It’s a tale as old as time – heroes versus villains. Your strengths and abilities may vary, but the battle can be won by anyone. Will you be able to strengthen your dice pool enough to come out ahead, or will your opponent be able to take you down first? It’s time to battle!

What Is It?

Pool Building / Dice Rolling – Players start the game with some trait dice and some action dice which they will roll each round and use to activate attacks against their opponent and defend against their opponent’s attacks. They can also use dice to power up – they can gain more trait dice, which vary depending on which symbols they want to try and get, or get faces to add to their customizable action die (or dice if you have/gain multiple).

Simultaneous Play – Players roll and select their actions simultaneously behind their player screens always trying to anticipate what their opponent will do in a given round, without knowing exactly what they rolled.

Variable Player Powers – There are 3 heroes and 3 villains available to play as in the game. Each character has their own unique board and abilities that they can trigger with their dice. Players will have to learn the strengths of their character in order to play to that and succeed.

Who Is It For?

  • 1 – 2 Players – The solo mode is okay, but I think it’s an awesome head to head 2 player game
  • Ages 10+ – Simple rules, but definitely some strategy that may be harder for younger players
  • Fans of dice rolling, pool building, combos, and variable powers
  • Players who enjoy trying to anticipate an opponent’s moves (since rounds are simultaneous behind screens)

Variants

Solo – Play against an automated opponent which uses its’ dice according to an outline of rules. It’s an okay experience overall. I thought it seemed really difficult to do well as the player, because it seemed like the AI had a much easier time getting more dice, making them all the more powerful very quickly. I definitely prefer the game at 2.

Team Play – You need 2 base games to play 2v2. I only have 1 game, so I didn’t get a chance to try it myself, but it sounded neat and I would definitely give it a shot.

Cooperative – 2 Players vs 2 AI. Plays similarly to how the team game is described, except with AI opponents. It’s a neat play mode, but I feel similarly about this as about the solo where the AI just seems very difficult, so it’s hard to get into for me.

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Everything is bright and colorful and it has a great, fun comic style to it; I love the art
  • Components – Nice quality all around (dice, boards, etc). The faces are easy to stick on the customizable dice and there are little tools included to help you take them off
  • Reference “Cards” – The inside of the player screen has some of the best reference material I’ve ever seen in a game. I love having it in front of my as I roll my dice and decide if I want to re-roll, get certain additional dice/faces, and so on
  • Rules – Well-written, easy to learn from
  • Simultaneous action selection, so you’re always involved/active; not a lot of downtime because resolving actions is also very quick
  • Smooth overall gameplay
  • I love that there are lots of spots you can use blank faces on, so you never really have a dead turn
  • Characters feel well-balanced

CONS

  • Upkeep for the solo game is a bit much, plus I found the solo game very difficult. I definitely recommend it more if you plan to primarily play at 2 players
  • Clean up can be a bit tedious, as you have to take the build-able dice apart, and I don’t love the tools it comes with the remove them, they’re small and a little hard to use

Final Thoughts

I have played a few games before this where you can build/customize dice, but I think this one does it best. I love that you can use blank sides, and even if you don’t get an amazing roll, you can always do something, so “feel-bad” turns are few and far between.

I think the game feels well-balanced and has a nice back and forth as you lose health and damage your opponent. Of course, trying to predict your opponent’s next moves each round can be difficult, or even frustrating at times, so it won’t be a game for everyone, but if you like trying to get in someone’s head, you need to check this one out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 7/10

Designers – Larry Bogucki, Douglas Hettrick, Carl Van Ostrand
Publisher – Wise Wizard Games
MSRP – $49.99
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*