The Inside Scoop on Gaming

"It's not a CCG so it isn't against my religion" was the quote from the other person at the table when the other players for the weekly RPG showed up an hour late last week...

BRAWL is a blast. We had intended to stop playing then and get down to business but we ended up going for another hour in a series of multiplayer games.

The basic concept is a real-time card game based on the idea of anime-like characters fighting it out in hand to hand combat. The games also has 'basic rules' for turn based play. Good for when just learning the way the cards work.

It ships in 6 seperate decks of 35 cards and a foldout rulesheet. The decks have essentially the same cards but in different porportions and different imagry (including the back, which feature the character for that deck). There are 3 guys and 3 gals to choose from. This is NOT a CCG. What you see is what you get. There's nothing to collect and no 'rare expensive card' to spoil the fun for those with less than $1 million pocket change. You do however need two decks to play. More if you want character variety. But the decks are sold complete. All of a given character is right there in one deck. Personally I bought all 6 for the variety. 3 one day and the rest later when I discovered what a hit it was with those I tried it with.

Your cards consist of hits, blocks, presses (which overcome blocks), clears (which sort of do a partial reset on the game, under the guise of 'stepping clear' of your opponant), freezes (which are used to end the game) and face cards.

The face cards are layed down and then a series of hits and blocks goes upon them. At the end you total hits to determine who wins each face card. In a tie you get your own face card as a win. The game goes to the person who wins the most face cards.

You start out by placing one of your face cards down. Clears remove a face card and all cards upon it. Everyone has more than one face card in their deck and the extras can be uplayed down on the table as they come up. Though a maximum of 3 face cards (including both yours and your opponants) can be placed down.

In the real time game you play your cards as fast as you can match them up to the building layout on the table. When you hit the bottom of your deck you've got freezes that you can play on a face to prevent any more cards from going down on it. You can play cards from the top of your deck of discard pile. And if you don't like a card you draw it goes to the discard's top. In the turn based game the play is the same only you take turns.

There's also an option for multiplayer games. It's pretty simpley explained in the book. You basically end up playing 2 games at the same time. Each player plays a game with the persons to their sides. In our group we totalled up the number of faces everyone had won to get a final 'master score'. We also tried letting people interupt cards into the other games if they had the right card to lay down. Going for a sort of chaotic-'rumble' feel.

That's the essense of the mechanics. It's very simple. You can explain it to someone in under 2 minutes. And entire game can be played out in 1 minute once you know all the cards well. Especially in real time mode. This is a real 'quicky game'. Great to bring along to other main events for before and after or even during breaks.

The style of the game is fun. The artwork is playful and anime inspired. It's that 'western style anime' that is somewhat cartoonish in all the right ways. At least with artist Ryan Kinnaird. Somebody hire this guy to do more work. He's good. I originally bought the game just cause the art looked cool. All of the cards have very dynamic poses and coloration that definately inspire. We had one player get into the swing of things by adding comic-book sound effects. The only boring element of the design is possibly the simple, bold sans-serif face used to name each card. It's given a beveled-button look that helps it feel 'video-gamey' but is otherwise not exciting. However the card imagry being what it is you have to be looking for a flaw to notice this. It's only a flaw in that it's not the best font possible. Not in that it's a bad choice.

Since the game plays out so fast you never 'lose the moment' or find yourself getting bored figuring out your next move or your opponants strategy. You're kept on the edge of your seat the whole time. The strategy isn't too complex, but there's enough there to keep you going for a while. It's more a 'tactical' game anyway. You jump in and you just go.

Overall I loved it. It's the only card game I can get most people to play. Particular the anti-CCG crowd. And they tend to come back for more. I've had a blast with this simple game.

Style: 5 (Excellent!)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

BRAWL
Author: James Ernest Category: Cardgame Company/Publisher: James Ernest (but uses a Cheapass Games product #) Line: n/a Cost: $6.95/deck (6 decks total) Page count: 35 cards/deck ISBN: n/a SKU: #CAG502-507 Capsule Review by Arcady on 11/03/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Anime	"It's not a CCG so it isn't against my religion" was the quote from the other person at the table when the other players for the weekly RPG showed up an hour late last week... BRAWL is a blast. We had intended to stop playing then and get down to business but we ended up going for another hour in a series of multiplayer games. The basic concept is a real-time card game based on the idea of anime-like characters fighting it out in hand to hand combat. The games also has 'basic rules' for turn based play. Good for when just learning the way the cards work. It ships in 6 seperate decks of 35 cards and a foldout rulesheet. The decks have essentially the same cards but in different porportions and different imagry (including the back, which feature the character for that deck). There are 3 guys and 3 gals to choose from. This is NOT a CCG. What you see is what you get. There's nothing to collect and no 'rare expensive card' to spoil the fun for those with less than $1 million pocket change. You do however need two decks to play. More if you want character variety. But the decks are sold complete. All of a given character is right there in one deck. Personally I bought all 6 for the variety. 3 one day and the rest later when I discovered what a hit it was with those I tried it with. Your cards consist of hits, blocks, presses (which overcome blocks), clears (which sort of do a partial reset on the game, under the guise of 'stepping clear' of your opponant), freezes (which are used to end the game) and face cards. The face cards are layed down and then a series of hits and blocks goes upon them. At the end you total hits to determine who wins each face card. In a tie you get your own face card as a win. The game goes to the person who wins the most face cards. You start out by placing one of your face cards down. Clears remove a face card and all cards upon it. Everyone has more than one face card in their deck and the extras can be uplayed down on the table as they come up. Though a maximum of 3 face cards (including both yours and your opponants) can be placed down. In the real time game you play your cards as fast as you can match them up to the building layout on the table. When you hit the bottom of your deck you've got freezes that you can play on a face to prevent any more cards from going down on it. You can play cards from the top of your deck of discard pile. And if you don't like a card you draw it goes to the discard's top. In the turn based game the play is the same only you take turns. There's also an option for multiplayer games. It's pretty simpley explained in the book. You basically end up playing 2 games at the same time. Each player plays a game with the persons to their sides. In our group we totalled up the number of faces everyone had won to get a final 'master score'. We also tried letting people interupt cards into the other games if they had the right card to lay down. Going for a sort of chaotic-'rumble' feel. That's the essense of the mechanics. It's very simple. You can explain it to someone in under 2 minutes. And entire game can be played out in 1 minute once you know all the cards well. Especially in real time mode. This is a real 'quicky game'. Great to bring along to other main events for before and after or even during breaks. The style of the game is fun. The artwork is playful and anime inspired. It's that 'western style anime' that is somewhat cartoonish in all the right ways. At least with artist Ryan Kinnaird. Somebody hire this guy to do more work. He's good. I originally bought the game just cause the art looked cool. All of the cards have very dynamic poses and coloration that definately inspire. We had one player get into the swing of things by adding comic-book sound effects. The only boring element of the design is possibly the simple, bold sans-serif face used to name each card. It's given a beveled-button look that helps it feel 'video-gamey' but is otherwise not exciting. However the card imagry being what it is you have to be looking for a flaw to notice this. It's only a flaw in that it's not the best font possible. Not in that it's a bad choice. Since the game plays out so fast you never 'lose the moment' or find yourself getting bored figuring out your next move or your opponants strategy. You're kept on the edge of your seat the whole time. The strategy isn't too complex, but there's enough there to keep you going for a while. It's more a 'tactical' game anyway. You jump in and you just go. Overall I loved it. It's the only card game I can get most people to play. Particular the anti-CCG crowd. And they tend to come back for more. I've had a blast with this simple game. Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)