Avatar: The Last Airbender – Aang’s fate, the latest title from The Op Games, isn’t just a deck-building collaborative game. As designer Pat Merino tells it, it’s a collaborative effort to adapt Aang’s entire adventures, from iceberg to Fire Lord, for the table.
Two to four players will “take on the heroic roles of Aang and his allies and work together,” says The Op Games’ official description, “to defeat opponents, complete objectives, and fight their way through the Four Nations to to restore balance to the world. world and fulfill Aang’s destiny as the Avatar.”
Polygon got a first look at a few cards from the game, with new custom art in the Avatar style, and was allowed to search Merino with questions about what players can expect from Aang’s fatewhether they are new to building board games or not.
As in most games in the genre, Aang’s fate players all start with a small deck of cards and limited skills, but are given several opportunities over the course of the game to add new cards to those decks, expanding and customizing their options for each turn and ensuring each play session has some expires. otherwise.
Image: The Op Games
Image: The Op Games
“What sets this game apart from other deckbuilding games,” says Merino, “is that it has seven boxes of unlockable content. The first box starts the story and introduces players to the core mechanics of the game. Each time the players win the game, they can unlock the next box, adding new rules and additional content. This allows the story to unfold as players gradually level up from an introductory deckbuilding game to a fairly complex strategy game by the time they reach box seven.”
As a cooperative deck builder, Aang’s fate allows players to work together towards a single goal: that of the heroes of Avatar: The last airbender. And according to Merino, figuring out how to turn the familiar evolution of Aang, Katara, Sokka and the rest into a progressive deckbuilding game was high on his list of design priorities.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but I think fans will appreciate the way allies and heroes change in the boxes.”
Image: The Op Games
The art in those boxes was designed by Patrick Spaziante of The Op Games, who calls Merino “a master of the world” Avatar: The last airbender style. (…) For (all the bending skill cards in the game) we took inspiration from the Water Bending Scroll that Katara steals from the Pirates in Season 1. We worked closely with the Avatar team to adapt this scrolling style to create bend-shape artwork for all the unique moves in the game.”
Aang’s fate is not the first time Merino has worked on an Avatar game – in 2022 The Op published Games Avatar: The Last Airbender – Fire Nation Risinga dice and card strategy game about assembling groups of heroes to defeat the Fire Nation during the Day of the Black Sun, one of the major turning points of Avatar: The last airbender‘s final season. And he says his team is doing their best to take everything they’ve learned from fans’ reactions Fire Nation in rebellion and pour it in Aang’s fate.
Image: The Op Games
“Aang’s fate is a bigger and more narrative experience (than Fire Nation in rebellion) which follows the entire storyline of the series, so we could delve a little deeper into the characters and setting and put a greater emphasis on bending.”
As a fan of the show itself, Merino says it’s one of the joys of typesetting Aang’s fate watched the series together again and again.
“The game contains hundreds of cards, most of which are unique, so there was plenty of opportunity to add fan favorite moments and characters. “Whether you’re into big battles, tipping cabbage carts or exploring the secret tunnel with Chong and his fellow minstrels,” Merino said, “there’s something in the box for every fan.”
Avatar: The Last Airbender – Aang’s fate will be released in the fall of this year, and you can check out the eye-catching box art below:
Image: The Op Games