My wife is away for a conference so I figured I’d entertain the kids with a game. We got Adventure Tactics and they absolutely love it. They ask to play all the time, so it’s a win in my book.
As for the game itself, it is a bit of a mixed bag. The boggiest issue is that storage is literally impossible. There simply isn’t enough room in the card tray to hold all the cards, and it is important in this game to have the cards organized and accessible since you will be going through the different decks to find loot, gear, abilities, etc. I’ve just got everything laid out on a card table right now but I’m going to have to ditch the insert and find a card box that fits.
The components are generally good, with a few blemishes here and there. Nothing that breaks the game but I do hate paying the one of money these games go for and pulling out a player board with a piece of cardboard stuck to it, or a card that is mis cut a little. Oh well.
The game itself is fun. You just play your cards to move and attack, with class abilities thrown in. You level up Final Fantsy Tactics-style where you can level any class, and different combos can give you advanced classes. My son, for example, leveled Wizard to 2, then advanced to Necromancer. I went Rogue 2, but threw in a Cleric and am working to being a Bard. Leveling up just means you get more HP and add some ability cards to your deck. You do have the option of removing cards from time to time as well, so you really are crafting an interesting character.
The game uses a gamebook that works like a choose your own adventure and depending on your choices you will ultimately end up in a battle, which the book has complete setup instructions for.
The game is a little easy, which is perfect when playing with kids. There are ways to adjust the difficulty but I don’t feel the need to do that.
The game is fun. It is perfect for family time. I don’t know that I would pull it out for game night with my friends as there are probably better dungeon crawl options if that’s the route we are going but for the time I’m getting out of it with my kids, money well spent.