Vantage – Stonemaier Games

Vantage

Vantage

  • Designer Jamey Stegmaier
  • Artists Valentina Filic, Sören Meding, and Emilien Rotival

An open-world, cooperative, roguelike adventure.

Base Game
90 mins Game Length
2 mins Setup Time
1-6 Players
Medium Game Weight

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Vantage is an open-world, cooperative, roguelike adventure game for 1-6 players designed by Jamey Stegmaier. Vantage features an entire planet to explore, with players communicating while scattered across the world. With nearly 800 interconnected locations on cards and over 900 other discoverable cards, the world is your sandbox.

You begin each game of Vantage on an intergalactic vessel heading towards an uncharted planet. After crashing far from your companions, you have complete freedom as to how you explore, discover, and interact with the planet. You view your location from a first-person perspective–you can communicate with and support other players, but you are separated by vast distances, so only you can see your current location.

Vantage is not a campaign game, and it is completely self-contained (no expansions, just a few accessories like metal coins). Details about Vantage will be revealed here and to subscribers leading up to its 2025 launch on the Stonemaier webstore and the retail release soon after.

Components

  • to be revealed

Metal coins for Vantage are available on the Stonemaier Games webstore in conjuction with the announcement for this game.

Estimated Schedule

  • mid-2025 Stonemaier webstore launch and release

Updates

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Media

Localization Partners: To be announced.

Copyright 2025 Stonemaier LLC. Vantage is a trademark of Stonemaier LLC. All Rights Reserved. This content is not authorized for posting on Steam.

134 Comments on “Vantage

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  1. Hello! Any plans to have a presence at GenCon 2024? Would love to see the game there.

      1. Thanks for the link. I love that you have a spreadsheet with your available games. I’m sure we will pre-order some items for pickup once Gen Con’s is listed. Thanks again!

  2. How do double sided location cards work if you are at the location on one side of the card and another player is at the location on the back side of the card?

  3. Just saw the news of this game in my Google news! We’ve played Wingspan with all the expansions and it never gets old. If you need a board game family to test Vantage we totally can. We’ve had numerous games which we had to either look in forums for clarity of a rule, or unforeseen situations within the game occur. Thanks for the memories!!

    1. Thank you! We have a great team of playtesters around the world, but we’re always open to adding more (typically this starts with someone applying to be a Stonemaier Ambassador).

  4. Will it be released in Korean as well? Or will the cards have a lot of language elements? I can’t wait for the Korean version to be released, so I’m looking forward to an intuitive game with icons rather than a lot of language elements.

    1. Vantage is a very language-dependent game (replacing 300,000 words with icons would be a major failure for the gameplay and diversity of options the game presents). We only make English versions of our games, but we’re hopeful that our localization partners will consider the game for other languages.

  5. Sounds fantastic. Would you consider utilising an app like Lucky Duck games do with destinies etc to help bring the thematic open world to life and ease game play learning etc?

    1. Onboarding, ease of play, and the thematic open world are all core parts of Vantage’s design without the need for a screen or an app. :)

  6. I have two questions:
    What is the thematic reasoning that you would learn about the planet between missions?
    How many location’s and how many Cards would you expect to see in a single mission?

    1. Thanks for your questions!

      1. You don’t learn about the planet between games. You learn about the planet while exploring and discovering it (during the game). Each game is completely independent of previous games. However, in the meta of the game, you’re right that players (represented by characters in the game) will accummulate knowledge from one game to the next. A thematic explanation for this is if you, say, escape from the planet after the first time you play, you can imagine that you are returning to the planet the next time you play with knowledge gained during the original journey.

      2. It depends, but each individual player will likely see 10-20 locations per game.

  7. Hi Jamey! We are so so exited for this one! So many years expecting you open world game! I have only one question: what will be the format for the cards? Which size?

    1. Dennis: While I’m 99% sure about that answer, I can’t answer with complete confidence until we’re into the production phase. I can say, though, that you never shuffle the cards in Vantage (i.e., no sleeves).

