Carrying on in the 2021 tradition of online conventions, Paizo Publishing gave some vital updates to their upcoming board game Pathfinder Arena at this year's online Paizocon.
The official announcement in question carries a lot of information about the game itself. First and foremost it is a competitive tile-based affair where two to four players compete against one another in an arena competition. But due to the nature of the arena challenge itself, the players cannot directly fight one another, but must summon and control monsters from the world of Pathfinder ranging from Vampires and Fire Elementals to Ankhrav and Velstrac, and have them maneuver an always changing battle arena. For those familiar with the lore of Pathfinder, this board game is set during the Age of Lost Omens and it features heroes and monsters from the setting. The game will include miniatures of the monsters, which can also be used as miniatures in the Pathfinder TRPG, over 100 cards full of features and items, 48 arena tiles, over 300 tokens and more.
The post continued to include other details, but the most enticing is that the first draft of Pathfinder Arena's rulebook is now available to download for free. Obviously, these rules are subject to change as developer Giochi Uniti, whose work includes the gothic Letters From Whitechapel, continues to iterate and improve on the game's core mechanics before its crowdfunding campaign begins sometime this fall. Still, the rules do hold some interesting ideas including how the arena shifts over time, and is worth checking out.
It's a nice preview of what exactly this board game is going for. Not to mention it shows a healthy level of confidence for a game that is already discussing expansions and other additions at this stage in production. As for how much those rules will remain the same will depend on how playtesting and the development process goes.
