Love giant monsters fighting it out, but want a little bit more than King of Tokyo has to offer? Ultimate Warriorz may be the game for you! Ultimate Warriorz is a reprinting and updating of Mad Arena, an older game I was in no way familiar with.

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical when this arrived on my doorstep. The whole box-as-the-arena seemed very gimmicky, and the extremely light rules almost turned me off to it right away. After one play with my 5-year-old, I was hooked. A few more plays later Ultimate Warriorz became a staple game in our household.

The game is fairly light, and very easy to learn. The depth in the game comes from the different combatants, their stats, and special moves. Each round you’ll be playing cards simultaneously, and resolving them by their initiative number. These cards allow you to move, melee attack, range attack, or use special moves. Each card also lists your current defense value. Making sure you get early strikes, but trying not to leave yourself in a defenseless state, is an important part of the game.

The game lasts a set number of rounds, determined by the number of players. At the end of the game points are added up and the winner is declared. Basically your points are the amount of damage you’ve dealt during the game. Bonus points are awarded if you’re the first person to damage an enemy. The game can also immediately end if only one player is left standing.

While I’m still a huge fan of King of Tokyo, I almost feel like this has taken it’s place in our household. There’s much less luck, and a bit more planning here. The game are really very different, but I feel the whole “light monster combat” game is where these both would be grouped.

The kids routinely pull this one off the shelf to play, and have a great time trying out different combatants and how they work. My 5-year-old has pretty much called permanent dibs on the giant red dragon, however, and seems to handle the high health/low defense of the monster pretty well.

I went into this game not expecting very much, and was pleasantly surprised. With the holidays coming up, this would be a great gift for a family to enjoy.

A copy of Ultimate Warriorz was provided free for review by Asmodee Editions.

• Comments Off on Second Look—Ultimate Warriorz

OK. I’m going to be straight with you. Asmodee has a bunch of new stuff coming out in June. This includes Barony, Metal Adventures, Cardline: Dinosaurs and Ultimate Warriorz.

Really, though, I’m mainly interested in Metal Adventures. Why? Space. Pirates.

Metal Adventures is a card game where you’re a SPACE PIRATE  trying to gain honor, wealth, and glory. Using the cards you’ll explore, upgrade your ship, and complete challenges.

Metal Adventures is for 3-6 players ages 14+ and plays 45-60 minutes. It’ll retail for $49.99.

• Comments Off on New from Asmodee Editions, Metal Adventures