poorer class who must compete in a tournament to become the successor to the recently deceased ruler, Gilam Skager. The tournament is designed to be open only to those of limited means, to prove that potential is not defined by fortune.
- Brighthelm
Comparison games
- Talisman
- Runebound
- Moon Towers
- Cobbled Isles
- Bn1
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Adventure game — This is my favorite adventure game of all time.
- Card drafting/drawing — Instead of rolling dice... you have a stack of Power Cards and you can play those... you have their own outcome deck and again these are used in lie of rolling dice for when you are in combat.
- Character progression — You can train your bird companion to level up... learn three of the five virtues... talents also that you can learn and as another way to upgrade your character... you can level up your your characters or your your birds in this case.
- Combat — Combat's pretty simple in this game. Instead of rolling d6s or instead of rolling any other kind of dice you have a stack of Power Cards... you might be able to recruit some help or something... so it's even when you roll low or Draw low there is still something that you might be able to do to help augment that to help offset that bad luck.
- Modular Board — all of our regions we have the forests we have swamps mines and mountains and the beaches... the cobbled Isle expansion adds a cool little boat.
- questing — Undertake quests... complete the quest when you meet the objectives and the quest completing quests is you want to do three quests to complete your journal and that's one of the virtues.
- Recipe/Crafting — Undertake quests find ingredients to craft powerful recipes... you can combine those to make recipes and the recipes will allow you to have special abilities.
- sandbox — there is a little bit of a Sandbox nature you can choose which of those three you want to focus on and you can uh you can change at any time so it does have that cool sandbox nature.
- Survival Mode — Survival mode is a different way to play a two to four player game of poppers ladder your your character has lives which are lost when they fall to defeat when they fail to defeat a hazard in a fight.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Poppers ladder is my favorite adventure game of all time.
- you never really know what kind of cool thing you're going to find while you are questing around the land.
- man I love this game discovering this game was one of my favorite things of the last I don't know few years or so.
- It's just pure joy. It's it's joy in a box.
- it's kind of old school but it also has some new school sensibilities some quality of life things that new games have.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 2LHkRqSY_8o
Gaming with Edo & Jessica Discussion at 10:36 sentiment: positive
video_pk 82961 · mention_pk 208478
Click to watch at 10:36 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Love the game
- Generates great stories
- Appreciated even when losing
Cons
- Very hard difficulty leads to quick losses
Thematic elements
- Narrative and story creation through gameplay.
- Creates stories during gameplay.
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Difficulty settings — Offers various difficulty settings, including very hard.
- scenario-based play — Features different scenarios like the Goliums tournament and the Saltash Necromancer.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Things that interest me from a solo perspective and kind of lean into cozy, lightweight to midweight.
- I'm really there for the storytelling and I enjoy that part of it.
- So, there's going to be some very indepth experience I'm sure as I go on this journey with Darwin.
- And it seems like a very different, and I say this with when I say a weird sort of world. It's not an expected sort of thing.
- This is a narrative storytelling type of game, but it is also about kind of defending.
- The text is larger and I prefer that. So, I lose out on the flavor text and some of the information about the birds, but I can see the cards easier and they're clearer.
- But the play area was just visually there's a lot going on. There's a lot of iconography and unfortunately those are not really well defined in the rule book.
- And I feel like that was still a really good experience because sometimes losing at your favorite game does not diminish the fact that it's your favorite.
- And yes, that means that I am sort of auto succeeding at everything and moving forward, but it still gives a fun experience for me.
- And that's how I tailor that to work for myself sometimes.
- Cozy Stickerville.
- Mostly though it was drawn in by the art and just the idea of creating this cozy sort of daydream literally.
- Uh, this is a solo game that seemed interesting, but I one of the reasons why I just I I couldn't get a good idea of it with all the different motion that was going on in the crowdfunding page.
- I'm notorious for not doing that. But I am just enjoying this hobby at a very slow calm pace right now.
