Reviewed By: Pugilist
Game Name: Pit Fighter: Fantasy Arena
Publisher: Cheese Weasel Logistics, LLC
Game Type: Board and Card Game
Number of Players: 2
Solo Play Ability: None
Playing Time: 20-30 minutes
Ages: 8
Game Cost: $24.95
Expansion Cost: $5.95
Game Score: 92.9% / 100%
During Origins 2006 I had the opportunity to play Pit Fighter: Fantasy Arena (PFFA) a new game from Cheese Weasel Logistics, LLC, the same folks who make Death by Dice. PFFA is a hard to classify game. There are elements of a Collectible Card Game, elements of money management, and elements of a miniatures game, all rolled into a fast paced and surprisingly diverse combination. We've put it in the board game section just to annoy people. It's a gift.
Prepping for a PFFA game looks simple. Then again, those two eyes sticking out of the swamp water look harmless. That's right up to the point where the jaws wrap around you and you are taken to the bottom of the swamp, tucked under a log, and saved for a snack at some time to be determined later. I'm not saying this will happen to you if you prepare poorly for PFFA, it will just seem that way.
So, how to avoid the whole death roll and drowning feeling? Let's look.
The first thing you need to do is choose a character. You can't make any mistakes here because PFFA is a very balanced game. Oh, I suppose if your play style is hack and slash and you choose a magic user this could be a problem. But if this is the case you have other issues and getting spanked at PFFA will be the least of your problems. Getting dressed in the morning probably consumes most of your spare brain capacity.
So, you've chosen a character. It might be a fighter, a magic user or something else. Again, with the previous caveat, there are no bad decisions. Each character now needs to create a deck from the cards available in the 3 expansion packs. This deck is created in the exact same manner that you would create a CCG deck, but the handy part is, is that the expansion packs are not randomized like a CCG. So you only buy what you want to buy and you know exactly what you are getting when you buy it. That being said, this is done for the advanced game. The Basic Game, which is what the box comes with Starter Box comes with 2 sets of Expansion #1. This expansion can be used by any character and offers a taste of the game and the potential it has and constitutes the basic deck. In fact, more than two players can join in the game simply by arming themselves with their own Expansion #1.
You see, for your opening hand you can fish through your deck and get 50 gold worth of cards to help get you started. You then drawn a 5 card hand with action cards you fished out going into your hand, and all the equipment you fished out coming in ready to be used. Me, part of my critical open hand was armor cards because I was not paying attention. As you'll see later, armor is great against combat damage. Not so much against other types of damage. Y'know, like the damage from, say, magic. And who might use magic? A magic user? Should that have been a clue to me? Yeah.
Your starting bank consists of 100 gold. Gold is power, gold is victory condition, gold is the reward. If it's not clear yet, this game hinges on how you manage your gold. You goal for a win is not to crush your opponent into red, dripping goo, though there is a certain satisfaction to that, no, the goal of Pit Fighter is to accumulate a bank of 1,000 gold. So, let's review. You start with 100 gold, you have to accumulate 900 more for the win.
How?
This part is easy as a concept, difficult and challenging in execution.
Each card you play costs gold. Items, reactions, attacks, etc. Everything costs something to play and all this comes out of your account. OK, that's how to lose cash. How then do we gain it? Again, the concept is easy, the execution rather more challenging.
In PFFA you gain cash for damage. It's not a 1 point damage = 1 gold system. Rather Cheese Weasel Logistics has developed a scale of reward that keeps players in the game until the last blow lands. They don't use a "last questions wins the game" system though, and thank God because those just piss me off. Rather there is a sliding scale of reward that is based on your current bank balance. The more gold you have, the less gold you are awarded for damage done. Gold is awarded at either 20, 15, or 10 per point of damage, depending on your current total of gold. As I mentioned, the more you have, the less you are rewarded. So plan your combat well; not like me who ended 70 gold short of a win.
Obviously, I am amazing.
This system, except in a bizarre system where one player is asleep and is just randomly moving their character, keeps the game tense until the very end. If you prefer a game that is over after the first five (5) minutes, you won't like the system. If you prefer a game where the opportunity for defeat or victory is open right up to the end, well then, PFFA is for you.
What throws a twist into the game, one of many, is that you the different character types have different focuses and concentrate of different damage types.
In our fighter vs. magic user game, I spent my time trying to chase him down and pound his ass so I could reap the rewards of my stunning arms prowess and he spent his time scampering about, throwing spells and traps left and right and being handed totally unjustified cash rewards for his cowardly actions.
At least, that's how I remember it.
The Pit Fighter: Fantasy Arena starter game comes with all the playing components you need and two sets of Expansion #1, giving you four characters to try out and hone your strategies. There are three (3) expansions currently in production, including one that allows summoning a tiger. Of course, once you summon a tiger you still have to control it because otherwise it will just attack whatever is closest to it. I see a lot of casting and running until some sort of control is established. Of course, if you run out of cash at the wrong time, things can get a bit interesting.
Each turn is fast paced and damage is handled in a very interesting manner. Some kinds of magic and explosions do direct damage. This blows past armor, as I found out early on. Combat damage can be higher, but gets affected by many more things and is resolved only after all of these things are put into place.
As an example, if I have a weapon that does 3d6 damage, you may have something that reduces it by -2d6, then I can add another effect, you can respond, until we run out of options or cash. What happens if your opponent runs out first? You get to do a boatload of damage and get a corresponding amount of cash reward.
If you're looking for chivalry, wrong game.
If you're looking for a deceptively complex game with very simple rules and an opportunity to mix and match strategy to turn weakness into power and crush your opponent, hmmmmm. I'm thinking of a game, could it be, yes, I think it's Pit Fighter: Fantasy Arena. I look forward to seeing this hit the shelves.
Pit Fighter: Fantasy Arena was released on October 1, 2006 and is available in stores now. Just in time for Christmas.
So, buy it. Unless, of course, you hate great games.