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Adventure of D is a great little fantasy adventure card game by Indonesian designer Jack Darwid. If you like this genre, you really should give it a closer look, not least because it's particularly good when played solo, and has an excellent sense of story. The "Power Card" system, as the designer has termed it, features some innovative and admirable elements. Location cards are used to create a 4x3 map, and then you choose a hero character, who travels on the map completing various challenges, building up his character (with attributes of Strength, Intelligence, and Agility), and eventually must defeat the evil wizard Elzoof. A 2-4 player game is largely a multi-solitaire race, but perhaps the game shines brightest when undertaken as a solitaire challenge - and many players consider it to be best enjoyed that way, although a 2 player game also works well. Adventure of D deserves to be better known, so ahead of a more detailed pictorial review, I'm sharing a play-by-play example of a complete game, to illustrate the basic concepts and flow of play. So with the help of my camera and photo editing software, I have created a pictorial illustration of game-play. Please join our Ranger hero on this adventure! Welcome to a solitaire game of Adventure of D!
SET-UP
We start by picking our hero character from the many available. In this case, let's go with the Ranger, who has the special "Bulls-eye" ability that helps him fight Shadows more easily. A random draw of a pink card from the Power deck dictates that our hero starts with 1 Strength (pink), and no Intelligence (yellow) or Agility (blue). All three attributes will be tracked on the left of the hero card.
Ranger hero at the Castle of Light, with a Strength of 1
As always, our hero's adventure will begin at the Castle of Light, which in this case is towards the lower right of the map. The twelve different locations that comprise the land of D are set up randomly. Notice how at the top left is the Tower of Death - that's the home of the evil wizard Elzoof, and is the place where our hero's fate will be decided at the end of the game. So we'll be heading here after we get our attributes to a high enough level where we think we can take him on!
Set-up at the start of the solo game
The solitaire game has various levels, corresponding to the amount of turns that you have to complete the game. Today we're using the easiest level of 7. This means that our Ranger hero has to defeat Elzoof on Turn 7 at the very latest, otherwise we'll lose the game. So it's essentially a timer or game clock - normally you keep track of turns using cards, but in this instance we're using a D10 (there it is at the top right) to make it easier.
For those new to the game, each turn consists of the following parts:
● two new events
● actions and movement
● resting
Can we build up our Hero's character enough in order to complete the difficult challenge of defeating Elzoof before the end of Turn 7? We draw our starting hand of 8 random cards, and we're ready to roll!
TURN 1
The cards in hand correspond to our hero's health, which is measured in Hit Points (HPs). As cards are used during a turn, he starts getting tired and has less resources, so we want to make sure our health doesn't drop to zero - strategic resting in a safe location is always a good idea! Here our hero's starting hand of cards:
Initial hand
New Events: Rescue the Teacher & Goblin Warrior. As will happen at the start of each turn, two new events turn up. In this case: Rescue the Teacher (at the Lake of Hope), and Goblin Warrior (at the Mountain of Proph). Rescuing the Teacher is a difficult challenge requiring a fairly high level of Agility, so we're not ready for that just yet, but perhaps we can defeat the Goblin Warrior in a show of Strength. But first, since we have three blue (Agility) cards in hand, let's complete the Master Marrel challenge and try to increase the level of our Agility.
Movement: Travel south to Forest of Rune. Moving off the bottom of the map, we find ourselves magically transported to the top of the map at the Forest of Rune. We check to see if we encounter a Shadow enroute, by drawing a card. The danger level for the Forest of Rune is quite low - only 2 - so as long as we draw a card of higher value, we won't meet up with a Shadow. Not that we can't deal with them, but in most cases meeting up with a Shadow will force us to use some of our health by playing a card to defeat it, and we'd rather save our energy for more important challenges that give us better rewards, or increase our abilities! No Shadows are stalking the Forest of Rune today, so we arrive safely. Perfect, because we have three of the blue cards (with the blue Agility icon) needed to complete this challenge!
Action: Master Marrel challenge. At the Forest of Rune, we discard the three cards needed to complete the challenge, thereby increasing our Agility to 1. Surely even the designers of Runebound would be pleased with our success so far! Now let's head to the Mountain of Proph to challenge that Goblin Warrior!
Master Marrel at the Forest of Rune
Movement: Travel south to Plain of Sorrow. Despite the danger level of the Plain of Sorrow being at a fairly high level of three, we're able to move here safely without meeting with a Shadow.
