Gathering Darkness (Core Game) Tabletop Roleplaying App-Assisted Game Master, Open Hero Creation System with 100+ Hours of Adventure, 1 to 4 Players, for Ages 13 and Up

I am a cognitive scientist who researchers trauma and resilience. And after a pretty rough and stressful 5 or 6 years, I wanted a way to avoid television, cut way back on screen time, and detoxify my mind a bit. Enter Pericle. I have lways loved games. But my busy schedule - and my friends' busy schedules - made game nights, especially for detailed RPG campaigns impossible. The thing about Pericle is that it is an absolute BLAST to play solo! And if you start a campaign solo, you can add friends and family from time to time and it works seamlessly. You can even cswap out characters, either pregenerated or original. Speaking of characters; the character creation flexibility in this game is off the charts. I have never played a game with such an open-ended character generating mechanic. Just brilliant. The artwork and quality of the game components is very good. Long Dog did not skimp on this game. The Loremaster (an included web-based app) guides your campaign - so no need for detailed planning, and no one has to do all the work to make sure the party has fun. Everyone plays! The apps art, music, narration, and helpful, intuitive interface make this a simple game to learn. Yes, there is a small (but steep) learning curve regarding combat mechanics - but the game is combat heavy, so you get the basics down very quickly. Resource collection is nicely balanced, and combat is varied and interesting. Typically, my play sessions are an hour or two, but there are logical breaks every 30-45 minutes which is perfect. However, even if you have to pause in the middle of combat, Loremaster remembers where you are. Take a picture of the board on your phone. Put the game away if you have to and come back later. Bottom line: The price may seem high, but if you look at bog box games, it isn't. Read the product description and see how many mini-standees come in this game. There are over 50 map boards as well! You can also count on at least 60-70 hours of play, even if you skip sidequests (but don't - they are worth it). The game is immersive and of superior quality. Gameplay is surprisingly flexible as well. $160 is a lot for a game. But if you play video games on a console, Pericle becomes even more of a bargain - and you get to actually engage your brain.

I just made it through the opening section of the game and I am having a blast! I've been playing D&D for a few years but recently wanted to game solo, this system perfectly met my needs! Not only that, I still found gameplay to be exciting even though there was no one else rolling the dice with me. I noticed one commentator said that for the price, there was too little in the box. I really cannot agree with that. Considering the cost of goods and services these days, the amount of stuff included is very much in line with the costs. As an example, the D&D Core Ruleset bundle is $123, and that comes with no gameplay materials at all! Here, there are just under 30 double sided map boards, according to the description its 50 maps total (some of them combine to make a larger map). They are absolutely reusable too for other game systems. D&D is generally played on a square grid but can be played on hex, so I can use them for D&D in the future. Same with the acrylic standees. That doesn't mention the hidden costs, the online app. It comes with music and voice acting to narrate the campaign and guide you through the adventure. Without it, you could not get a DM-less experience. I will be honest and say - It is very far from perfect. At times it feels like a beta product in early access testing, but I still found it to be more than just usable. It guided me through the opening hours of the experience well enough. As a software engineer, I know an online system like that is not simple or cheap to implement. I hope Pericle gets enough traction so that they could invest in making it better. On the topic of difficulty and complexity: These style of games have a tendency to be complex, requiring many hours of reading the rulebook and speaking to someone with experience to help explain it all. Pericle is on the lighter side of this spectrum. The rulebook is relatively thin, far smaller than the rulebooks for games like D&D, Pathfinder, or Cyberpunk Red. However, there is still considerable complexity. The system is very different from D&D, and it does not start making sense until you start playing. There is an active Discord community that I strongly recommend joining. The game designers themselves regularly respond to questions and answered all the points I was confused about. If you (or the person you plan to get this for) are not someone who is patient enough to sit through complex game mechanics, reread the rules several times, and ask questions in an online forum, then this might not be the game system for you. As far as packaging, the game box was torn on the side. That's not really something I personally care about, the gameplay materials inside were all in perfect condition, but many people do care about these things so I thought it worth mentioning. Also, I bought the Pericle Logbook as well, separately. That almost felt like a scam. Its 20 little pages. You can buy a 200 page notebook for half the price. Don't pick that up. This base game however, I wholeheartedly recommend!

Complex but fun game for anyone that enjoys Dungeons & Dragons. Can play solo using the included access to the Loremaster app that functions as a Game Master. There is still a physical hex grid and minis with about 50 custom maps. Played about 8 hours so far and fun — a few of the rules around cover and some spells is not that clear but still recommended. Huge character customization with dozens of disciplines (like DnD feats) and Spells. The app does not really have a redo step so important to write down anything important before advancing such as loot received or clues.

I have never Dm'd for DND and I wanted to play with my girlfriend. I watched pericle when it was in Kickstarter then decided the price tag seemed worthy. No regrets. It's been a lot of fun to play and have the freedom to be a player and help dm the game along. Ser up is pretty simple pieces are all made of quality. 10/10 recommend. If you've played DND the board games or the tabletop you'll enjoy this game. Mechanics are about the same as DND boardgame

Great game for solo play or small group

The gameplay is fun, the character builds require careful crafting, and there’s a good balance between web app (Loremaster) direction and freedom for the users to make their own choices. The web app could be quite a bit more polished; well, the amount of material is extensive, they are often spelling mistakes, and the battle AI is a little lacking. However, we get together and have fun every week!