Last modified September 27, 2025 by Jarjar
Overview
In recent years, narrative and immersive board games have been experiencing a real boom. Between epic campaigns, open worlds, and cooperative experiences, players looking for adventure are in their element. And rightly so, Vantage, the latest creation from Jamey Stegmaier (Stonemaier Games), pushes the boundaries of the genre!
Immersed in a rich and mysterious science fiction universe, players take on the role of members of a space crew stranded on an unknown planet. Exploration, survival, discovery, secret objectives… Vantage offers a cooperative gaming experience, but where each player progresses alone, guided by their own choices and instincts.
This game is the result of a colossal effort: more than 8 years of development were necessary for its author, Jamey Stegmaier. The game includes nearly 800 interconnected location cards, as well as more than 900 other cards (items, powers, companions, etc.) to discover, for a total of approximately 1,700 cards!
If you would like to see the contents of the box in pictures, I invite you to consult this article here.
My first impressions!
First of all, WOW, what effort and work on the part of the author to offer us an experience that is both new and extremely rich! When you open the box, you immediately understand the extent of the colossal work invested in this game. It is both impressive and intriguing!
Vantage is a highly immersive narrative and exploratory board game, truly visually successful thanks to superb illustrations! It offers an experience in an open science fiction world, where each game is different and offers great freedom in the choice of our actions, without any real constraints.
Every action, moreover, is always crowned with success, transforming the experience into a pure risk-reward system, without frustrating failure! The skillful use of words to create sometimes grandiose mental images with a minimum of text is particularly well done.
The universe is very rich, the choices are numerous and provide a strong sense of discovery. Each place or object that you explore has its own particularity, and with each game, you discover something new: a new mechanic, a new type of object, a different kind of interaction, and much more! It is absolutely delicious and extremely fun to dive into this vast and living universe to discover all the details.
The game offers great replayability, without locking us into a long campaign spanning multiple sessions. Here, we start again each time, but with the knowledge acquired in previous games (you have to take notes!).
However, this freedom can also be unsettling for some players: the objectives are sometimes vague (you discover the ins and outs as you progress through the game), and some may feel lost when faced with the lack of structure typical of modern board games. But these are not necessarily negative points, quite the contrary: here, exploration is at the heart of the experience. You not only have to discover the links and objects, but also learn to play well! Yes, some games can be long, but the time flies.
This is a game that is more for fans of narrative, slow, and contemplative games. You are faced with choices, and you have to know how to use the dice boxes wisely, as well as spend your cubes (boosts) wisely. This is not a game for players looking for complex strategies, who like to rack their brains to optimize everything, or who are looking for competition.
The chances of players ending up in the same place on this immense planet are very low, but when they do happen, it's possible to share everything, or even continue the adventure together.
RULES
Learning the rules of Vantage can seem daunting at first due to the richness of the game, as it combines narrative exploration, resource management, card placement, and dice rolls with conditional effects. You have to learn several mechanics in parallel (personal grid, dice costs, morale/health/time effects, etc.), and navigate several booklets. However, the rules are well structured, thematic, and designed to be learned by playing. The first part will require some reading and organization, but once you understand the basics, the game becomes intuitive. It is therefore a moderately complex game, more accessible than it seems if you take the time to discover it gradually.
GAME FACTS
>> The game's name, Vantage, refers to a strategic vantage point or elevated position, from a first-person perspective.
>> Jamey created and managed 1700 maps by hand, without leaving any trace in a database, which made proofreading or corrections extremely complicated. Imagine the logistics! Any changes or corrections had to be applied manually; no automatic updates were possible. Jamey had to make every change himself, card by card! It's probably the gaming equivalent of building a medieval cathedral!
These details show that behind this ambitious project lies an almost obsessive craftsmanship, which makes the game all the more impressive!
>> Jamey describes his game like this: "Vantage is a game where all 15 expansions are already seamlessly included in the base box." There won't be an expansion. But in his latest email update, they indicate that the community seems to have interest in an art book and spoiler card pack merchandise.
>> A French version is in preparation at Kolossal Games.
A great website has been created to help us navigate this world, without having to use books: https://vantage.rulepop.com/Don't forget to check the errata! Stickers will soon be available on the Stonemaier website to correct errors in the books!
Personally, I use it sometimes when I want to quickly translate a text into French. But I prefer to browse books rather than have my eyes glued to my phone. We already spend too much time on these things! I prefer to relax and disconnect when I explore this world. Besides, the author of the game also shares this opinion 😉
TECHNICAL SHEET
Number of games played: 5 (solo and 2 players)
Best player configuration: 1-3
Price paid: CAD 80
Level: family + (BGG complexity: 2.3/5)
MY FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I loved :
>> Absolutely amazed by the author's titanic work. Just for this effort, you have to buy it to encourage the author!
>> The richness of the content: an incredibly ambitious game, in which you can spend hours exploring while feeling like you're only scratching the surface.
>> An innovative game, offering completely free exploration, without the slightest constraint.
>> The action system ensures that we always succeed: instead of wasting a turn on a bad dice roll, we succeed but pay a higher price.
I liked less :
>> It's good to offer 5-6 players for a game of this scale, but I doubt the level of enjoyment and it will probably take a long time to play. I'm not sure this kind of group will have the same level of commitment as a group of 1 to 3 players. It might scare them away.
>> Difficult orientation, more narrative than geographical.
Vantage is a game with a bold, innovative, and highly successful design! The author demonstrates extraordinary creativity and monumental work. The game offers a unique immersive world and innovative mechanics, creating a truly exceptional experience in the current gaming landscape. This playful work leaves me speechless! It's therefore a real favorite, in the running for my game of the year 2025!
FUN FACTOR 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