Looking Back at the Valley at the End of Earthborne Rangers
Travel to the far corners of the Valley in a realm of exploration and discovery with the campaign for Earthborne Rangers.
Success! After consistently playing Earthborne Rangers for a few weeks, I found myself at the end of the opening campaign. Such an amazing time! It wasn’t without its hiccups and rules issues, yet I’m still looking back at my time and remembering those beautiful moments of just… Walking around the Valley, appreciating the little details.
Spoiler Alert
Again, I’m trying my best to share overall thoughts about everything rather than going into specifics about the campaign. Some photos include glimpses of mission information and rewards, though, so I recommend glossing over the details or simply coming back if you’d like to play first. The Valley has a lot of surprises that are best left unspoiled!
Game Overview
Game Name: Earthborne Rangers
Publication Year: 2023
Designers: Many (5 Credited)
Artists: Joe Banner & Evan Simonet
Publisher: Earthborne Games
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Over a series of plays, missions provide some guidance, yet this is a very much akin to a tabletop RPG with a focus on exploration. There are all sorts of sights to see across the Valley, along with characters and enemies who pop up. In the end, it offers a delightful tale to remember.
First Play
December 28, 2023
Complexity
3
Latest Play
January 6, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
5 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
26
Play Time
40 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
28" x 22"
Low Score
N/A
From Beginning to End
I did it! The Lure of the Valley campaign came to a close after I worked through the last few major missions. It featured a lengthy and awful time in the swamps, though.
Good thing I wasn’t riding a horse… I had The Neverending Story music on at random times, and the swamplands were probably even more grim than they might have been!
The ending was both good and bad, and I won’t get into any specifics. Mechanically, there were some big issues.
Yet I chose a path to tie everything together, and dawdling still allowed me to reach the end in time. Hurray!
Most-Used Cards
It might seem like I would have picked out some favorite cards in my deck, yet I found the most use from a rather simple and mildly boring source… The reference cards!
Although these didn’t include everything I needed, they were constantly used. Aside from the learning experience at the start and a few minor things, I only needed these.
Maybe this seems trivial, yet it’s worth mentioning when the rulebook was so hard to wade through initially.
Common tests always helped me remember main actions I could try to take when all options seemed to be exhausted.
Rewards as Memories
Another interesting element of this system is how it seems like it would be about building a deck, yet I didn’t find that to be the case. There really wasn’t a strategy to the cards.
Sometimes, the desired cards ended up near the bottom of a deck. Drawing every card led to the end of the day, so it wasn’t a good idea to go through my deck too quickly.
What I found instead were rewards that called back to the memorable parts of the campaign. Each one had a story.
I can look at everything pictured here and tell you how I came across it, and what that mission meant to me.
A Static Personality
When I chose my personality card, I figured there would be ways to adjust this over time… Even though I was quite pleased to be observant and easily distracted. Ha ha!
Yet in a very realistic sense, none of these values changed. A few instances allowed me to start a day with a temporary boost, but that was about it. Personalities are permanent!
I noticed that I leaned into this a lot, though. Focus actions were rarely taken, while I took plenty of awareness tests.
Does this change gameplay a lot, though? It’s hard to say, as I found that committing cards to tests helped a lot.
What Would Another Campaign Run Mean?
I left my deck intact when I packed everything up, wondering what it would mean to reset completely and start over. This campaign took me somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 hours to complete. No complaints: That was a lot of fun and I got a lot out of the game! Yet a lot of that time came during vacation, and I don’t always have consistent solo time.
On the rare occurrences when I didn’t play every day, I definitely felt more disconnected from the world. For me, I have to keep up a regular cadence to feel invested in an ongoing storyline. I kind of felt like I saw everything, too, even if I left a few side missions unresolved. Completing those for the sake of completion doesn’t align with my preferences.
What I’m most interested in is seeing what upcoming content and new campaigns look like. I had so many exciting moments with this campaign, and don’t want to erase those. Maybe I’ll see some new content, yet a lot of side missions don’t involve choices, so the outcomes are always the same. No sense risking making the game feel repetitive!
I appreciate that I can reset everything, though. Some may enjoy going back through the Valley to see it all from another perspective with a different ranger. My time was well-spent, and I do believe I’ll be moving on from here, looking forward to the next campaign. It’s a lovely world and I hope that this brings about even more fun content!
My Favorite People
Characters showed up all over the place, and many pivotal locations had memorable faces! Yet I didn’t visit a lot of the large villages enough to see characters over and over.
The roaming people were different, though. There was a chance I could run into them all over the Valley.
Sil Belai stuck with me for the way I saw the game come together with her mission. I never forgot the Tenebrae and that strange painting in the mountains… Sil was great!
Ben Amon helped me move around a lot, and he was also my dance partner at the Harvest Festival. What fun!
Inspired to Play More
I don’t know if I want to play through this campaign again. I didn’t complete everything nor see every possible choice, but I don’t know if it would be worth another 20 hours.
Instead, my entire experience reminded me of a tabletop RPG I read through last year, but never got around to playing: The Wildsea. Different, yet vaguely similar!
My idea for a solo campaign with some characters is still swirling around, and I now feel inspired to start.
There might even be some opportunities for crossover elements… RPGs are great in allowing nearly anything!
Session Overview
Play Number: 15-26
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game
Play Details: Days 14-25
Outcome: Campaign Complete (12 Wins)
Looking back at the events, everything meant something. My character was part of the Valley, and although this adventure wasn’t without its share of sad moments, it had a happy ending. This setting was charming in most cases, but also downright challenging in others. Although I may not plan to go through this specific campaign again, I look forward to seeing the future of this setting and system!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
8
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
7
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
10
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
+ Pros (Positives)
- Exploration is a key element of gameplay, and the open world concept comes through extremely well.
- Swapping out starting cards for rewards improves a deck, yet is much more focused on the campaign memories.
- Moving through locations presents interesting situations to work through with tests and trying to avoid danger.
- There are definite better ways to end each day and progress, but it never feels like a day or mission is a loss.
- Completing side missions and discovering surprises in the world offer very satisfying moments to remember.
- For a relatively small amount of overall cards, there is a surprising amount of variety to find in the campaign.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The rulebook is incomplete and leaves a lot of questions to be answered elsewhere when learning how to play.
- Card quality is mediocre and the cardboard tokens are prone to splitting, although these are easy to proxy.
- Some elements of the final missions rely on pure luck that can’t be adjusted, which can be extra frustrating.
- A campaign requires lots of time to enjoy all of the little moments, yet may not offer a lot of variety if played again.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Day
- Overall Goal Progress 100%
Goals and Milestones
Complete The Lure of the Valley campaign.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of Earthborne Rangers? Do you have any memorable days, missions, or rewards from the campaign? I’m so glad I had a chance to devote all of this time to exploring! The experience wasn’t without its bumps and rough edges, yet this was simply wonderful to play through. Here’s to hoping that more great campaigns come out soon!
0 Comments