Hi guys, been reading some of the stuff on here about the third edition and the extremely long post by the person that didn’t like unbreakable bonds and I’m a little on the fence. I have second edition and love it. I want to enter into the new runebound and get the unbreakable bonds because I will be doing a lot of solo play and I’m just looking for feedback on the system . Will I be able to accomplish what I want? Is the expansion good for this? It has stellar reviews but I’m looking for more feedback on here. Thanks guys!

I haven't played second edition since I picked up 3rd edition. I really feel like "leveling up" your hero feels more like actual changes, rather than just a +1 to one of the 3 base stats. The variance of the cards is much better than the system that 2nd edition used with leveling monsters. 2nd edition was either super punishing in the early game, or you house rule it so you don't lose EVERYTHING when you die, and then you have players who press their luck and go up difficulty early for more xp at a low risk. In 2nd edition there were full turns devoted to nothing but healing, or shopping, and that felt defeating, 3rd edition makes every turn feel worthwhile. I don't love the idea of certain encounter cards that force you to travel the length of the board to complete, but the opportunity to perform 3 actions in a turn means that at base you are moving 9 spaces, not 5 like 2nd edition, so movement is better, and one bad roll doesn't force you to miss a turn like 2nd edition.

Overall I like the battle system for 3rd edition better since it actually engages other players. a 2 player game is really fun since you trade off who commands the monsters and there is very little downtime. It feels both rushed and longer than second edition as turns take much longer to complete, and leveling up is as dramatic of a change as 2nd edition, plus you really need to choose to focus on xp or gold, rarely do you get both. You'll either be getting better through items or skills, not likely both. The issue is that the timer on the board rushes the game and you feel like you are facing the end game before you are ready for it (at least my experience). Since you are limited on the number of skills your character can have, you have to pick and choose what you will focus on.

I feel like there is more in 3rd edition that makes each game feel unique. I do feel I am building a specific character, not a bland character like 2nd edition.

I wrote a big article about not liking unbreakable bonds (possibly you're referring to my post) BUT, I still really like the game., and own both versions and haven't gone back to 2nd yet. Unbreakable bonds adds more stuff to the game, more variance to the monsters, different end games, new characters, so even if they left the co-op part out it would still be worth picking up. It feels more like Pandemic in cooperative nature, you move your own piece, do your own things, play your own cards, and have occasional cooperative elements. The fighting system could have benefited from feeling more like common video game cooperative elements, but that specific part remained largely unchanged, which is my favorite part of the game.

Hope this helps, I don't regret buying it at all. I play it once every couple of months, but it will get play for a long time in my opinion. Once my 6 year old is old enough to understand the concepts I'm looking forward to playing with him. The coop will give him a chance to make his own mistakes and learn his own strategy, while letting dad help him out. Very worth it.

I have to say I have never played the 2nd edition. However, my daughter and I picked up the 3rd edition and the expansions this past weekend. We are planning to start with the base and then move onto the expansions in order of their release. It seems that some people didn't like or thought some aspects of the 3rd should not have changed from the second. Coming from never playing the 2nd one ever I have to say I have enjoyed what I have seen so far on playthrough videos and it makes it seem like it will be quite exciting and enjoyable. Although, I like the sound of the 2nd edition as well as I am a D&D fan and could into that stuff as well and in the future maybe I will look into trying to find a copy.