All or No Board Game Reviews

Wrestling all the time: a board game with all or nothing

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Anyone who grew up in the 90s like me knows WWF (then known as the World Wildlife Foundation Win Trademark Dispute) is the anger of the children. So when I chose to get spandex repair with the Power Rangers, there were still enough people in my circle to know who that manly man and the British Bulldog were. While the ATW theme may not be a big selling point for me, its balancing behavior is to manage your resources and know when to drive luck, which brings me back after a round.

In ATW, just like in an actual wrestling match, players try to exhaust and weaken each other, with the ultimate goal being to nail the opponent and win. Each optional wrestler – including the legend of manly man Randy Savage and the British Bulldog (ATW), as well as the ATW original character – has unique abilities and varying levels of health and endurance, which adds some adorable breeds to the game and helps make the game from one to the next.

Fighting with players holding “Initiative” playing cards dealing damage from their hands and rolling dice. Successful hit singles drive the player’s favor, repeating the crowd hype wrestlers. The higher the momentum, the easier it is to land and get other bonuses, inspiring constant aggression. Initiatives only switch when attacking errors, defenders block, defenders use their “reversal” ability once per game (stop fighting immediately), or attackers voluntarily pass to restore some stamina and cards.

Between the different attack bonuses and combo cards’ abilities, there is a pleasant depth and strategy in ATW without being overly complicated. But what I found most interesting is how initiative Being processed – This is done in a way I've never encountered in other games before. I really like this “press your luck” method, which makes my cards, endurance and motivation even more exciting. This often leaves me with tough choices: will I work hard and risk myself in a rough state, have a chance to tie the pins, or do I try to survive the attack by confiscating the attack in the next attack, hoping I can fight back better?

Regarding the topic of cards, this is perhaps my biggest question about ATW. The game does not rely on text, but uses symbols and icons to represent things like damage, endurance requirements, special attributes, and other modifiers. As a general rule of thumb, if a game able With icons, it should – as long as they are all readable and not overwhelming. Fortunately, I never found that there are too many icons in ATW to decode, but there are still many shortcomings in readability.

The action cards you use most feature a variety of wrestlers’ artwork, from jabs and fists to German suplexes and signature moves. However, this can make all the troubles on symbols more cumbersome than it should – especially if you're on the receiving end and turn them upside down or view them from a distance. I've encountered several situations where I missed the modifier or dice modifier due to attacks using different statistics, or the card was mistaken for other situations. Maybe it's because of my long history in games like Magic: The Gathering, but I hope that the information is provided on a slightly opaque background, not directly on art. This is not the finale in the game, but it certainly has a bit of a jaw on the chin.

The core game box provides players with enough value and flexibility to not only provide standard 1V1 matches, but also a 2V2 mode based on the tag team, a Cage Match variant with new rules and a solo Activity Allows you to improve the wrestler's pattern as you progress. The automation system in solo mode is good, but admittedly, as someone who has never quite entered Solo board gameI spent more time playing with others than sneaking into the ATW campaign.

As for the tag model, there are added layers of choice and strategy to my friends’ ability to continue to combine. Still, it's not as difficult as the core 1V1 mode. Even with a new tag mechanic, I can't shake this pattern just at the expense of more downtime, as there is only one attacker and one defender active at any given time and at any given time. It was still fun and brought a great team time with friends, but I personally prefer the more intense, more supervisory two-person experience.

For those who want to delve into the historical wrestling universe, the creators continue to release new extensions (fully compatible with existing content), adding legends like Sgt. Slaughter and dump dogs, as well as Four people Free and Three people– Specific triple threat matching.

Wrestling has always been one of the games worth checking out, even if the wrestling theme doesn't appeal to you. The game is less than 30 minutes long and has two players, about 45 minutes of tag teams, which is a great filling on game night or compact stuff that's enough to go to the bar. I would love to see the system work for other topics – like Shonen Anime (think Dragon Ball Z) or Power Rangers inspired stuff. There is a surprising depth here while still being able to get close to players who experience different board game, even those who are purely for the love of wrestling.

With all-time wrestling, cationic art plays a dramatic and faithful representation in the packaging, which will make the wild historical pairing of wrestling that will make fans of head-to-head games happy, regardless of whether you know the representative of DDT.

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