It’s no secret that I’m a fan of professional wrestling. Some of my earliest memories are playing with WWF Hasbro figures or watching (and rewatching) Ric Flair and Sting’s classic 60 minute steel cage match at the inaugural NWA Clash of the Champions. I’ve played many video games over the years, but Saturday Night Slam Masters on the SNES one of the greatest games of all time, in my humble and correct opinion. I even tried my own hand at training to be a professional wrestler. (That’s a story for another day if you’re interested.) I’ve attended WWE pay per view events, and small local promotions putting on shows at the bingo hall down the street. I could write for days about my love of pro wrestling both as a surface level fan, and digging in to the storytelling aspects of what makes it popular. I love comic books and super heroes. I love playing soccer. I love writing and creating artwork. I love everything about the tabletop gaming community. I especially love my wife and children. But before any of those took a hold on my life, I fell in love with pro wrestling.
Imagine my disappointment when I look around and see a criminally low number of popular pro wrestling tabletop games. There are some games out there, like Luchador! Mexican Wrestling Dice. WWE even has an officially licensed game, WWE Superstar Showdown. Both of those are fine games. They are alright, but they don’t quite scratch that itch. Well, I’d like to introduce you to SRG’s Supershow.
Now, there are multiple products you could buy to get in to the game. There’s no official starter set. Honestly, you could buy any of their box sets that comes with 2 wrestlers and accompanying decks and be ready to play. Personally, I got Poppa Wheelie vs Rising Sun, so that’s what I’m playing. But this review will cover the Supershow in general.
SRG Supershow
Publisher: SRG
Designer: Steve Resk
Theme:
There is so much theme in this game, it’s insane. Players take turns grappling, trying to chain moves together with cards from their hands. As the match goes on, and the crowd gets more excited, it becomes harder for the competitors to kick out of finishing moves. There’s a rhyme or reason for just about everything in this game. It all seems very intentional, which really helps with immersing yourself in the theme while playing.
In addition to the flow of the game having the back and forth of a wrestling match while maintaining a steady crescendo of excitement as a match goes on, each character’s deck is thematic as well. Out of the box, each deck is crafted to reflect the skills and attributes of these fictional wrestlers. Just looking at the competitors of the box set I purchased, you can immediately tell that Poppa Wheelie will have more cards that utilize his strength. Looking at his attributes reinforces this, with his impressive Power value of 9. Rising Sun is smaller, so he needs to fight smarter. Every move has to be effective. He is a master of perfecting his maneuvers, so his Technique must be sharp. Also a value of 9.
You’ll notice each character has an extra ability, their Gimmick, giving each one a more unique playstyle and personality. So you have the freedom to find which competitor fits your playstyle or has the flair you desire.
Wrestling fans will get even more delight out of some of the cards, being able to recognize the moves from their favorite real-life wrestlers. You may see the “Dragon Suplex” card as just a Follow Up, Grapple card that has a cool effect. But I see it as a signature move for one of the greatest, most underrated wrestlers of the 90s: the Ultimo Dragon. Every time my competitor uses this move, they are paying homage to, arguably, the most innovative performer to ever come out of Japan.
There’s not a current game on the market that “feels” like wrestling more than SRG Supershow.
Gameplay:
Each competitor has 6 skills: Power, Technique, Agility, Strike, Submission, and Grapple. Each skill has a value showing how proficient each competitor is when it comes to that skill. Each player will roll a die at the start each turn to see which player takes control and goes first. The die’s faces represent the 6 skills. Whichever competitor has the higher value in the rolled skill will take control.
On your turn you draw a card. You can then either play a card from your hand or place a card from your discard pile on the bottom of your deck.
All cards are either Lead, Follow Up, or Finisher cards. Lead maneuvers can be played regardless of anything else in play. You must have a Lead in play to play a Follow Up, and a Follow Up in play to play a Finisher. In addition to these types, all cards are either Strike, Submission, or Grapple cards. Many cards will effect specific types of cards, so that’s something to keep an eye on as you play.
Cards with the STOP icon can be played on your opponent’s turn to stop them from playing their current card. These STOP cards can also be played as regular cards on your own turn.
