As I was waiting for my flight to Indianapolis for Gen Con last Wednesday, I got an email with some exciting news: Obsidian Entertainment, known for Fallout: New Vegas among other games, is partnering with Paizo to make an app version of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game.
Now, if you’ve been following me for any length of time you know how much I love the Pathfinder ACG, which I named my game of the year for 2013. So an app version that lets me play with people all over the world? Sounds great to me.
When I spoke to Mike Selinker and others at Paizo, they said that although they’d been working with Obsidian on this deal, the ink had hardly dried before the announcement came through. In fact, Erik Mona from Paizo said that they actually had two versions of the banner pictured above, just in case they weren’t ready to make things public yet.
But it was clear that Obsidian had put a lot of work into developing the app even before the contract was officially signed, because they had an iPad running a demo of the app at Gen Con. While it wasn’t finished, the demo did give a glimpse into how the game may work, from playing cards and selecting weapons to rolling dice for an encounter.
I love the way the location artwork is used as a backdrop, with other portions of the interface layered over it. There’s no question it’s a card game, but the app isn’t simply a literal portrayal of the physical game, either. I didn’t get too many other details yet, but I imagine the game will be playable with other players over the internet, and adventure decks would likely be available as add-ons.
The app is slated to be released sometime in 2015. I can’t wait!
