Statement of Bias: I tend to appreciate games where adaptability, creativity, and clever tactics are rewarded, and where theme is rather high. Or, put another way, I'm a light gamer along the lines of Tom Vasel; I appreciate the 'German' stuff, but I love the flavorful light stuff, too, especially if it's got a sci-fi or fantasy theme. I'm also a tweaker who has no problem trying various house rules on for size, if (and only if) the game seems like it needs the help. Just thought you might like to know.

That said, Phantasy Realm is an excellent addition to the genre of quasi-RPG games out there, and indeed a good game within the whole pantheon of fantasy games.

Game Play: The game board is set up by taking four mapboards and arranging them however you choose. Paths show players how movement is conducted through each of these four "regions". The board has a "wraparound" effect, so if you go off the edge on one mapboard, you continue on the path directly opposite.

Separate the chits -- take the Special Treasure ones out and put them in a separate draw cup, then randomly draw 16 Foes, placing them in specially designated places on the boards, and put all the rest of the chits in another cup (or bag or whathaveyou) to be drawn from later. The Foes you place on the board are face-up, they're known pests, and some are tough, some not so.

Players select one of four characters and then attempt to be the first to reach the winning conditions, depending on which adventure (read: game) is selected by the players at the beginning. So, with Phantasy Realm's system, you've got four games you can play. One is called The Contest, in which players slay a foe and register their kill in each region, finishing in their home region. Another is called Treasure Hunt, in this one players need to collect 3 magical objects and bring them to a certain place. Because magical objects can only be obtained by killing baddies, and the bigger the baddie the better chance you have of finding a magical object, players need to balance skill development and monster fighting.

A turn is composed of first moving, then encountering whatever person, place, or thing might be where you are. You need not move, but if you do, you can either "travel" (for speed) and move 4 or more (depending on if you have a mount or not) spaces but not encounter anything, or "search" and move up to 2 spaces and then encounter the space you land on. If there's something there already, you encounter it. If not, you draw a random chit and encounter it, so if it's a person, you may deal with them, and if it's a foe, you fight them. "Searching" is viewed as an "in-depth" look at the area, and what it typically means is that you're looking for a fight, because it's more likely that you'll draw a foe than anything else.

The "travelling" option is one reason why this game is so special, though. It allows you to pursue a particular strategy and avoid random events that might throw the game out of whack. You're in this game for essentially two reasons: one, to kill monsters, and two, to go to big cities (for whatever reason). Players know where these things are, and by knowing that only geography will limit your travel, you can craft a strategy in pursuing your objectives. The "Spells & Spellcasters" expansion changes things significantly, but that's another review.

Combat is straightforward. There's three kinds of combat - physical, mental, and ranged.

For Physical combat, both you and your foe roll a ten-sided die, and add the result to your Strength + your Dexterity + any bonuses (such as armor or your weapon). If you win, the monster dies (typically), and you get any silver pieces he was holding (a fixed number). Roll a d10, and if the number is less than or equal to the number of silver pieces he was holding you get a special treasure too (which may be a magical object conferring cool bonuses). AS WELL, if his Strength was greater than yours, you bump your Strength up a point. If you tie, it's a "push" and you'll roll again next turn. If you lose, you lose a Health Point. You start out with 5 of these, and if you lose them all, you die. Various places offer healing, though.

Mental combat is the same except with Intelligence rather than Strength as the main attribute in play. You can only fight Foes with a Strength rating in Physical combat, and you can only fight Foes with an Intelligence rating in Mental combat.

That is, unless you shoot an arrow at them from a nice, safe distance (Ranged combat). Instead of "searching" the space you move to (or are just hanging out at), you can shoot an arrow at a foe some spaces away, assuming you have a bow with sufficient range and some arrows. For this, roll 2d10 and add it to your Dexterity + any bonuses. If you hit, the foe dies, but the stuff stays there until you can pick it up. If you miss, you lost an arrow, that's it. If you shot at an another character with a bow, they can take a shot back. Dexterity is the key stat for this kind of combat, and if you hit something with a greater Dexterity than you, great! Bump up your Dexterity by a point. Only Foes with Strength can be killed with a conventional arrow; Mental Foes must be killed with silver arrows which are harder to come by.

This is the core of the game; everything else supports it. Silver pieces are the money, you typically get them with kills and they can help you buy healing, weapons or armor to help you kill stuff with, or mounts which help you move faster and farther or carry more stuff (after all, in keeping with theme, there is encumbrance -- you can only carry as much as your Strength will allow). The various "special places" are either a) cities to buy stuff in, b) "casinos" where you pay your money and take a chance on getting a bump in one of your stats, or c) "flavor" where you can go exploring (if you choose) and, depending on how you roll, lose a turn, bump into a baddie, get moved somewhere else, or find a treasure.

For The Contest, an interesting decision is whether to take some time to move and fight a face-up Foe you know you can beat, or go "searching" close by, in hopes you can find something you can beat but not something you can't. Careful examination of what else is face-up and where other players are will tell you this.

It's usually not a good idea to interfere with other players unless you've really got an advantage over them. The penalties for losing to another player are steeper (they can take something you want or need).

Finding Special Treasure, exploring "flavor" places, and fighting things are handled with dice, so there's quite a bit of rolling in this game. IMO, the Treasure Hunt scenario is too luck-driven, because you need to get magical objects to win, and there's a lot of luck between the time you set out to beat a baddie and the time you might get one. You may beat a big baddie with 5 silver pieces and roll an "8" and not get anything. Or you might roll a "4" but get a potion, which won't count. Meanwhile, your opponent might beat a wimpy Shade, roll a "1", and get a magical object. The Contest and Knight's Club are not as luck dependent, and thus better games to play, again, IMO.

Game play is pretty quick. You shouldn't be in many "analysis paralysis" situations, and we particularly like The Contest, because it's quite quick.

Components: A lot of cardboard, and you've got to cut it out yourself. It does take hours, if you're going to do it properly (the chits require an Xacto blade, really). It made kinda fun project for me and the wife, but I can see others balking at the work. Still, once you're done, it looks good. Won't knock your socks off, but it's functional. The mapboards are colorful. The booklets, both for the rules and for the various things you encounter, are nicely done with lots of RPG-type artwork.

Theme: Very well done. The designer has really done a good job developing flavorful places (complete with descriptive prose) and player characters. Each of the player characters has a special Talent which allows them either move farther, or have a little more money, or do a little better in one form of combat. These Talents are not only well-tested and balanced with respect to each other (as well as the game), but also enhance the feeling of being a special character.

The one thematic quibble I have is that you can 'zip' (by "travelling") by big old baddies like Dragons and Giants. I thought about developing a house rule to say, hey you can't travel past a monster with a combined combat score of 30 or more. It was lower, but that would bog down the game. As it is, that might still bog down the game, but I haven't tested it (nor does my wife want to test it, she tried the first house rule with me, it flopped, and now won't try another one). Rainsford knew what he was doing; the game works as it is.

Conclusion: My wife's current favorite. I find it a nice way to pass the time, too (it won't crack my Top 5, but it's fun). In your plays, you may find one or another strategy is practically foolproof and that the game is ultimately broken; if so, let me know. I haven't seen it yet, which tells me the designer's tested a lot of these angles already. If you like, I'll post my impressions of the 4 player characters. Lots of theme, but you'll need a strategy to win The Contest or Knight's Club; that's a good game.