When you play a Finisher card that I mentioned earlier, you preform the card’s effect, then roll the die. Whatever skill the result represents is the value of your finish attempt. Now, your opponent has 3 opportunities to break out. They will roll their own die and look to tie or beat the value of your finish attempt. If they tie or beat it, all cards are cleared from both players’ play areas to their discard pile, and play continues with the next player’s turn. Kicking out of a finish also introduces the Crowd Meter that will increase for all subsequent kick outs and increase the difficulty of kicking out. If your opponent fails all 3 times, the match is over and you win!
You can also win by “count out” if your opponent has no cards in their hand or deck at the start of their turn.
There are also rules for playing with 3 or 4 players. While designed for 2 players, it does scale up nicely without feeling cobbled together.
For Parents:
I know I typically review games with kids in mind. This one is just too strategy heavy to be played effectively by kids under 13 or so. Even if you take out the deck building aspect, I think there’s just too many options of cards in hand with different effects and too many things to consider. I know I will often play games with my kids with complete disregard to the age recommendation, but there’s no way my 6 or 7 year old would be able to even fumble through a game of the Supershow.
That said, since all you need are two decks and the dice, it’s very easy to set up and play after kids are in bed for the night. Minimal set-up is a MUST for games between my wife and myself. If we are playing after the kids’ bedtime, we need to be able just sit down and go.
Final Thoughts:
This is a game made by wrestling fans, for wrestling fans. The community and support for this game is off the charts unbelievable. Their players will ‘cut promos’ on each other. They have General Managers who put out videos through social media with updates on the state of the game. If you’ve ever seen SRG at conventions, they have championship belts on display for their tournaments. Even while running demos, they have an old school bell that they ring when a match ends as they announce the winner of the match. If you go to a convention like GenCon, Origins, or PAX Unplugged, you have to find the SRG booth. These guys have such a great time and bring excitement with them.
The game is a lot of fun and very thematic. The only downside to a game like this is the cost. It’s not a cheap game. The box sets that come with everything you need for two players have an MSRP of $25. They do sell single cards and additional competitors through their website, www.SRGUniverse.com, but the cost adds up quickly. And as of now, there are a fair amount of sets they are sold out of on their website. So, if you’re considering trying to build a competitive deck, finding cards from past sets could get difficult. 100% disclosure: I haven’t researched what the top tier decks look like and don’t know how hard to find some of the top cards are. So, I may be way off base. But it’s a fear I have as a casual player looking to get in to a game with a competitive scene.
One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is the competitor cards for Independent Competitors. These are real life wrestlers on the independent scene. You can have add wrestlers like the Young Bucks, Colt Cabana, Joey Ryan and more to your own Supershow. Some of these independent wrestlers have gone on to sign with WWE. So you can get cards for Lio Rush, EC3, Candice LeRae, Johnny Gargano, and more. This is a major selling point for me. You can add your favorite independent wrestlers to the game. And not in a ‘custom house rules’ kind of way. Officially. Unfortunately, as I mentioned before, the cost of some of these cards makes them difficult to justify in my opinion. Now, they do run some special deals where you can get multiple new competitors in a bundle for a discounted price. That make the pill easier to swallow.
I know I just sat here and said the game is kind of expensive to really get immersed in to. But as luck would have it, Supershow is back on Kickstarter for their new set! This is the perfect way to get a great selection of cards at a very generous price. If you’re interested in playing, especially if you’re a fan of pro wrestling, this is the best value for getting in to the game. Even if you’re already familiar with the game, just looking to expand your library of cards, like me, this is the way to go to get bang for your buck. So, am I going to put my money where my mouth is and back this? Yes. I’m absolutely going to back this campaign. I’ll probably just pledge $30 to get a single box set and the stretch goals. So many stretch goals are unlocked, so be sure to check it out. Who knows… maybe I’ll increase my pledge at the last minute like so many people do. If you do decide to pledge, let them know you heard about the campaign from Gaming With Sidekicks!
If you’re looking for a strategic card game, with a heavy theme, then here you go. It can be played casually out of the box or competitively with customized decks. There is a very active competitive scene that makes its presence known at all of the major conventions. I’ve even noticed smaller pockets of local playgroups starting to pop up. Supershow is a game that’s growing. And if you’re a wrestling fan, there’s just so much wrestling flavor, you can’t help but enjoy it when it’s on the table.
Here’s your winner, AND STILL the best professional wrestling tabletop game in the world today, a spectacle so grand it can only be called… the Supershow!
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