Adventuring in the Bright and Cozy Land of Paupers’ Ladder
Discover virtues on a quest across Brighthelm with all sorts of mythical creatures and encounters in Paupers’ Ladder.
There is something that drew me to Paupers’ Ladder, and it shows no sign of leaving my table! With fun adventures across regions that can offer any manner of encounters, it plays quickly across a cozy sort of quest. There are plenty of dangers and the risk of failure, of course, yet this is an unknown title I’m so glad to be exploring at the moment!
Game Overview
Game Name: Paupers’ Ladder
Publication Year: 2019
Designer: Paul Stapleton
Artist: Paul Stapleton
Publisher: Bedsit Games
Solo Mode: Included in One Lonely Pauper
A lone adventurer takes center stage on a journey throughout Brighthelm. Quests, enemies, new locations, and more dot the landscape as virtues must be learned. Ingredients, gems, and equipment may be collected, while a helpful bird companion joins in the journey!
First Play
February 26, 2023
Complexity
2
Latest Play
August 22, 2025
Expansions
6
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
16
Play Time
45 Minutes
High Score
N/A
Game Area
38" x 26"
Low Score
N/A
Starting an Adventure
I continued on by choosing to play as K’zaah Hoi’z from Blacksand in the northeast. Her special item actually allowed her to have an unlimited inventory. Nice!
With this solo scenario, I had a few ideas of what was out there in Brighthelm. The middle mines were just right out!
The sense of discovery is amazing: Each turn is about choosing to move, then exploring in the region. An existing card is used, or a new one is added.
Enemies must be dealt with first… Hence why neither K’zaah nor her crow companion were going to the mines!
A Lovely Beach Day
Maybe the simple disc for the bird companion wasn’t all fancy, but it got the job done! The crow decided to explore a warm beach, thinking it would be pleasant enough.
I don’t think so… A sea beast emerged from the mighty waves for an exciting battle! With a lucky draw from the outcome deck and great dice luck, it was a success!
Victory gave me the option to save this card towards a virtue, collect 5 gems, or draw a random equipment card.
Equipment it was! With unlimited slots, I wanted to take full advantage of K’zaah’s special ability.
Completed Recipes
Set collection comes in the form of the recipes, where 2 of 3 ingredients must be collected in order to learn each one.
During setup, 3 of 4 cards are chosen. When a recipe is completed, a new one is chosen from 4 drawn cards.
I’ve slowly been learning how very different these can be, and how combinations can change a lot. For K’zaah, she was pretty good at moving about quickly.
This virtue seems to be one I always aim for, not because it’s easy to complete, but because I enjoy hunting for the ingredients. New abilities are always awesome, too!
Not Trapping a Demon
As her strength grew, K’zaah was finally ready to take on the demon in the mines. Things went well for a bit, until she met up with her crow in those very same mines.
Apparently, someone placed a demon trap there. Was it a trap cursed by a demon? Or a literal demon trap, there to try to hold the existing demon in place? Oh, the stories!
The pair was out of the bind in no time, luckily. I had a fun little laugh about this odd coincidence, though.
Time continued to tick down, and despite working together, K’zaah and her crow weren’t making progress.
Betrayed at the Beach
It was at the same beach where her crow companion defeated the sea beast that K’zaah put it all on the line! With no time remaining, a dragon battle was needed.
All she needed was a good deal of luck with the lucky charm… But it wasn’t to be! Sadly, she was defeated.
This was my first loss, which still came right down to the end. I never mind close losses, either, and I was so close.
Actually, the quest here would have been all that was needed. But K’zaah did attempt to visit the gambling den, and her luck was just as bad. Just not the day for her!
Close Calls and Not Needing to Win Every Time
Another aspect of story-based solo games is that they often end up in losses based on some degree of luck. I think there was a time when this bothered me, but it’s more of a feature of narratives. Unlike strategic games, it isn’t always about skill. The lucky charm was unkind to K’zaah here, which is still rather fitting in a story sense!
