ATLA – Crossroads of Destiny is exactly as lightweight and easy as others have suggested. Both the scenarios and overall campaign are relatively short, and the rules feature many familiar RPG mechanics.

However, this approach isn’t necessarily a drawback. It is ideal for families to play together, with fast setup and gameplay to fit into busy schedules. The three different mini-games use element tiles for playful little puzzles.

The game is very friendly, as players often earn some progress even when they fail. As a result, building up your deck, experience and allies is a swift process.

Unfortunately, this can make the latter half of the campaign too much of a breeze. Groups of enemies collectively share one health tracker. You can team up on a single group and eliminate them in a couple of turns.

Even moderate players can easily find themselves ambling through objectives after defeating every enemy on the board. It can be disappointing when you upgrade too effectively and end up bored.

The campaign book does modify each scenario’s mechanics with the Challenge tokens. But it really needed difficulty modifiers throughout the campaign to balance out player progress.

The game is more balanced if you omit Katara from your run, because of her healing abilities. So, you might reserve Katara for playthroughs with younger players. Using your own counters for individual enemies could also increase the difficulty.

That being said, ATLA – Crossroads of Destiny runs smoothly and is just plain fun to play.

Unlike other ATLA games, the campaign follows the actual events of the original series. This is very satisfying, and invites organic fan service. This game is deeply thematic, which I can’t praise enough.

Each of the characters, allies, and enemies operate exactly how you imagine they should. It’s clear the designers appreciate and understand the characters and lore.

For example, the element tiles are a clever way to represent the strength and flexibility of bending. They add tremendous personality. The mini-games were also a smart way to pack in as many side quests from the source material as possible.

There’s also objective variety and enough customization on the player end to justify returning to the game for multiple runs.

Final Thoughts

Among various tabletop and video games, ATLA – Crossroads of Destiny is arguably the definitive game adaptation. It’s rather easy, and short. But the gameplay is fast, friendly, and satisfying. The fan service is also spot on and natural, offering enough twists on the genre for anyone to enjoy.

Score: 8/10