Boss Battle Review

Fight the dragon as a team or fight a team as the dragon.

Boss Battle sees the players competing as heroes to defeat the boss (go figure) cooperatively or they can go 1v1 against each other. There are several different ways to play the game. Each player will control one of four different heroes and they will go against one of the three bosses. Each turn, players will play cards into one of the lanes on the board and activate the cards if they are able to do so. Each lane has 3 rows and each card needs to be played in a specific row. For example, if you play a card in row 2, you'll need to wait 2 turns for the card to activate. Some cards can be activated immediately and they may do some damage, defend, or buff yourself or other players. There is more to it than this, obviously, but that's the meat and potatoes of it. Play will continue until either the boss is dead, all of the players are dead, or if the boss is still alive after the 10th round.

The Good: This is a really unique take on a skirmish game. I love that the board acts as a pseudo-timer and each card needs to be played in a specific level. This adds a whole different layer to the strategy and planning aspect of the game. Getting to play as a different character each time is great and if you get tired of playing as a hero, switch sides and play as the boss. The artwork is also fantastic. Each character has their own decks of unique cards. The tuck boxes are also a really nice touch. They don't add or take anything away from the game but it's a cool way to keep everything organized.

The Okay: There is a lot to juggle with this game. As with any cooperative game, communication and planning ahead is key so if you are playing with the wrong group, it can be a bit of a slog to get through at times. I had this happen a couple of times. When it clicks though, it really clicks.

The Not So Good: The rulebook left a lot to be desired. I had to constantly reference back to it or try and make my own interpretation of the rules for some cases. It's thorough for the core 3v1 game but once you start getting into some of the other game modes, it becomes a lot more vague.

Overall: 6.5/10

Boss Battle is a game that does some really cool things that I really enjoyed but at the end of the day, it fell a bit flat for me. This is still a game that I'm more than willing to pull out and play though. It offers so much in the box that each game will be different but some games just didn't stick the landing. I'd recommend Boss Battle if you're looking for a game that can be played many different times and is something different from the typical skirmish type games scheme.