The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game Impressions – A World Where Choice and Storytelling Reign Supreme

Modiphius Entertainment is joining with Bethesda to bring the world of wonder, humor, and danger known as Skyrim to your tabletop in a new game titled The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game, and it is live on Gamefound right now. Skyrim The Adventure Game has already been fully funded (it was actually funded in just over 28 minutes) and has also unlocked over 50 stretch goals, which is beyond impressive. There are a few days left though in the campaign if you haven’t backed it yet, and if you’re on the fence still, we recently had a chance to sit down and put the game through its paces, and we’ve got a full impressions rundown right here to help you make a decision.

Skyrim The Adventure Game is a cooperative game but also offers a mode for solo play, and it features 2 large campaigns that run around 90 plus minutes per chapter. We had a chance to play a bit of Chapter 1, and while we didn’t explore every nook and cranny and find everything the game’s first chapter had to offer, it was enough to get a sense of the main gameplay loop and how the video game’s trademark storytelling and offerings of choice at every turn have been implemented into the realm of tabletop.

It’s immediately apparent just how much of that lore and storytelling has made it over, but more impressive is how it’s implemented into the core experience. Skyrim offers up small stories through Event Cards and Quest Cards, and these can all impact the game for the individual players and the group as a whole. For instance, I started the game by drawing a card that told me where to place my character and the reasoning why, but then it offered me two choices to choose from. Both had me moving to different cards afterward to continue my story, and if I drew the next Quest card in that chain, that quest will no longer be an option for people who are told to draw that same Quest card (they have to draw the next number up as an alternative), so you are consistently affecting not just your story but everyone else’s as well.

There’s also a push to continue a story and not let a fail state halt your progress, and this comes in several variations. Certain quests will offer up a skill test and then show the next steps for Success or Failure, but other cards shake it up a little, like the Just Reth Quest. Reth is someone you meet in Winterhold, and you have certain symbols you need to roll on the dice to pass. If you pass, you gain some rewards, but if you fail, you have two options. You can leave their card in the discard pile, which will leave them in the mix if someone else comes to town and grabs a quest, or you can ask for their personal story quest. If you complete this quest, they leave the game permanently, so others won’t have a chance to interact with them.

Skyrim also wants you to always be moving forward, so let’s say you are defeated in a chapter. You will just miss out on the rest of that chapter and start the next chapter right away. That means you do progress, but you will also miss out on all of the experience, upgrades, and additional benefits that come with moving through that chapter, so there is a cost.

The game’s more intricate systems are story-based as opposed to mechanics-based, but combat is still fun and layered. You choose a character that has a unique skillset and weapon to begin the game, and you’ll loot weapons, money, and equipment as you travel along. You’ll want to pay attention to the enemy’s weaknesses and vulnerabilities and level up your special abilities, and for my Khajit, it was all about Sneak, which helped me dish out larger amounts of damage several times throughout my game. I also loved how many options I had and that it was okay to switch courses during a battle. Before a battle, I had picked up a bigger weapon and it came in handy unexpectedly, but then I was able to use an action to switch back to my dagger from my larger sword and still have a chance to do something on my turn. As a quick side note, the design for Enchantment and Upgrade cards is brilliant by the way, and I’d be up for more games adopting Skyrim’s approach and style in this regard.

This focus on choice-based storytelling pulls you in and pushes you to explore all of the various mechanics and locations on the board, which include dungeons, Mines, Ruins, and more. Meanwhile, you’re not locked into a specific playstyle even if you choose a character who specializes in one method or another. My character focused on speed and stealth and yet when the situation called for it I just went in charging full speed with a large sword and felt like I still had a chance. A plethora of options await you in towns as well, and picking up quests makes you feel as if you’re getting to know this world on a person-to-person basis while also paying attention to the more macro-level storybeing told.

And all of this is really just scratching the surface, as we weren’t even all the way through the first chapter. If this is any indication of what the full game is like, you can understand why it’s become one of my most anticipated games of next year so soon. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game embraces the elements fans love from the game in a fresh and immersive way and ensures that everyone’s story will be unique even while they inhabit the same world. When combined with its streamlined core mechanics, Skyrim The Adventure Game offers an experience that both longtime fans and new players will surely fall in love with.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game is live on Gamefound now.