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Titan the Arena is one of the best card games I've played since Lunch Money. Unfortunately there are several barriers to playing it. The first is the teaser "A fierce game of deadly combat..." It's not. It is a fierce game. Deadly combat is for afters. The second are the rules, which seem simplistic and dry. Well, the rulebook was written by the same company who produced Advanced Squad Leader, but nonetheless, Titan the Arena is one seriously fun game.

The basic concept is this: you take the role of fans of arena combat, placing bets on your favorites. As the competitors die, the returns on new bets diminishes. Obviously, this would be no fun if it were you incapable of determining the outcome of the battles. This is accomplished by playing strength cards on the various creatures. Once every creature has a strength card, the round ends, and the lowest card loses. After five rounds, the remaining three competitors are champions and bets on them pay off.

Simple rules. There are some added complications, though. For instance, every creature has a power, to allow for extra discards, or to swap strength cards around, which can only be used when the player with the highest bet on that creature lays a strength card on it. Or the idea of secret bets: the highest return is on a bet placed secretly in the first round, and which can be revealed at any later point in the game. Or spectators: strength cards that can be laid on any creature (normal strength cards are color-coded) but which void their power.

The things is, Titan the Arena gets played on many different levels. On one level is the neccesary card banter and promises, dealing and wheeling that goes on in any decent multiplayer game. On another is a viciously complex game of poison that gets played: you don't want to lay the last card, or you do, or you don't want to let another player end the round. Any and all of these situations can arise before its your turn again. On another are the guessing games: what's under that 7 in the Unicorn's pile? Which creature does Joe have his secret bet on? On another is betting strategy. Should you pick one favorite and protect it all the way through the game? Can you? Or should you your bets out to cover more bases? Should you hold your last ducat to hold control of your favorite or put it on your opponent's backed creature to wrest control away?

And even if the forces of fate and your friends conspire to kill your big bets, and you can't hope to win, as in many an excellent game of stategy, you can still influence the outcome; Titan the Arena strongly lends itself to Kingmaking.

Overall, Titan is a headwrenching game, without the twisty confusion of other high-though card games. A definite must-buy.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Titan the Arena
Author: Reiner Knizia Category: Card Game Company/Publisher: Avalon Hill Cost: $20.00 Page count: n/a ISBN: 1-56038-191-4 Playtest Review by Judson Lester on 10/11/97. Genre tags: none	Titan the Arena is one of the best card games I've played since Lunch Money. Unfortunately there are several barriers to playing it. The first is the teaser "A fierce game of deadly combat..." It's not. It is a fierce game. Deadly combat is for afters. The second are the rules, which seem simplistic and dry. Well, the rulebook was written by the same company who produced Advanced Squad Leader, but nonetheless, Titan the Arena is one seriously fun game. The basic concept is this: you take the role of fans of arena combat, placing bets on your favorites. As the competitors die, the returns on new bets diminishes. Obviously, this would be no fun if it were you incapable of determining the outcome of the battles. This is accomplished by playing strength cards on the various creatures. Once every creature has a strength card, the round ends, and the lowest card loses. After five rounds, the remaining three competitors are champions and bets on them pay off. Simple rules. There are some added complications, though. For instance, every creature has a power, to allow for extra discards, or to swap strength cards around, which can only be used when the player with the highest bet on that creature lays a strength card on it. Or the idea of secret bets: the highest return is on a bet placed secretly in the first round, and which can be revealed at any later point in the game. Or spectators: strength cards that can be laid on any creature (normal strength cards are color-coded) but which void their power. The things is, Titan the Arena gets played on many different levels. On one level is the neccesary card banter and promises, dealing and wheeling that goes on in any decent multiplayer game. On another is a viciously complex game of poison that gets played: you don't want to lay the last card, or you do, or you don't want to let another player end the round. Any and all of these situations can arise before its your turn again. On another are the guessing games: what's under that 7 in the Unicorn's pile? Which creature does Joe have his secret bet on? On another is betting strategy. Should you pick one favorite and protect it all the way through the game? Can you? Or should you your bets out to cover more bases? Should you hold your last ducat to hold control of your favorite or put it on your opponent's backed creature to wrest control away? And even if the forces of fate and your friends conspire to kill your big bets, and you can't hope to win, as in many an excellent game of stategy, you can still influence the outcome; Titan the Arena strongly lends itself to Kingmaking. Overall, Titan is a headwrenching game, without the twisty confusion of other high-though card games. A definite must-buy. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)