Fallout: New Vegas director's sage advice for players who don't understand the RPG's divisive card game: "Try again"
The Obsidian equivalent to 'git gud'
More than a decade since its release, Fallout: New Vegas players are still having trouble with its much-maligned card mini-game, but the RPG's director has doubled down on his advice that everyone should just try and try again.
Obsidian Entertainment's Josh Sawyer - the director behind New Vegas, Pillars of Eternity, and Pentiment - has repeatedly defended card mini-game Caravan over the years, arguing that its three-deck bidding war is actually not as convoluted as its reputation might suggest.
More recently, a Fallout New Vegas veteran tweeted to ask if they should be "ashamed" to not have understood or won a single Caravan match after logging some 257 hours in the Mojave Wasteland. The clueless caravaneer isn't alone in the sentiment either. Only about 6% of Steam players have completed the 'Know When To Fold Them' achievement, which asks wasteland survivors to win three games of Caravan. On Xbox, that number falls to just 5.2%.
Sawyer responded by saying that the player shouldn't be ashamed, but "you should try again [in my opinion]." The director made similar comments following the Fallout TV show boom, admitting that Caravan was "more complicated than Samuel's Lansquenet" in his recent adventure game Pentiment, "but not that hard" overall.
Those looking to dust off the deck of cards and go achievement hunting should replay the 'How To Play Caravan' holotape that Ringo gives players after first explaining Caravan's rules. You can find him in Goodsprings, for what it's worth. Who knows? That 6% completion rating might climb up one day, one win at a time – perhaps to 10%, dare we dream?
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Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.