- I don't need to sit at my table for eight hours trying to fly through games and hurry up and learn rules so that I can be like, 'Yeah, look how much I did on this day.'
- I'm just enjoying the moments, enjoying the experience, and hopefully that will continue to be fun as I explore more and more games.
References (from this video)
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Video o0g8BUM88Ow
Analysis at 0:06 sentiment: positive
video_pk 67216 · mention_pk 163189
Click to watch at 0:06 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Quick and interesting gameplay (approx. 45 minutes)
- Whimsical and humorous elements
- Creates a nice baseline for a story and is enjoyable to play
- Base game has a lot to offer
- Second edition components are awesome
- Golium's tournament is a standard way to play and learn virtues
- Saltash Necromancer scenario offers a different, neat experience
- Moon Towers expansion doubles possibilities and adds talent/curse cards
- Cobbled Isle adds interesting cities with landmarks and a traveling ship
- New poppers from expansions add unique starting abilities and storytelling options
- Bodacs of Brightelm have a nice Halloween theme and familiars
- Giftbearers are holiday-themed and gain virtues by giving gifts
- Root Wings add extra whimsy and humor with unique companions
- The game has a lot of care and work put into its creation
- It is a welcoming world to come back to
Cons
- Host is not 100% sure of exact component editions (mix of first and second)
- Moon Towers expansion might not be used as much by the reviewer
- Moon Towers expansion can make specific card keywords harder to find due to large decks
- Katy Ren ship in Cobbled Isle involves more upkeep and is not the reviewer's favorite part
- Some components from Giftbearers expansion don't work with solo play
- Art style of Root Wings doesn't match the rest of the game
- Fantasy setting might not stand out much
- Art style might not be for everyone
Thematic elements
- fantasy adventure
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Drafting — The game involves drawing cards from regional decks.
- Coin Collection — Collecting coins is a part of the gameplay.
- Deck Building — The Moon Towers expansion effectively doubles the amount of cards, creating large decks that can make finding specific cards difficult.
- Modular board/components — Cobbled Isle introduces modular components and city landmarks that add unique abilities.
- Monster fighting — Players defeat different types of monsters.
- Quest Completion — Part of the gameplay involves completing quests.
- Set Collection — The Giftbearers expansion allows players to gain virtues by giving out gifts.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I always laugh as I'm playing and I just find it to be a really nice time.
- The Moon Towers has all of these region cards and basically the same amount of them. However, the interesting thing with this expansion is you don't actually mix those together. You play it completely separately and it gives a couple of different ways that the game changes.
- But if you are looking for specific keywords, it kind of gets watered down. Maybe watered down is better than muddied. I don't know. Either way, it becomes harder and harder to find specific cards even though you have a lot more variety.
- The thing that I love the most about this is it actually gives you city cards. So that rather than just going to these different cities, cities now have landmarks. So that'll give them a unique ability that they kind of have.
- The Root Wings... illustrated by the designer's nephew, and they are delightful.
- From the distant lands of who knows where come these strange feathered vegetables. Now you too can have a flying carrot as a companion.
- It is just so nice. It's like a a welcoming sort of world, even though I'm aware there are there's a lot of there's a lot of monsters and everything that you need to deal with in all of these areas, but it's it's very nice to come back to this one and just to see the amount of care and work that went into creating this.
References (from this video)
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Video WZzWaTscHwU
AzureDeath | Solo Board Gaming Top List at 1:44 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10956 · mention_pk 121599
Click to watch at 1:44 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- latest edition includes solo mode
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- totally deserves to have some spotlight here.
- it's out of print, it's not even funny.
- the newest edition which includes the solo mode in the box, which is the one that I got.
- I love Shadows of Brimstone so much. It's such an awesome dungeon crawler, my favorite by far.
- I can't believe I haven't played it.
- Shadow Run Crossfire. Amazing deck builder.
- One of the best experiences I've had in board gaming
- this is what started the hobby for me.
References (from this video)
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