Today we will be taking a look at the newest Kickstarter from Kid Loves Tiger Games-Beast Masters Duel! This is a game designed for 2 or more players to combat and decide who is the best Beast Master in the land!
Contents:
Included in the base pledge of this box is:
-1 rulebook
-2 Double sided boards
-40 acrylic cubes
-2 Trainer boards
-8 Custom meeples
-35 Assorted tokens
-8 Activation tokens
-60 Cards
-12 D6 dice (6 red, 6 yellow)
Overview:
In Beast Masters Duel, player are playing the role of a Trainer striving to be the champion of the next Regional competition. Duels occur one on one until a player reaches 12 Trophy points. Points are gained from completing objectives that wow the crowd.
Setup:
Each player gets a Trainer board along with one cube of each color. Players pick a team through draft or pre-constructed teams. Each Beast has 3 Profile cards you need to grab along with the 3 Trainer Tactic cards for your Trainer.Each Beast and Trainer also has 3 Objective cards that you will shuffle into a Trophy Card deck. The 3 Beasts have 4 Tactics cards you shuffle into a deck as well that will be your Tactic deck.
Each player sets up their board, the second player matching the first by at least 3 hexes. Placing Objectives face-down, players take turns until the last player starts theirs. Each player alternatively places their Beast Meeples on edges and their Trainer on the Momentum symbol on their board.
Gameplay:
Game sequence goes like this=
1. Assemble Teams
2. Build the Game Board
3. Place Objectives
4. Activation Row Setup
5. Deploy Team
6. Upkeep Step
7. Activation Step
8. End of Round Step
In the Assemble Teams step, players bring a team of 1 Trainer and 3 Beasts to battle the other player. In Build the Game Board each player plays a game board that must match on at least 3 hexes total. In Place Objectives
the player who first placed a board gets to choose 1 Random Objective and place it face down in a non-border space. Players go back and forth until and 3 are placed. In Activation Row Setup players place them facedown in the activation row in any order. Each player will Deploy Teams in the next step all at once, in turn order. In the Upkeep Step players resolve any active Objective Cards.
In a 2 player game, a player wins when all of their opponent’s robots are destroyed, the opponent cannot produce more than 5 total energy or perform any actions. In multi-player (up to 6 players) a team is eliminated when all of their robots are destroyed or they cannot take an action. Players then manage their hand and add/remove any momentum from their pool to equal the total on their trainer board.
In the Activation Step players take turns activating beasts and trainers from their Activation row. The first player to activate is the one with the least trophies. Activation spaces are numbered and the cost to activate is in the row. For Beast Activation, they will each gain a Move/Attack/Tactic Action. A Move is made with the speed on the Beast card. An Attack action can be made using the printed Basic Attack or the Tactic Card. Trainer Activation allows Meeples to be on a new Tactic card. Some Activations bring on bonuses as well. Move Actions allow Beasts to move in any direction.
Attack Actions allow a Beast to use their basic attack on the Profile car. Attack dice are rolled to make the attack or action. Beasts can also roll for Defense, take Wounds and be KOd from attacks.
In the End of Round Step you also may use Tactic cards instead of Basic Attack actions. They have immediate effects then are there to give you an extra attack. After both players have passed, the round ends and Objective cards are fulfilled or rotated.
Players will continue to play out rounds until once of the Trainers reaches 12 Trophy Points on their trainer board. They are then crowned the Beast Master!
Impressions:
The portability and ease of set-up for this game is a strong draw as well-it will be an easy game to get to the table and one I really look forward to seeing in final production. So make sure to check this game out and see what new exciting gameplay is coming your way in Beast Masters Duel: Sun and Stone!
Kid Loves Tiger Games has brought another fun action and adventure game to the Kickstarter platform in the form of a great two player battle. If you enjoy the world of Trainers battling Trainers one-on-one with their Beasts-this game is there for you! I like the Pre-Constructed format but Drafting out teams is a fun way to play this as well. The gameplay was fast paced and while previewing this game we spent time with a lot of back and forth battles striving to reach that 12th Trophy point to be the ultimate champion. My son really enjoyed the theme and the style of this game-I can see this getting to the table for some father-son moments.
Promotional consideration provided in the form of a review copy