To find out about duelling go to chapter five. To find out about fighting go to chapter five (b). Chapter Five

It all feels a lot like playing an old Fighting Fantasy game book, and Near and Far does a decent job of maintaining interest in the campaign from one game to the next. But it also highlights what, for me, was the game’s greatest flaw. While the unfolding narrative is a lot of fun, it doesn’t quite sit comfortably with the route-building, stat-boosting, more mechanical aspects that make up the bulk of the game. Actual in-character plot decisions are the highlights of every session, but opportunities to enjoy them are sparse. Everything else feels slightly muted by comparison, like having to finish your homework before you’re allowed to play video games.

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Four wanderers search for the Last Ruin, a city that legends say contains an artifact that will grant the greatest desires of the heart. A lost love, redemption, acceptance, a family rejoined– these are the fires that fuel the wanderers’ journeys, but can they overcome their own greed and inner demons on the way? Parker, Shea (September 12, 2017). "3 Games That Bring Choose Your Own Adventure Stories To The Tabletop". Nerdist . Retrieved September 15, 2017. All this means is that you lose the rest of your go. There is no negative aspect to being the defender except you cannot spend your Hearts to modify you die roll. Alongside the Atlas you have a Town Board which is double-sided with one as dusk and one as day. Here you farm, mine, trade, recruit adventurers and gain treasure to aide you. The Town Board is the only place that player interaction really takes place. This is because usually no two players can occupy the same town location without duelling first (except for the Saloon, everyone is friendly there). In Near and Far, you and up to three friends explore many different maps in a search for the Last Ruin, recruiting adventurers, hunting for treasure, and competing to be the most storied traveler. You must collect food and equipment at town for long journeys to mysterious locales, making sure not to forget enough weapons to fight off bandits, living statues, and rusty robots! Sometimes in your travels you’ll run into something unique and one of your friends will read what happens to you from a book of stories, giving you a choice of how to react, creating a new and memorable tale each time you play.

There are four play modes to the game. There is a tutorial scenario, an arcade mode which eliminates the stories from play, a character mode which has different stories for eight unique characters attempting to find a lost ruin which holds an artifact that will fulfill their heart's desire, [11] and a full campaign mode with far reaching story elements which uses 10 of the game's maps in different play sessions. [9] Reception [ edit ]

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You roll a D6, add to this the total number of swords you have in your adventure party and on Treasure or Artefact cards for combat, or hands for skills and hey presto if your total is higher than that of the target you win. Once you have made your decision you roll your D6 add on any modifiers and choose to use any of your remaining hearts to modify the roll even further the outcome result and any relevant rewards will be read out to you. Final Thoughts on Near and Far Krause, Daniel (April 26, 2016). "Was ist „Near and Far" von Red Raven Games für ein Spiel?". Brettspiel News . Retrieved September 21, 2017.

This is also the case when it comes to player interaction. Near and Far tells personal stories, and as such, there’s not much that players will do with each other. Even the duels in town that occur when one player wishes to visit a location occupied by another are not really filled with drama. The real element of tension between players mostly comes from competition over limited game resources. This is the true crux of the challenge in Near and Far: how effectively can a player use an adventuring party’s time and resources to master the game’s victory systems without wasting too much time or camp tokens in town. On this level, the game feels very repetitive from play to play. Thrower, Matt (December 20, 2017). "Board masters: the 11 best board games of 2017". Stuff . Retrieved March 1, 2018.a b Herkewitz, William (September 29, 2017). "The 50 Best New Board Games". Popular Mechanics . Retrieved October 7, 2017.

What is this about an Atlas you ask? Ingeniously to aid in the immersion of the story based aspect of the game. Instead of just having one game board which would mean visiting the same locations again and again and again….add infinitum. If you fail a quest you cannot “retry” next go in fact the overarching need for the story to progress means that failure of a combat, threat or quest is never harsh or even overly negative. This is a story, A journey in a world of Lizards, Robots, Mystics and Nomads. If you can immerse and accept this journey for what it is you will have a lovely time and come away smiling. Depth comes not from the mechanisms or the methods of play but from the story above all else. Ryan Lukat and Red Raven Gameshave in fact provided you with a book of maps called the Atlas. This is again Spiral bound, meaning that it opens out into a full sized game board for each map. Each one is distinct and different. Again adding to the story immersion aspect.

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Overall, I am very happy to have this game in my collection and look forward to seeing where Ryan Lukat takes us next if he chooses to revisit this world. I am not a fan of too much player interaction but even I feel this is a little light. In Near and Far, you and up to three friends explore many different maps while looking for the Last Ruin, recruiting adventurers, hunting for treasure, and competing to be the most storied traveler. You must gather food and equipment in town for long journeys to mysterious locales, making sure to get enough weapons to fight off bandits, living statues, and rusty robots! Sometimes in your journeys you'll run into something unique and one of your friends will read what happens to you from a book of stories, giving you the option on how to react, creating a new and memorable tale each time you play. If you are in the market for a ruthlessly opportunistic route-building game, better options are available. Via Nebula and Yamataï both cover similar ground in interesting ways and, while they don’t have anything approaching Near and Far’s narrative appeal, are both fantastic games in their own right.