Movement: Travel west to Mountain of Proph. Still no Shadows threaten, as we move safely and quietly to the Mountain of Proph, intent on taking on the Goblin Warrior that is lurking there.
Action: Goblin Warrior challenge. We only have one pink Strength card in hand, with a value of 1, but we play it as our First Effort because it has the benefit of letting us draw a card (because the card we played is the same colour as the current challenge - which in this case is pink = Strength). We have a Strength of 1 already, so we need to draw at least a 4 to get to the total of 6 that we need to defeat the Goblin Warrior. Unfortunately our second effort drawn is only a 2 - not enough to complete the challenge, so as a penalty we lose a Hit Point (discarding a card).
Losing to the Goblin Warrior at the Mountain of Proph
Rest. Perhaps we should have tried taking on the Goblin Warrior with a bit more fire power! But we were getting tired, and didn't have many cards in hand to choose from, especially with all the energy expended to complete the Master Marrell challenge earlier in the turn. We need to rest, and can't really afford to risk travelling to a safer location. Even though the danger level at the Mountain of Proph was 2, we decide to rest here. Instead of drawing back to a full hand, we draw cards to replenish our hand up to 6 cards (2 less than the normal limit of 8, due to the danger level of 2).
TURN 2
New Events: Master Ernie & Water Elemental. We wake up the next morning to discover that Master Ernie has appeared at the Woods of Mana, and a powerful Water Elemental at the Forest of Rune.
Action: Goblin Warrior challenge. But first, we have a Goblin Warrior to deal with! We aren't going to be beaten so easily this time, not after a good night's sleep! As our First Effort, we play a powerful pink Strength card with a 4 value. Even though our Second Effort drawn was only a value of 1, our additional 1 Strength is enough to make a total of 6 Strength, just enough to complete the challenge! We discard the Goblin Warrior, and as a reward increase our Strength to 2. Now that the Goblin Warrior is gone, the "Master Vladd" challenge is now available to us, but unfortunately we don't have the three yellow Intelligence cards in hand needed to complete it. Perhaps another day. For now, we have a teacher to rescue!
Movement: Travel north to Lake of Hope. We decide to take on the risky proposition of Rescue the Teacher, and so we head north. The danger level in the Lake of Hope is 2, and sure enough we turn up a 2, so we have to deal with a Shadow of Strength 3. This does have the advantage of earning us three Magic Points, which might come in useful later. We use our Bulls-eye ability (by discarding a blue 2 card) to fend off the Shadow and earn ourselves some Magic Points.
Action: Rescue the Teacher challenge. This was never going to be easy, because we'd need a total Agility of 10 to pull it off! As our First Effort, we play a white card of value 5. Since we already had 1 Agility, we'll need to draw a 4 or 5 as our Second Effort, in order to make the total of 10. The odds of getting it are only 40% at best! Fortunately for us, luck is swinging our way, and there is the card we need - a 4!
Successfully Rescuing the Teacher!
We've rescued the teacher! As a reward, we can increase our Strength to 2, as well as learn a skill. The skill turns out to be "Friend of Nature" - not that useful given that we already had Bulls-eye, but it makes our character feel more well-rounded and does wonders for his confidence. We press on.
Learning a new skill: Friend of Nature
Action: Cycle. With a view to gaining the yellow Intelligence cards we'll need for the Master Vladd challenge, we use the "Cycle" action at Lake Hope to cycle two of our cards, in the hope of improving our hand.
Rest. Then we rest - we don't really have enough health (HPs) left to risk further travelling. The danger level at the Lake of Hope is 2, so again we can only draw up to a hand of 6 cards. But fortunately we've now drawn the three yellow (Intelligence) cards that we need in our visit to Master Vladd!
TURN 3
New Events: Orc Warrior & Black Zombie. An Orc Warrior appears at the Plain of Sorrow, and a Black Zombie at the Woods of Mana. Let's ignore them for now - we're intent on increasing our Intelligence at the Mountain of Proph first!
Movement: Travel south to Mountain of Proph. No shadows appear as we travel to the Mountain of Proph in search of further adventure.
Action: Master Vladd challenge. Now we have the three yellow Intelligence cards in hand needed to complete this challenge. So we discard them, thereby completing the challenge and acquiring 1 Intelligence. Methinks Vlaada Chvátil (designer of Prophecy) would be the first to congratulate us for this achievement!
