I’ve been a Power Rangers fan since I was 6 years old, watching the original Mighty Morphin Power Rangers after school. I grew out of Power Rangers a few years later, and thought the fandom had run its course in my life. Fast forward. I’m 33 years old and have introduced my own children to Power Rangers. They love the original stuff, as well as the newer seasons like Ninja Steel and Beast Morphers. I’m also a board game reviewer. I chronicled my journey to Power Morphicon last year to play the demo of Heroes of the Grid, and you can check that out here. Well, the game has been out for over a month now, I’ve got a few playthroughs in, and here are my thoughts!
Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid (Base Game)
Publisher: Renegade Game Studios
Designer: Jonathan Ying
Gameplay
The easiest way to describe this game is this: a fully co-op area control, with some hand management and abstract tun order. It is for 1-5 players with scalable difficulty (6 players with expansions). The game is set up differently for each player count, but some things are the same.
- Each player chooses a Power Ranger character with their accompanying character card, deck, and mini. There are 5 in the base game.
- 2 groups of Foot Soldiers and corresponding decks. There are only 2 in the base game, Putties and Super Putties.
- 4 Locations, but this is misleading. Each set of Foot Soldiers has 2 corresponding locations. So based on what 2 groups of Foot Soldiers you choose, you will have already selected your Locations.
- 2 Monsters and their decks. There are 4 in the base game.
- 1 Boss and deck. There is only 1 in the base game.
- Then you just need the dice, tokens, the Command Center area, the Zord achievement track.
There are two phases each round: The Deployment Phase and Action Phase. During the Deployment Phase, enemies are placed in the various locations. You will flip 5 cards of the deployment deck, resolving one at a time, placing the number of specified enemies on the face of the card, to the specified location on the back of the next card in the deck. Each location has a Panic Limit. That is the number of enemies that can be at a location before the area is panicked. If an area is panicked, no more enemies can be sent to that location, and the enemies would go to the next unpanicked location clockwise. If all 4 areas are ever panicked at the same time, the Rangers lose the game.
After 5 deployment cards have been resolved, it is now the Action Phase. Rangers can move to a new location, rest and gain back cards from their discard pile, or initiate a battle. If a Ranger starts a battle, then all Rangers at that location get to participate in that battle. When starting a battle, reveal enemy cards for each enemy at that location up to 4. Then all Rangers in the battle collectively play 1 card. Then resolve the first enemy card. Then the Rangers go again, and so on until all enemy cards have been resolved. The Rangers get one more opportunity to play another card. Any Ranger in the battle is able to play a card, and can even play multiple cards while other Rangers are merely there to take damage. Battle is a completely open discussion between players on who will use what attacks, how players can combo abilities together, and who is in the best situation to take damage. There are keywords on the enemy cards that can effect the order they resolve, protect adjacent cards, and other effects.
For every 6 Foot Soldiers, and every time you defeat a Monster, you gain access to a Zord card. These cards have added abilities that can be activated with many different effects. Some give Rangers extra energy to play combat cards. Others can deal damage to enemies. And some protect Rangers from taking damage.
When a Ranger takes damage, the player must discard cards from their deck. Each card has a number of shield icons in the lower corner. If an enemy card would deal 4 damage, the player will begin discarding cards from the top of their deck until they have revealed a total of 4 shields. When a Ranger has no cards in their deck they have been defeated. Based on the number of players, there will be some number of action tokens in the Command Center that represent “extra lives”. Once a Ranger is defeated with no extra lives remaining, the game is over, and the Rangers have lost.
If the Rangers work together to keep all areas from simultaneously being panicked, defeating Foot Soldiers and Monsters along the way, and eventually defeat the Boss, then the Rangers win the game. It is possible to defeat the Boss before all Monsters have been defeated. That’s Fine. When the Boss is defeated, the game is over and the Rangers win.
There is a lot I glossed over, such as when Rangers receive energy tokens, how many enemy cards are needed to defeat Monsters and Bosses, and how to completely un-panic locations. These are details the rulebook goes over, as I’m just trying to give an impression of the game to let you know if it’s a game you should look in to buying yourself. This isn’t a “how to play” tutorial.