      1. No worries! But can you tell us if the format will be Square cards (like 7th continent) or standard cards? Just for curiosity 😉

  8. I’ve always thought that board games were capable of pushing the possibilities of what’s possible even more than they already do. Vantage is the first board game announcement I’ve heard, in a long time, that I feel does this. A roguelike open world game where you explore an intergalactic planet composed of 1,700 cards. This is an impressive commitment to pushing the limits of board game design. Well done Jamie :)

    1. I’m working on it, but I want to make sure the game is as awesome as it can be without rushing anything. :)

      1. No doubt about it, Jamey. I’ve always found that Stonemaier games are awesome, beautiful and well-produced. Will wait for it patiently.

  9. My jaw is on the floor looking at this. My wife and I both adore Breath of the Wild and I’ve recently been getting into rogue-lite games, so this seems incredible!! I also really like cooperative board games like the Forbidden series, though I am prone to giving unsolicited advice… so I’m really glad that this game was designed to inhibit that.

    I thought that randomized environments were a staple of the roguelike genre, but when I looked it up I learned that it’s really hard to nail down what a roguelike is. So, out of curiosity, what makes this game a roguelike in your eyes?

    I am *very* excited to see how this turns out!! It’ll probably be a day 1 purchase for me :D

    1. Thanks for your enthusiasm! Vantage shares the following elements commonly attributed to roguelike games often feature the following:

      –start each game with random/variable elements: There are 6 different characters, 21 different missions, and over 100 locations where each player might crash.
      –you gain frequent rewards after each encounter/interaction–progression happens quickly (not a slow, incremental grind)
      –your character’s composition evolves differently every time (each player will typically only earn and use around a dozen of the 900 discoverable cards in the game
      –if you win or lose, the game ends; if you play again, you start over fresh the next game with no progression or persistence
      –there is increased mastery and knowledge from one game to the next–explore and discover how the world works and how you can thrive in it

      1. This seems to share similar mechanics to City of Kings which me and my partner found recently and absolutely love. Can’t wait to explore Vantage.

        1. I haven’t played City of Kings, but as far as I know, you’re moving around on an expanding grid of cards, right? In Vantage, each player is looking at a single location card in a vertical holder in front of them–there’s no tactical grid movement (you are your character, looking through their eyes at your location).

          1. It’s true, you are moving around on a grid of tiles that are set up randomly, from a stack, which are individually numbered and are pulled out based on the scenario/chapter. They are flipped over so you don’t know which tiles are where, but the grid is always the same dimensions. However, here’s where I find it similar to the description of Vantage. Each scenario or chapter you play you start fresh and have to build your character by leveling up, picking abilities from a skill tree and purchasing equipment to boost your stats. The rewards are fast and often since you don’t get to carry anything over from scenario to scenario.

          2. Nice! The starting-over-fresh each game aspect and fast progression are echoed in Vantage. :)

  10. Excited about the Vantage announcement.
    I would like to know if it will be a game based on meeting objectives or if, on the contrary, it will be similar to others, like Mythwind, for example.

    1. The game does give the players some goals to consider (i.e., the 21 missions are different reasons for going to the planet), but it’s up to players to decide which goals to pursue.

  11. I’m not a big fan of the Co-op genre, but this sounds like it could be the coolest game ever! I love everything SM does and can’t wait to find out more about Vantage!

  12. Are the scenarios gonna be presented as pages of a book (e.g. Jaws of the Lion) or as individual tiles/boards?

    1. There aren’t any scenarios in Vantage. The closest comparison is that players share a mission (the reason they came to the planet in the first place). There are 21 missions, each described on a card.

      1. I see, I’ll patiently wait for your videos to explain more then. It’s pretty cool that people are already asking all kinds of crazy questions that you personally take the time to answer. Thanks Jamey!

  13. Hey, quick question. Didn’t realize vantage was still a year away.  In relation to the metal coins, what kind of standard coins are being offered?  Just cardboard, or are they premium cardboard like in Wyrmspan? 

    I ask because for Wyrmspan, I ordered the metal coins right away, but after seeing the high quality of the standard offering, I realized I really didn’t need another metal coin upgrade, at least for that game. 

  14. In games like Sleeping Gods and 7th Continent, I love taking extensive notes to help me on future runs. Will that be encouraged/possible/forbidden in this game?