Completing the Master Vladd challenge
Rest: With a minimum of 1 in each of the three abilities, we now qualify to get the Mushrooms of D in the Garden of Mushrooms! Let's head there shortly! But with only 3 cards in hand, the Garden of Mushrooms is too dangerous to visit just now, having a danger level of 3. So the obvious thing to do for now is bide our time by resting at the Mountain of Proph and drawing back up to 6 cards in hand. It's perhaps not the ideal place to bed for the night, but at least we have restored health for another day of adventures!
TURN 4
New Events: Wight & Frozen Wind. A Wight reveals itself at the Tower of Death, and a Giant Cobra at the Castle of Light. We're not sure that we'll have enough health to deal with a Giant Cobra by the time we arrive at the Castle of Light, given our plans to visit both the Garden of Mushrooms and Castle of Light in one turn, so we decide to spend 3 of our Magic Points to discard the Giant Cobra event. In its place, comes a Frozen Wind event at the Forest of Rune, which prevents healing HPs.
The Frozen Wind event
Action: Master Vladd challenge. We've drawn a great hand while resting, so we're in a good position to complete the Master Vladd challenge a second time. By discarding the three required yellow Intelligence cards, we increase our overall Intelligence to 2. This means that all three of our abilities (Strength/Intelligence/Agility) are at least at level 2, and that qualifies us to Tell a Hero's Tale at the Castle of Light! This is going to be a good turn!
A hand with useful yellow (Intelligence) cards
Move: Travel south to Garden of Mushrooms. We head for the Garden of Mushrooms. Despite a danger level of 3, our hero draws a 4, thus again avoiding the need to deal with a Shadow! So far so good!
Action: Mushrooms of D. Since we meet the requirements of having at least a level 1 in each of the three abilities, we can enjoy some of the Mushrooms of D, and use this to increase our Strength to 3.
Movement: Travel east to Castle of Light. Moving to the Castle of Light is almost always safe, but even though there is no risk of a Shadow we still need to expend one of our HPs as required for movement. Still, we arrive in good enough health to stay up for some tales around the fire in the great hall of the castle.
Action: Tell a Hero's Tale. Now that we've arrived safely at the Castle of Light, we have many tales of adventure to share! By Telling a Hero's Tale we're able to increase our Strength a further 2, for a total of 5. Now that one of our hero's abilities is at level 5, we are ready to take on Elzoof!
Telling a Hero's Tale at the Castle of Light
Rest. But first, it's time to sleep, and renew our energy. The Castle of Light is an ideal and safe place to rest, enabling us to restore our health all the way back to the full amount of 8 HPs. We're well equipped and refreshed for the concluding phase of our adventure! Given the location of the Tower of Death, our plan is to spend the next night in the Village of Dew or the Village of Dawn, which would be ideal places to rest before launching the final assault on Elzoof.
TURN 5
New Events: Arm Wrestling Contest & Goblin Magician. Word emerges about an Arm Wrestling Contest that is in progress at the Village of Dew, and a Goblin Magician at the Swamp of Talis. Here's how things look at the start of Turn 5:
The start of Turn 5
Movement: Travel west to Garden of Mushrooms. Given our immense Strength (5) at this point, we can't pass up the opportunity to partake in an Arm Wrestling Contest can we? Our hero starts heading west in the direction of the Village of Dew, via the Garden of Mushrooms.
Movement: Travel west to Village of Dew. On both legs of our journey we again don't see any signs of Shadows, so we're in fine shape for the contest when we arrive at the inn at the Village of Dew.
Action: Arm Wrestling Contest. With our superior strength, we are quickly proclaimed winner of the contest, and for our efforts are rewarded with Black Powder. It's useful only at the Swamp of Talis, so it's of no real value to our hero at this point of our adventure, but it will serve as a glamorous reminder of our arm-wresting conquests, and perhaps make a nice heirloom for the grandchildren.
Arm Wrestling at the Village of Dew
Rest. But what to do about the Wight that is still lurking at the Tower of Death? Secretly we'd hoped that we would meet a Shadow somewhere on the journey to the Village of Dew - this would have enabled us to gain some Magic Points by defeating it, which we could then in turn use to deal with the Wight after teleporting from the Village of Dew. Instead of teleporting, we will have to try a different plan, in order to deal with that Wight by means of magic. Meanwhile, we rest in the Village of Dew, drawing back up to a hand of 7 cards. Things are still looking quite promising for the final stretch, and we do still have two turns up our sleeve if we need them!
