Vantage is an open-world, cooperative, roguelike adventure game where 1-6 players explore an entire alien planet from first-person perspectives. Each player has a unique 'vantage' card showing their view of the world with six different actions coded to skills like move, look, engage, help, take, and overpower. The game features 801 location cards and nine storybook manuals, creating a narrative sandbox experience reminiscent of Choose Your Own Adventure books.
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The Verdict
based on 38 reviews
The reviewer highly praises Vantage as an exceptional open-world exploration game that excels at emergent storytelling, appealing to players who enjoy crafting their own experiences and objectives rather than following a rigid narrative.
The reviewer considers "Vantage" to be an amazing and uniquely immersive, open-world experience that delivered on his high expectations and earned a permanent spot in his collection. He notes that its open-ended pace and narrative focus might not appeal to everyone.
Tim Chuon considers 'Vantage' one of the most incredible open-world board games he has experienced, highlighting its ambitious design, unique gameplay sessions, top-tier exploration, and well-designed character progression.
The reviewer highly recommends "Vantage" for solo gamers, praising its open-world exploration, ease of card management, and immense content, calling it potentially their favorite solo experience of the year.
The reviewer enthusiastically praises 'Vantage' as a beautifully designed, story-driven open-world game, highlighting its excellent production quality and high replayability, especially recommending it for solo or two-player experiences as a strong Game of the Year candidate.
“This is a remarkable and unique game, with amazing depth, and a unique pull that I have not felt from other games. After 16 plays and about 50 hours of play, I am still finding new things every time, and seeing little repetition from game to game.”
“There was an extended moment of a couple of months where Vantage was my game of the year. It is deserving of that level of praise, offering an open-world exploration system that fixes many of the issues present in its peers.”
The reviewer enthusiastically praises 'Vantage' as a fantastic and remarkable achievement in storytelling within board games, highlighting its ability to let players continually progress through an anthology of stories, ultimately deeming it the best sandbox board game available.
During the unboxing, Ray expressed strong enthusiasm for "Vantage," highlighting its open-world cooperative adventure and sandbox nature as particularly appealing, and suggesting it could be his favorite Stonemaier game ever.
The reviewer highly praises Vantage as a streamlined solo exploration game that excels at rewarding discovery and offers immense replayability, though they suggest it is primarily a solo experience rather than a satisfying multiplayer game.
“Vantage is an incredibly ambitious game that you can spend hours and hours exploring. I've played it a lot since I got it, and I still feel like I'm just scratching the surface of what it offers.”
“Vantage is one of the best games of 2025. It's Stonemaier Games' most intriguing and creative effort, presenting a game that refines the very concepts of sandbox play on the tabletop.”
“Vantage is a triumph. I know that because it is very openly a game I should not like.”
Vantage is highlighted as a unique and enjoyable exploration and storytelling game that grants players significant freedom, a quality Tom Vassel personally appreciated greatly in every play, even while acknowledging it might not be for everyone.
The reviewer enthusiastically praises Vantage as an open-world exploration game, highlighting its exceptional sandbox freedom and emergent gameplay that allows players to discover and optimize within its systems rather than follow a rigid narrative structure.
The reviewer highly recommends Vantage, describing it as a unique cooperative game that excels in fostering a sense of shared adventure while allowing individual exploration. They consider it a permanent fixture in their collection due to its quick setup, engaging experience, and replayability.
The reviewer expressed enthusiastic enjoyment for Vantage, highlighting it as a fun exploration game that deeply resonates with their preferences and leaves them eager for more playthroughs.
“If you’ve ever wanted to crash-land on a mysterious alien planet with nothing but a hunch, and a questionable sense of direction, Vantage is calling your name. It’s like a choose-your-own-adventure book got tangled up with your favourite video game and then invited your friends over for a wild night of dice rolling and chaos.”
The reviewer found Vantage to be a highly engaging 'choose your own adventure' style game with manageable mechanics and immersive, concise storytelling. They particularly enjoyed the emphasis on exploration and felt the game successfully drew them in, despite it not typically being their preferred genre.
The reviewer highly praises "Vantage" as an immersive and approachable open-world cooperative adventure game that offers excellent design choices, deep gameplay, immense scale, and high replayability, making it a very satisfying experience.
“At the end of the day, me and my friends had fun exploring this game world with it’s beautiful art and very different worlds. This is a gorgeous and well-produced game that you may love too!”
This does feel like a game. And I like that it's got the missions and I like that it's got the destiny because there have been other games like this that I felt like this is just kind of going nowhere. Like I'm just kind of flailing around in this box and sometimes it's interesting but it doesn't matter. This doesn't feel like that to me.
“Vantage is an open-world, cooperative, roguelike science fiction-themed adventure game inspired by modern video games. Players will take on the roles of explorers headed to an unknown extrasolar planet, with a focus on communication and discovery.”
“I think the system is fantastic and immersive. It’s a monumental achievement and real work of art.”
“Vantage isn’t about competition or efficiency; it’s about exploration, surprises, and shared storytelling. To me it feels more like an experience than a game.”
Monique and Naveen found "Vantage" to be an open-world exploration game with immense replayability due to its vast card content and non-campaign structure, allowing for unique experiences in each session.
“Vantage is an ambitious and successful sandbox design that demonstrates extraordinary creativity, but its open-ended, explorative focus won't be for everyone.”
“Vantage is for vibin'. That same coziness extends to your objectives. When your characters arrive on the planet, you obtain a mission. Maybe you're here to steal a valuable item in one final heist. Maybe you want to develop your skills as an explorer. Or maybe you're hoping to assemble a squad of sentient buddies to really make a splash at the disco.”
The reviewer praises "Vantage" as a work of art, highlighting its ambitious open-world exploration and vast scale for a relaxed, low-stakes discovery experience. However, they express a desire for more persistent progress across playthroughs, as repeated fresh starts diminish the sense of truly knowing the world.
The reviewer highlights Vantage as an ambitious and expansive open-ended exploration game, commending its focus on the journey and unique artwork, though they point out its less strategic gameplay and potential for quick, sometimes anticlimactic, endings.
The reviewer appreciated Vantage primarily for its expansive world and emphasis on exploration, enjoying the unique experience of character development and discovery across a vast planet. While acknowledging its strengths as a strong solo and two-player game, he found that higher player counts introduced downtime without enhancing the experience, and felt the core mechanics, though fun, lacked depth compared to the exploration aspect.
The reviewer highlights 'Vantage' as a game with a vast amount of content and opportunities for exploration on an alien planet, praising its surprising systems and beautiful artwork. However, they express disappointment in the lack of meaningful player collaboration and the absence of context-sensitive story moments, which detracts from the sense of interconnectivity and progression.
The reviewers found "Vantage" to be a uniquely accessible open-world exploration game that prioritizes the journey and narrative discovery over traditional strategic depth, making it highly replayable for those who enjoy its particular focus.
The reviewer found 'Vantage' to be a mechanically shallow and uninspired game, ultimately failing to deliver on its promises of exploration and wonder, resulting in a dull and unsatisfying experience that they do not recommend.
The reviewer found 'Vantage' to be a largely disappointing experience despite its initial promise, citing a dull world, repetitive stories, and significant player downtime at higher counts that made it an unengaging chore.
The reviewer found 'Vantage' to be a frustrating and often boring experience, criticizing its disconnected encounters, repetitive dice-rolling, and lack of meaningful narrative or player agency, ultimately likening it to a poorly executed game book.
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If BGV helped you pick your next game, buying through our links helps our small team keep the site running.
