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The Witcher Adventure Game takes players on a journey across the world of The Witcher, a detailed world, rich in lore and characters, fleshed out by Andrzej Sapkowski's famous series of novels, and honed by The Witcher video game trilogy.
Players assume the roles of four distinct characters from this series: Geralt of Rivia, monster slayer; Triss Merigold, cunning sorceress; Yarpen Zigrin, dwarven warrior; and Dandelion, roguish bard. Each character has unique skills and multiple ways of overcoming obstacles, but you decide what to do during the game: Do you fight your way to victory, call on your charm, or try your hand at diplomacy? You can bring enemies around to your point of view with a sword as Geralt - or bribe them with gold and threaten to call on powerful friends as Dandelion. If a situation calls for strength in numbers, Yarpen has his own fellowship of dwarves to command, and Triss can rely on her expert skill with magic to save the day.
Each character has its own deck of Development Cards, so each time you play you can discover something new by trying out varied characters and experimenting with different builds. For example, when playing as Geralt of Rivia, the main hero of the Witcher franchise, you can develop your character either by specializing in brewing and utilizing combat Elixirs, or else by growing your ability to cast powerful Witcher Signs.
A variety of quests invite players to hunt monsters, earn gold and interact with the characters they meet in a web of alliances and treachery. Decide whether you’ll help the other players or look after your own interests first, and keep an eye on the progress of your friends while you carefully work your way towards victory.
- Visually appealing on the table compared to 'The Witcher: Old World'.
- Captures the look and feel of The Witcher from video games with saturated colors.
- The quest system is liked, with characters having different quest decks.
- The character development aspect, where players unlock unique abilities, is loved.
- Combat is fast and snappy.
- The art on the creature cards is preferred over plastic miniatures.
- Dragon Phoenix Games' house rules for solo/co-op play are considered elegant and highly effective, making the game a 'must-own'.
- The base game is competitive, which initially kept the reviewer away.
- Original game prices were very high.
- Mystery, danger, and discovery
- The world of The Witcher
- Building a story of adventures with side quests and surprising twists.
- The Witcher: Old World
- Runebound Second Edition
- Talisman
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Action Point Allowance — On a turn, players can take two actions from a list including travel, investigate, develop, or brew.
- Character progression — Players can 'develop' their character by drawing and choosing cards from their unique ability deck, which can be powered up.
- Cooperative play (via house rules) — Dragon Phoenix Games' house rules transform the competitive game into a cooperative experience where players share victory points.
- Dice rolling — Dice are rolled for combat, with successes contributing to combat or defense. Dice rolls can also trigger abilities.
- hand management — Good fortune cards can be kept and spent for advantages. Abilities and potions/spells may need to be powered up with tokens.
- Modular board — The game uses a map with different locations connected by travel paths. Monsters are associated with different spaces.
- questing — Players complete quests which have main, side, and support components. Quests are worth victory points.
- set collection — Players gather leads of different colors to solve quests. Location colors on the board determine the color of lead drawn.
- Variable player powers — Each of the four characters (Geralt, Tris, Yarpin, Dandelion) has unique abilities and quest decks.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- And I got to tell you guys, these co-op rules are some of, if not the best house rules that I have ever found and played with for a board game. This is the way the game should have been designed in the first place.
- The Witcher Adventure game with the Dragon Phoenix Games House Rules is a total winner.
- I think their house rules for the Witcher adventure game are perhaps the best set of house rules that I've ever experienced in a board game.