TURN 6
So here's how things stand at the start of the turn - can our Ranger hero win from here, with the seven cards he has in hand? A victory this turn isn't completely assured by any means, because things could still go wrong - depending on that nasty Wight who stands between us and the Tower of Death! And depending on what new events might appear!
Resting at the Village of Dew, and ready to take on Elzoof!
New Events: Electric Puzzle Challenge & Secret Maze. The two new events that appear include an Electric Puzzle Challenge at the Village of Dawn, and a Secret Maze at the Garden of Mushrooms. Every fantasy adventure game needs an Electric Puzzle Challenge, so that is heartening. But the good news is that the Secret Maze is a yellow (Intelligence) event, so it automatically eliminates the Wight. Fortunately our hero doesn't have to do it himself another way!
Movement: Travel south to Tower of Death. Ah, when using regular movement en route to the Tower of Death, we encounter a Shadow! It's not surprising given the high danger level of 4 at the Tower of Death! But we defeat it easily, gaining 3 Magic Points in the process. Elzoof, we can see you in your tower! All that lies between us and your defeat now are three final challenges! But we only have 5 cards in hand - will it be enough?
Entering the Tower of Death
Room 1 Challenge: Trap! We enter his castle, and stumble across an unexpected trap, in which we receive a sudden SHOCK- causing us to lose 1 Hit Point, in this case the loss of a valuable pink card with a value of 5.
Room 2 Challenge: Guardian. But before we can take on Elzoof, we must get rid of his Guardian. We turn over a card to see how strong the Guardian Shadow is - and it turns out to be nearly the most powerful Shadow possible - a strength of 5! Oh dear! But not to worry, we are a Ranger, remember? We simply use our Bulls-eye ability and discard our blue 5 in order to defeat it comfortably. Now we only have 3 cards left, and there's one final challenge to complete - but we must have at least 1HP remaining after defeating Elzoof! Can we do it?
Room 3 Challenge: Elzoof the Chaos Wizard. Look at the powerful cards we have in hand: a pink 4, white 5 and yellow 5. We need to discard cards with a cumulative value of at least 8, and fortunately our cards all have high values, so it's a cinch. We discard the 4 and the 5, keeping the yellow 5 in hand. Only one card in hand - but that's enough, it means we're alive! So we've done enough to crush Elzoof, and have exactly 1 HP remaining! We have just managed to squeeze out a win by Turn 6!
The victorious Ranger
SUMMARY
Our hero has completed his mission on Turn 6, and since we'd started the game on the Beginner level (7), we even had a turn to spare. Had it been the Easy level (6), we'd also have won. The Normal level (5) or Hard level (4) are more difficult however, and games can often go to the wire!
The above play example covers most of the aspects of game play, and will give a sense of the flow of play that Adventure of D offers. Each card offers a unique event with different challenges and rewards, so there's lots of possibilities for a different story to emerge each time - and you do need to plan your path to capitalize on the various opportunities to increase your abilities, as well as manage the risks that come with these challenges and with moving from place to place. It's good fun too! I hope this illustration of basic game-play helps people learn the game, and understand how the flow of play works - a more detailed review will be forthcoming in the future (subscribe to this list to be notified when it appears). Thanks again for joining us on this adventure!
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Do you enjoy this way of learning how the rules of a game work? You may want to check out this list:
 More pictorial illustrations of game-play by Ender: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/42866
Edit: A minor rules hiccup that was brought to my attention after posting this report should be mentioned for the record. Even though it's inconsequential for the outcome of this particular game, normally you need at least 1 Intelligence to acquire a new skill as happened with "Friend of Nature" on Turn 2.
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Bart de Vos
Netherlands
Groningen
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Great pictorial session report! I love watching these, cause you really get a great sense of how the game plays out!
In fact, you've just convinced me to add this to my want-list. It looks great!
Thanks. Keep those pictorial reports coming! 
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Gary Nichols
United States
Deptford
New Jersey
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Thank you for a truly great session report! Following it through felt like I was reading an adventure story, which, I guess I was! Adventure Of D is a really good game and I always enjoy playing it.
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Posted Mon Feb 21, 2011 2:00 pm
