At the heart of every adventure is a story worth bringing home.
In Ryan Laukat’s Near & Far, you and your friends embark on a journey through the land in search for the legendary Last Ruin, a city housing a fabled artifact that can grant your heart’s desire.
As a sequel to Above and Below, Near and Far takes off where A&B left. Your little town is successful and fate leads you away from your comfort zone. Traveling is your only option and camps are only temporary breaks for the road ahead.
Prepare yourself for the unexpected: perilous travels, serendipitous friendships, and valuable treasures are only some of what you will encounter as you get to discover more about your characters and the stories they have to tell.
Near and Far comes with a variety of components, from tokens and plastic gems to character standees and their corresponding tokens, but what sets apart the game from others is the Atlas, a ring bound book full of maps players can adventure in. The Atlas ups the amount of encounters and possibilities already provided by the Storybook, inspired by a similar book from Above & Below.
In every game of Near and Far, where you choose to go and how you choose to deal with every situation reflects how and where your character will end up. Brawling for a spot in town? Get ready for a chance to get thrown in jail. You want that shiny treasure? Prepare to hand over all your precious savings. Everyone in the table will end up invested in each other’s adventurers, having all of these circumstances unfold in front of them.
There are also multiple approaches to playing the game: a short First Adventure that allows players to learn the basics of Near and Far (a tutorial mode), a full Campaign Mode that promises adventure in all of the realms of Near and Far, an Arcade Mode designed for quick and non-campaign play, and a Character Mode that centers on a specific character you wish to control.
Near and Far is both an interesting game and a feat of storytelling, mixing both in an adventure that will inspire great moments and take you places, well, near and far. Near and Far is a game for 2-4 players and every session may last from 60-120 minutes long. Other details may be found on Red Raven Games' website or on BoardGameGeek.
Have you gotten yourself a copy of Near and Far? What do you think of the game? Any other storytelling/adventure games you would like to recommend? Sound off in the comments below!