    1. Thanks Doug! You are welcome to take notes as you play, as knowledge of the world is the only persistent element. :)

  15. Do you have a set price as of yet or a range of how expensive it may be? I already snagged the metal coins and am super pumped about this games potential! Also fun question if you’ve played all Zelda games what are your top 3? (I’ve been seeing a lot of mention of BoTW as inspiration so I wanted to see if you’re a fan of the rest of the games!)

    1. We’re still in the blind playtesting process, so it won’t be until much closer to the 2025 launch that we’ll know the final price of the game.

      It’s really the “breath of the wild” portion of the game that was hugely inspiring to Vantage, not the Zelda part. I’m not much of a video gamer, so while I heavily researched Breath of the Wild (and its sequel), I’ve only played a little of the game, and I don’t think I’ve played other Zelda games. :)

  16. Hi Jamey!
    Aside from playing tabletop games, I love playing video games as well and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is absolutely my favorite video game (I loved Breath of the Wild too) while Scythe is my favorite board game so you can imagine how excited I was when I first heard that you were designing a game largely inspired by BOTW. Happy to see that it’s about to become a reality!
    Though one thing that concerns me is that it’s a cooperative game since most of the people I play with aren’t so receptive to co-op games given their preconceived notions of what a board game should be. They prefer to play against other players rather than against the game itself.
    On that note, would there be some way to have some sort of ‘artificial’ competition or even a competitive variant to this game? Video gamers usually make single player games competitive by doing speedruns so I was wondering if we could somehow play this game normally while trying to see who can win it the fastest or least number of turns or something like that. Would Vantage allow for this playstyle or does it require the players to win / lose / finish the game together all at the same time?

    1. “They prefer to play against other players rather than against the game itself.”

      This is a good way to put it, because in Vantage, you aren’t playing against the game. There is no AI of the game to control (like Pandemic). It’s the other type of cooperative game, a player-driven puzzle. With players separated far across the planet, each player has complete agency over what they decide is important to them. They aren’t competing with each other, but the goals you choose to pursue and how much you help other players are entirely up to you.

  17. The coins look very cool (and obviously you can use them in other sci fi games) but is there are any advantage in buying now as opposed to waiting for more information re the game to see if I am likely to buy?

    1. That’s up to you! I offered them now to provide something tangible for a game I’ll be talking about for a while and because today we launched several other smaller items on the webstore–people might want to consolidate shipping for those smaller products. Also, while we will stock the coins upon launch of the game, sometimes we sell out of accessories, so if you know you want the coins already, this is a chance to guarantee you get them in a timely manner.

      1. Thanks Jamey, my son loves the look of them (and the idea of the game), and since he is my main gaming partner looks like I’ll be putting an order in!

  18. The Seventh Concept-Theft?

    Your inspiration is showing, Jamey.
    But you could do good things with this format.

    1. Deane, can you elaborate? I literally have no idea what this comment means. Are you talking about the 7th Commandment? In what context? What format are you referring to? Please be specific.

        1. Ah, I see. Yes, I’ve played 7th Continent and a little of 7th Citadel. They’re impressive, inspiring designs…and Vantage is quite different from them. :) Vantage is more heavily inspired by video games than tabletop games (Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring, for example), with the main tabletop inspiration being TIME Stories.

          Deane, you used the word “theft”. Why?

    1. You know, Vantage is influence by a number of games, but that isn’t one of them (Mark mentions it below). I have a vague recollection of seeing it at some point, but it looked mostly like a game where the focus is on fighting, and Vantage gives players a much wider array of options as to how you interact with the planet. Also, unlike Returnal, in Vantage you completely start over after a game ends. Only your knowledge of the world persists.

  19. Exciting news! When you start a new game is the idea that you’re always returning to the same planet, or is it that each time you’re on a new one?

    1. It’s the same planet–the planet itself never changes (it isn’t randomized). We’ve created a massive world to explore or discover. Even if you defy the odds and randomly crash land on the same location with the same character and the same mission, how you interact with that location or where you move (you can always move in any cardinal direction to an adjacent location) can be different.

  20. Sounds very interestimg and like a boardgame game of the PlayStation game “Returnal. Was it an inspiration?

    1. I’m not familiar with Returnal. When you win or lose that game, do you start over completely from scratch at the beginning?

