14 DAY TRIAL // 
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition is a game that aims to create a meta role-playing experience, with the players taking on the role of a group of characters gathered around a tabletop RPG, exploring a new world, battling enemies and increasing their abilities.
Development was handled by Behold Studios and published on the PC and on tablets by Paradox Interactive.
It’s an experience designed to evoke nostalgia in many ways while also delivering an interesting number of options linked to character development, party enhancement via items and some questions about the nature of the genre.
The player can choose from a number of archetypes and classes before starting his quest and it quickly becomes clear that Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition integrates real-world objects, like dice and food and drink, into actual gameplay.
All the money earned while questing can be spent in the shop, while the characters themselves level up and gain access to new abilities.
It’s a great feedback loop with the only problem I have seen being the fact that farming is required (somewhat appropriately for a classic RPG) in order to get access to the best items and consumables, which tend to cost quite a lot.
The variety of items in the shop (gold can also be obtained using real-world money) means that players have the ability to shape a personal play style, based on their character choices and most used spells and abilities.
Behold Studios managed to capture the overall atmosphere of a middle of the road dungeon crawling session, with some clever lines for the various personalities around the table (I like the Rocker best) and some interesting ideas for the overall plot.
As the narrative progressed, I kind of lost interest in the core plot but I still chuckled a couple of times, like when Mill Burray made an appearance in a swamp.
The combat also has fairly more depth than it appears at first sight, with the various character powers designed to complement each other and with certain enemies and bosses that will test out your ability to mix and match items and character abilities.
The battles get especially interesting when fighting seven enemies at the same time, which tends to increase the mortality of the players at the table, mostly the paladin and the wizard, and can lead to some truly interesting tactical challenges.
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition is an interesting mix of traditional role-playing mechanics and critique of the same ideas and, while the game itself is enjoyable, it sometimes feels like it is running out of gags and fresh approaches.
The graphics of Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition are one of the hurdles that most players will have to overcome to actually enjoy the game, because they use an art style that’s designed to remind players of older role-playing titles.
There were moments when I, as a fan of Baldur’s Gate since the first installment, would have appreciated an option to turn on high-definition graphics but after about half an hour, the gameplay becomes engrossing enough to make true fans forget about the blurry images.
The game from Behold Studios inhabits a mysterious space between straight up satire and homage and the game can deliver some delightful role-playing moments.
Unfortunately, the gameplay is a little slim and many players might get bored of the somewhat repetitive battles and the limited character development.