I still get enjoyment out of the journey. Note, too, that it wasn’t like this was an early loss. This was after running around the map a little too much. A better option was probably to try to buy more equipment, hoping for something that could aid in a major showdown with a dragon. It’s a dragon, after all: Never something to rely on pure luck for!
This world is very charming, too, so each play uncovers a little more about it and the different card combinations. It’s always fun to win, yet a few losses in a story-based solo game only make it even more exciting to restart!
Busy, Busy Brighthelm
I mentioned before that the regions can feel a little empty when playing solo… And I was wrong! This is what Brighthelm looked like at the end of this play.
Ingredients clogged some spaces, but I always had the option of spending time to clear these out.
There were plenty of other types of encounters, though. Random individuals, like the spelunker and traveller, offered ways to trade items for gems or do more.
Not quite content with this fate for K’zaah, there was just one thing to do… Start all over and learn all 3 virtues!
A Rotten Tribute
The next play involved me forgetting to take a lot of photos, but let me tell the story… Early on, Kzaah’s crow discovered a ruined temple and could take the tribute.
Fittingly, it was a whole bunch of rotten food. Who takes food that’s just been sitting there?! A crow, of course.
This was apparently an ambush, for the area was quickly swarmed by 4 bandits. They came from different region decks, too, so it wasn’t a case of poor shuffling. This time!
After they realized K’zaah and her crow were too strong, the bandits led them to the hidden assassins’ guild.
Dire Consequences
Now, everyone forgot about the stolen rotten food. It was even used to defeat a giant… In a rather unpleasant way.
Not long after, Brighthelm wanted everyone to know that you simply don’t steal tributes from ruined temples, especially rotten food. It’s there for a reason!
The mountains rumbled and a great landslide swept everything away. K’zaah and her crow were lucky to survive the dangerous flying rocks. Watch out!
I should have added a custom virtue lesson here. Virtue of common sense. Do not mess with ruined temples. Ha!
Session Overview
Play Number: 3 and 4
Expansion: One Lonely Pauper
Solo Mode: Included in One Lonely Pauper
Play Details: Medium Difficulty Level
Outcome: 1 Win and 1 Loss
It was the giant collection of items that helped K’zaah learn all of her virtues during this play! Dragonsbane was a most useful weapon, of course, but it was fun to collect all sorts of equipment. I didn’t get into the art of buying much with my first plays, but I found out just how helpful these items can be. Onward with more fun in Brighthelm!
%
10 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
9
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
9
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
9
+ Pros (Positives)
- There are duplicate cards, but a lot of these can help bring the story to life in unexpected ways.
- A selection of 5 virtues to work towards allows for various play styles, while still offering unique challenges.
- Bright colors and a vintage sort of appearance allow the atmosphere to feel cozy and cheery most of the time.
- Each pauper offers a unique way to play with special equipment, while their backstory sets the stage for the story.
- Play time flies by with simple rules and not too many decisions, making it easy to work in a play in under an hour.
- Outcome cards can be reordered by some equipment, so planning ahead for major battles is often possible.
– Cons (Negatives)
- The virtue track marks the number of completed virtues, but it isn’t obvious at a glance which virtues these are.
- Even with the right items and plans, bad luck can spoil some plans, especially with the order of the region cards.
- Quests can be tricky to complete without the right cards in the world, making this virtue very challenging.
- Tracking time and remembering some of the solo rules can be difficult with this version of the solo rules.
Victory Conditions
Complete the Scenario Win Condition
- Overall Goal Progress 33%
Goals and Milestones
Complete the Garolium's Tournament scenario.
Win at least 1 game with each base game character. (2/8)
Continue the Conversation
What do you like about Paupers’ Ladder? Do you have a favorite encounter or character? I’m still learning more about what the world offers, and that’s even before trying out the first big expansion. The rather cozy world provides a quick adventure that still has plenty of decisions and interesting moments. A return to Brighthelm is certainly imminent!
0 Comments