      1. Absolutely – it’s one of my favourite PS5 games. An utter rogue-like where you have crashed on a planet and, every time you die, you return to your ship – upgraded and able to get a little further. Vantage has genuinely piqued my interest as a way of getting the returns experience in (my preferred) board game form. Happy to see your commitment to mechanisms come to fruition.

        1. That sounds really neat! In Vantage, the only persistent element after a run is what you learned about the world and the various interactions within the world (roguelike vs the roguelite nature of the Returnal, from how you described it).

      2. Returnal is much closer to original roguelikes since you dont keep resources/weapons upon death. The only thing you keep is permanent upgrades(keys that let you go to the next level without having to kill the boss of the stage again/new terrain access tools). Has very cool atmosphere and music too!

  21. Hello! This premise is exciting, and I have a good handful of questions:

    1) How much table space does this require? From the sound of it, each player has one card in first person plus some goodies, does that mean they are holding that card in their hand and the table space is effectively nil?

    2) How deterministic is the game? Or in other words, if players identify a winning strategy/route or two, will that always win if they find it in the world, or does the game encourage trying new things every time?

    3) Bearing in mind the medium weight, how easy do you think this game would be to bring to a meetup or game group, teach, and get to playing?

    Also, sending good vibes, because roguelike fans are notoriously aggressive about defending that label haha

    1. 1. Each player has a tableau of cards they’ve discovered, along with their current location card (which is vertical in a card holder). There’s also a board and a box on the table with all the cards. It doesn’t require a big table.

      2. There are over 6000 actions to choose from in the game, with 6 different characters, 21 different missions, and over 100 different places where each player might crash onto the planet. Even without delving into the action system (which I’ll discuss later), there is no single way to way–the entire game is about trying, testing, exploring, and discovering.

      3. I’ve designed the game to be very easy to set up, teach, and get to the table at a game night.

  22. Is everything family friendly in the game? Like are there any dark monsters or gruesome themes or anything of the sort?

      1. Thank you so much!! I’m really excited about this game and want it to be fun to play with my kids in years to come!

      2. I guess I should be more specific. It won’t have things like to e corrupt animals and people images in expeditions?

        1. I’m trying to avoid spoilers on the first day of revealing the game. If you’re referring to tentacles emerging from zombie-like people and animals like in Expeditions, there’s none of that in Vantage. Vantage is a fictional world, clearly delineated from our reality, and it is not designed to be gory, scary, or horrific.

    1. Vantage isn’t all cards–there are a number of custom dice and other components. But think about the question for a second: Wingspan is mostly cards, right? Around 200 cards. Wingspan is a $65 game. For comparison, Vantage has 1300 cards.

      1. I can see that. Wingspan also has tons of plastic eggs and cardboard resources, but I see what you’re saying

        1. Exactly. Wingspan has 5 dice; Vantage has dozens of custom dice, along with storybooks and other components. The core focus are the cards, and 1300 cards are not cheap to make. :)

  23. Do you interact with the world by ‘grabbing’ or interacting with items/objects in your vantage point on your location card (they appear as small numbers on the card) and then grab that numbered card kind of like the “Unlock” game series? I’m assuming the tableau building comes from items you collect or things you discover and build with what you interact with since you can only be at one location at a time? I don’t see the cooperation side unless it’s survive or figure out how to get off the planet.

    1. I haven’t delved into the game mechanisms yet, so it makes sense that you don’t know the cooperative mechanisms yet.

    1. Your table will work great! You’re only ever looking at your current location, so it’s just that, your tableau of discovered cards, a small board in the middle of the table, and the box of cards–it doesn’t take up much space. :)

  24. Hi Jamey,

    Super excited for the update! Are you planning to make a digital version of this by chance? I live on the other side of the planet with my friends and this sounds like the perfect co-op game to play with them. All the best!

    – Frank

    1. One of the neat things about this game–which I partially designed during the planet–is that you can play it remotely using Discord if each player has a copy. It works well for the theme to play with friends across the world, as that’s literally what you’re doing in the game. :)

      As for a full digital version, perhaps a few years after the tabletop release if there’s a developer who is interested.

