=>RulePop (includes the errata and easy to use storybook entries)
=>Vantage Locations Checklist (v2 with room for journal notes) =>Log Your Journey (location by location) Thin Columns =>Vantage Travel Journal (lots of room for journaling along with location number space plus print single sided so spiral bound has alternating blank pages)
From the designer: Vantage is primarily designed to reward curiosity, observation, and shared knowledge (either with other players or with yourself from previous plays). It is a rewarding, abundant game, not a punishing game; if you pay attention, use your eyes, and discuss what you see and have seen, the game will reward you. [ie, you ALWAYS succeed when you try something … it’s just that the COST to have done it can be minor or MAJOR:) ]
Tip: Games may be harder with fewer players. However, with 4, 5 or 6 players there is quite a bit of lag before you get your turn again!
It is possible to add in or drop players to a game in progress. To add in . . . just like another escape pod landed on the planet, treat them like additional player in start up, and have them land on the planet and add 2 more black dice to the game.
Overview (queued to summing up the game – if you like it, go back to the beginning for his overview of playing the game)
1-6 players // 30 mins // Mostly easy(varies with game cards)
This is a game that is a collection of MANY mini roll and write games! Rolling Realms comes with 12 mini games. Then the Redux edition adds 12 more. Plus there are many mini game packs that you can add to the game. There already are over 100 mini games in the Rolling Realms universe!
Just a small deck of cards and 6 small dice per player, so it’s easy to carry with you and needs very little table space. Try to roll your dice to match the dice shown on one of the three cards before others do. Repeat until one player hits the points needed to win.
The game designer has recently stated: “a score over 200 is very good, and scores over 300 are incredible!”
You only get the location bonus for placing a card with the SCOUT action. You do not get the location bonus when placing a card at other times.
You cannot gain a card without first deploying a card from your hand (LEAD action).
You can’t discard a card in Red Rising. Also, when you take the Lead action, you deploy a card and then you must either gain the top card of a location or the top card of the deck. When doing this, you always end up with the same number of cards (because you deploy one and gain one)
Most cards have a core value over 10+, and the only penalty for having >7 cards is -10 points. So focusing on getting as many cards as possible is the way to win.
Some cards have an end game ability to gain a banished card. You DO get to use the end game ability of that card as well.
If a card’s end-of-game ability lets you take a card from a location, that card’s end-of-game ability or/and end-game bonus DOES trigger!
Clarification: “top non-Gold card at a location” means if the very top card is Gold, then the top non-Gold card might be the 2nd or 3rd card in the location.
If Apollo triggers “end game”, everyone gets one more turn (because Apollo was the first player and does get that extra turn at the end).
The Apollo house card has you just add a card to a location (ie, you do NOT get the placement bonus)?
Some gray cards let you choose to set it to another color. It then is gray plus that color.
A “non-Gold” card includes colorless cards (ie, face down cards).
When deployed sometimes you get to move another card (from top or from anywhere in a location stack?) => Discussion (with comments from two game designers)
Official Variant for Multiplayer Games: When choosing one or more opponents to banish, potentially banish, or steal a card from their hand without the immediate ability to regain a card, you may only choose players who have more cards in hand than their starting hand (most starting hands are 5 cards; for House Ceres it’s 6). You can still deploy cards with such abilities, but any abilities related to choosing an opponent won’t trigger. This applies to Aja, Antonia, Arlus, Karnus, Roque, and Tactus.
Wonderful Overview by the game designer (Pam Walls) – Note that before a game is officially available, some types of “reviews” are not permitted by the game publisher (she refers to this as an “embargo”):