PAX Prime 2015: Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords for iOS Review

based on the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, a popular card game based on Dungeons and Dragons: Pathfinder, a Tabletop Role-play game. The mobile game is based on gathering and using cards to overcome a series of challenges, including puzzles, combat scenarios, and diplomatic conflicts.

The game starts out with each of up to four players creating a character by choosing a race (from a set of fantasy races, such as Elves, Dwarves, and Halflings) and a class. Playable classes in Pathfinder include Warriors, who use traditional weapons and armor, Wizards, who use powerful spells and rituals, and Rogues, who use stealth and precision. There are other classes, but the playable classes for the iOS title have not yet been confirmed. The combination of race and class determine the cards each player can build their starting deck from. There are also pre-built characters for players to use.

As the game progresses, the players use their cards, which include weapons, spells, and other abilities, to solve puzzles and win fights, and as they complete these challenges, they gain experience, which they can use to acquire new spell and ability cards, and they may find or buy new weapons and armor over time. They also earn “feats” -powerful specializations and abilities- as they progress.

While the mobile game plays nearly identically to the card game, there are a number of additional features that are not possible for a non-digital title.

The first of these are animated cut-scenes featuring a number of well-known Pathfinder characters. These scenes are reactive, featuring branching dialogue trees and meaningful, diverse choices for the players to make. Additionally there is the addition of enhanced and animated backdrops for all locations and encounters, an extensive playable tutorial, and a single-player mode.

I was extremely impressed by the iOS version of the game; it translates perfectly from a tabletop card game to a tablet, and my expectations were far surpassed.

The game is being developed and published by Obsidian Entertainment, the publisher behind a number of popular titles such as Knights of the Old Republic 2: the Sith LordsFallout: New Vegas, and South Park: The Stick of Truth.

More information will be released by Obsidian in the coming months, and you can sign up for the newsletter here. If you want more information, the official articles published by Gamingcypher and Toucharcade have most of the currently available details.

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