  25. Hi Jamey, and congrats on the announcement, I know it’ll be a great game like all your others.

    Quick questions…

    Will you provide card sleeves as an add-on? And will the game box accommodate sleeved cards?

    1. Thanks! Cards in Vantage are never shuffled, so sleeves aren’t necessary and the box definitely won’t accommodate them (the box would need to be massive to sleeve this many cards). I understand that there are a few people who will sleeve anyway, but they’ll have to figure out a storage solution rather than significantly increasing the price for everyone else. :)

      1. Much appreciated! I didn’t realize they wouldn’t be shuffled, so I’ll be keeping them as intended :)

        Can’t wait for the game to release!

        1. The world is not randomly generated. Location 100 is always next to the same 4 locations and so on all the way around the planet across nearly 800 different locations.

  26. Hey Jamey,
    very excited for the news and can’t wait for more reveals! If I may ask at this stage will this game feature components like miniatures or any other fancy pieces? Maybe as part of deluxe edition?

    1. Thanks! There will just be one version of the game, and it isn’t a game where you’re moving a token representing your character–you (your eyes in particular) are your character, viewing your location from a first-person perspective. As mentioned in the description above, there may be a few accessories, and at the very least there are the metal coins we released today.

  27. This is great news to get on my birthday!
    A cooperative game built from the ground up with Jamey’s design eye? And Stonemaier production?
    When both Viticulture World (#5)m, 30+ plays) and Smitten (#25, 100+ plays) are both so high in my favorite games ever???
    Auto buy. Excited to follow this more and learn more over the course of the year.

    1. Thanks Cory! This is my first attempt at a cooperative game (though Smitten was released before it), and I’m excited to share it next year. :)

  28. Hey Jamie, this sounds exciting and interesting. One word caught my eye, “roguelike.” As a video gamer this implies frequent deaths but slow buildup of your characters powers. So you get a bit better every run. Also, everything is randomized each time you die.

    I think you mentioned this is not a campaign game. How do those things work together?

    1. Greg: My understanding is that’s a “roguelite”, not a roguelike. But I could be wrong! :) A roguelite is as you described; in a roguelike, when your game ends, it’s completely over with no persistence–you start over from scratch the next time. That’s what Vantage is.

      Vantage includes random elements at the start of each game, but the world and its actions are not random. The comparison here to roguelikes is that you rarely know how you’ll benefit from an action until you perform it for the first time.

  29. Is it going to narrative heavy? I love games like Fantasy Flight’s Fallout board game, will it be anything like that? Lots of branching stories controlled by the cards?

    1. This is a game with narrative (and many different actions and consequences), but (a) the stories you tell are your own and (b) even though you will frequently read text, the vast majority of the text is 1-2 sentences. This isn’t a game with multiple long paragraphs of text around every turn.

  30. I see that it’s cooperative. Will there be any competitive element where at the end there will be a winner among winners?

    1. Nope, it’s 100% cooperative–no traitors, no semi-cooperation, etc. The only semi-answer to your question is that it is a game about intrinsic motivations: You might decide to focus on something that is completely different than the mission (which is fine), but the game may end before you’re able to finish what you started.

    1. I would! Vantage features tableau building as a core mechanism (you improve as you expand your tableau).

  31. In your live cast announcement you talked about box size being “the same size as wingspan but taller”. Is that similar then to the size of the Expeditions box? The reason I ask is that for my built-in shelves I have to lay Expeditions on its side, and there’s no “long side” that has horizontal text. If Vantage is going to be a bigger box like Expeditions, is it possible at this point to consider a request for horizontal text on one long side?

    1. The height of the box is measured when the box is flat on the table (not length or width). For example, the height of the Wingspan box is 74mm (otherwise it’s a square box, same as Vantage). We try to put text on the sides of the boxes in both horizontal and vertical format.

  32. Exciting!! Jamey, is there a general estimated price range for this product? I like the fact that there are no expansions (don’t get me wrong—I LOVE them for other titles) as it seems like the whole world will be contained in this one box. However—I’m imagining that could lead to a higher price point range?

