By Adam Roffel
The Witcher board games have been incredibly popular, but would a game based on a niche manga comic have the same staying power as the video games and more mainstream board games? The Witcher: Path of Destiny was a great gaming experience when I played it previously. Using the Ronin backdrop is a great way to introduce that experience to new and returning players.
That said, there are subtle differences between this and the original Path of Destiny game which we won't be discussing further. Rather, we will look at this as the standalone game experience that it is.
How Path of Destiny – Ronin Plays
The Witcher: Path of Destiny – Ronin is a standalone card-drafting and tableau-building board game for 1–5 players, usually taking around 45–60 minutes. It reimagines the Witcher characters in a Japanese-inspired setting. The challenge is to build a strong collection of action cards and develop your character. You also need to balance personal scoring with cooperation between neighbouring players.
Each player chooses a character with their own abilities and player board. Over the course of four rounds, players draft and play action cards, adding them to their personal tableau. These cards provide symbols, special effects, and opportunities to create combinations that improve your position. You also earn experience, which helps you develop your character's abilities. The key is to think beyond the immediate benefit of a card. Its symbols and effects can influence both your own scoring and the opportunities available to other players.
I enjoyed the card-drafting decisions in my Citadels Duel review too, although the two games approach them quite differently.
At the end of each round, players compare the active symbols they've collected together. The most commonly collected symbol earns experience points, while the least commonly collected symbol earns victory points. This unusual scoring system means that simply collecting as many symbols as possible isn't always the best approach. Having a balance between both is what maximizes your points, which will be key to victory. That said, there are times when experience will actually help you more than points. Knowing when to do what is key to success.
One of Ronin's defining mechanics is its partnership tracks, placed between neighbouring players. Playing cards and triggering certain effects can advance these tracks, unlocking shared bonuses and sometimes letting you use an adjacent character's abilities. However, those neighbours are still competing for victory points, so helping someone can be beneficial without necessarily being in your own best interest. At the end of the game, the player with the strongest victory-point total wins. For two-player games and solo play, automated opponents called Automa help maintain the partnership mechanics. Solo play also includes a special victory condition and selectable difficulty.
Partnerships Shine With Four or Five Players
The Witcher is a really strong IP, transcending not only books and video games but TV and board games as well. Often, good IP has been used as an excuse to produce suboptimal experiences. This has been especially true in the board game space over the last decade. Thankfully, that isn't quite the case here.
I will discuss a negative out of the gate: this experience hinges on partner cooperation, but in a three-player game, this can get tricky. Two players vying for the win can cooperate a ton to earn many benefits throughout the game while almost ignoring the third player. This can make the third player's experience subpar and leave them feeling almost non-existent in the game. I've played multiple three-player games, and this happened more than half the time.
At four or more players, though, this game really shines. The partnerships players build with each other, while also vying for the win, are incredibly strategic. Those partnership tracks not only hold a lot of end-game victory points but fantastic bonuses you can obtain as well. Victory points and experience are always fun. But getting to use your neighbour's abilities or draw extra cards makes a loose alliance feel incredibly worthwhile.
I encountered a similar tension between cooperation and competing goals in 20 Strong: Nemesis, although Ronin handles it differently through its partnership tracks.
Not many games do the partnership idea well. Between Two Castles is one, and in my recent memory, this might just be the only other good implementation I've played. While working on those tracks, you will also want to balance your active symbols to earn maximum points and experience. There are times, however, where experience trumps points because of the bonuses you can unlock. Knowing when one is more valuable than the other is incredibly strategic.
Worth Your Time, Witcher Fan or Not
This game is all about delicate balances. It's important to build card combinations that suit your character and watch the balance of symbols across the table. Treat your partnerships as temporary alliances rather than unconditional teamwork. Ronin rewards players who can balance individual scoring with shared advantages.
Ultimately, that's what makes this game so compelling, and one I've enjoyed. At three players, or using the Automa feature with two players, I think this is a miss. At four or more, it's a really fun experience.
The Witcher: Path of Destiny – Ronin Review Summary
Liked
- Strategic partnerships and shared bonuses work especially well with four or five players.
- Card combinations and character abilities reward thoughtful planning.
- Balancing experience points and victory points creates interesting decisions.
- Temporary alliances add depth to the competitive gameplay.
Didn't Like
- Three-player games can leave one player excluded from meaningful cooperation.
- Two-player games using Automa didn't provide an enjoyable experience.
Adam Roffel
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