Theme
This base game is set to show off the first season of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers tv series. There are TONS of other teams and seasons of Power Rangers and some are represented by expansions. But this is just a review of the base game. This game recreates the teamwork and comradery seen in the tv show with the Rangers working together to defeat enemies.
Each Ranger has their own distinct personality on display with character ability and combat deck. Each one has a different role to fit various playstyles. Zack Taylor, the Black Ranger, specializes in attacks that hit multiple enemies. Jason Lee Scott, the Red Ranger, is the leader of the team and has abilities that let his teammates take extra attacks or reroll their dice.
The villains even have cards that mimic abilities and moments from the show. Pudgy Pig once ate the power weapons of the Rangers. One of his combat abilities says players cannot play their high energy combat cards.
If you’re a fan of Power Rangers at all, there are details you will recognize and plenty of “ah-ha” moments to tickle that nostalgia itch.
For Parents
My kids absolutely love this game. Because it’s fully co-op, it makes it easy to help them with some of the tougher choices. It could be easy to “alpha gamer” and kind of play for them. The biggest thing is being ok with letting them make mistakes in judgement, and afterwards, telling them what the better play would have been.
Lots of tokens with this one, so be advised if little ones are running around. Also, setting up the game is a process. Now, the kids always have fun telling me what Rangers they want, what bad guys, etc. So they find part of the game’s set up exciting, but it is still time consuming. Also, I consolidated my multiple boxes and packs for expansions in to 2 oversized boxes. All of my characters have their own ziplock bags complete with combat decks and minis. So, my method and routine of setting up may differ from most people.
Final Thoughts
I know, I know. I’m probably a little biased. So, let me start off with what I don’t like about this game.
I don’t like how the game can end with such a small amount of bad luck. A bad round of combat, followed by an exceptionally brutal deployment phase could result in all areas being panicked. There’s plenty of ways to house rule a fix, but I’d prefer to not do that. There was a bit of a learning curve with improved strategy for clearing areas. But even a good strategy can unravel quickly with some bad luck.
For everything the game does well with simulating the teamwork of the Power Rangers fighting foot soldiers and monsters, it does not even attempt to recreate the oversized battles between enlarged monsters and massive Megazord. I wish the game built to more climactic conclusion. But the final battle against the Boss follows the same order and procession as the first battle of the game. Even if you obtain all 5 Zord cards, and unlock the Megazord card, all it does is add an extra effect at the beginning of a typical battle.
One criticism I’ve seen is of the minis. That is crazy. These are some of the most dynamic and detailed minis I’ve personally held. The Rangers with their oversized weapons look great, as well as the grotesque monsters. They are about 54mm tall, so they are larger than standard D&D miniatures. I’ve actually started painting the minis for this game, and that has been a blast so far!
At the end of the day, I love this game. It’s not a perfect recreation of the Power Rangers experience, but it is really good. I don’t have any other fully co-op game with this grand of a scope, so it has a unique place on my shelf. The game is still expanding, as Phase 2 is currently on Kickstarter. If you want to get all of the exclusives from the first Kickstarter, as well as the new exclusives, this may be your last chance. Future Kickstarters may not be able to offer some of the exclusives from the first campaign, and all of that information is available on the updates page straight from Scott Gaeta, the head of Renegade Game Studios.
The community for this game is very active. There are a lot of homebrew characters being worked on as we speak. I’ve seen Justice League, Street Fighter, and Kamen Rider characters made by fans. Join us over on the official Facebook page for the game, HERE. The game’s designer, Jonathan Ying, is a Power Ranger fan and his love for the fandom shows. He’s constantly answering rules questions and chiming in about general Power Ranger news. He recently did an AMA over on reddit where he answered all kinds of questions about the game. He goes above and beyond when it comes to helping players enjoy this game.
If you’re a Power Ranger fan, this game is a must play. If you’re not, there’s still something to enjoy as it offers a unique co-op experience. Renegade has won me over as both a board game enthusiast and a Power Rangers fan.
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