    1. It’s about a year before we’re launching this product, so currently the only price available is that of the metal coins ($20). Vantage will be in the upper range of pricing for our games, though it won’t be our most expensive game.

  33. I don’t play open world games exactly because of the $ pit (endless expansions and components) so thanks for being so upfront about it.

    I know you will do it right (quality and delivery) as a responsible designer and publisher! Extensive projects like these need long term planning and transparent communication— kudos to your modesty and hard work!

    1. It’s card based. Your current location is the card directly in front of you that only you can see. When you move away from that location, you lose that card and gain the new location’s card (your current vantage).

  34. This looks so interesting! Non-campaign open world game? Count me in. While I love campaign games, I struggle finding consistent groups. Excited to learn more about this one!

  35. My purchase for the metal coins doesn’t seem to go thru on the EU site, is there a problem for others as well?

    1. We seem to be receiving orders from others, so I’d recommend (a) confirming that you’re on the Europe store, (b) trying a different payment method, and (c) trying a different device.

    2. There might be some issue. Couldn’t order with 2 cards I’ve tried and I didn’t have any issues like this before with previous orders.

      1. Here’s what Shopify says:

        They can try clearing their browser’s cache and/or use a different device/browser or Incognito to process the order. And here are some other steps that they can try:
        • Ensure the browser’s cookie preferences are NOT set to “Block all cookies”
        • When using incognito, if the merchant is still experiencing a display issue, confirm they have disabled browser extensions as these can change how the pages look.
        • Ensure the web browser is up to date on the latest version
        • Try another internet connection (example, switch to a cellular network on a phone rather than wifi).
        • Try on the Shopify Mobile app.
        • Ensure there are no popups being blocked in the web browser.
        • Ensure they do not have any firewalls, VPNs (virtual private networks) enabled on their device or network blocking Shopify.

  36. I only ask this because your latest update email also linked to your “game publishing checklist” article, where you specifically mention that you usually don’t reveal projects until manufacturing is complete. The update’s “active project table” seems to indicate this is in the very early stages, if I’m reading it right? Is there a reason this project is being announced earlier in the process than usual?

    1. Sure, here’s what I said in today’s newsletter: “I’ve spent the last 7 years creating a massive open-world game (see details below and on our website). Vantage is nearing the end of the playtest process and will start production later this year, but the journey to bring this game to life is too big to cram into our standard 10-day pre-launch reveal. Instead, we’re announcing Vantage’s design diary newsletter along with a small initial batch of the metal coins that will be available as add-ons when the game launches on our webstore in 2025.”

  37. How would you define ‘roguelike’ for board games? I’ve played roguelike videos games and have been turned off by the desire to make them punishing and overly difficult. I love what you have revealed so far and I am excited for the game. I just want to have a better idea of what you mean by the term. Thanks for all you do for the gaming community!

    1. Great question! To me, a roguelike adventure game is one in which you start over from scratch every time you play (no persistent or campaign elements), acquiring a variety of assets as you play to enhance your character, and with each session ending when you win or or fail.

    1. Essentially yes, but the nearly 800 locations are printed on large, double-sided cards. So it’s more like 1300 cards, with 400 of those cards being double sided.

  38. I love this! I’ve been getting more and more hyped for your open-world game for years now! Seeing that my game group might struggle with long campaign games, this seems like the perfect fit! The same feel as an open-world game without the 30+ hr commitment!

  39. Thank you Jamie for sharing with us this amazing concept. I am playing some Solo RPG games lately like Entity or my own worlds supported by Mythic GM Emulator second edition. Can not wait to follow this game coming to my tabletop. If you want player testers for solo aspect of the game please feel free to reach me ;)

    Cheers.

    Ugur

    1. There’s a little inspiration there, but Vantage isn’t a campaign game, and you aren’t placing cards as tiles on the table–you’re viewing your location from a first-person perspective that other players cannot see.

  40. I see it’s not a campaign game, but will it have any kind of persistent effects that carryover game to game (similar to Oath)? Or just purely individual, one off games?

    1. It’s purely individual, one-off games (that’s part of the “roguelike” element to it). However, the world itself isn’t randomized, so every time you visit, you learn more about it, and you can carry that knowledge into future games.

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