Krosmaster: Arena

EvEvanstar5,9

Fun and short tactical miniatures game. Aside from being really cute, the rules are simple yet offer a lot of choices in a really refreshing way. While dice are used in combat, the attacks have a base damage to them, which helps reduce randomness. Again, the figures aren't completely balanced, but it's reasonably close. If every player picks equal numbers of figures by matching point costs per figure, things work well. (I mean to say two 3 point guys don't always equal a 6 point guy.) After just a few plays, you will want to get a handful of expansion figures to keep things lively, as there aren't really enough included in the base game for good variation. While most of the production value here is crazy good, the cardboard crates in the base game barely hold together. Also, I do wish the figures activated as they do in heroscape, rather than have player A resolve all his units, before player B acts. While we're on the topic, these figures work fantastically well on a heroscape map. ★ Art, Iconography and components functional ★ Clever or interesting mechanisms ★ Reasonably low downtime between turns with mildly AP players ★ Multiple plays stay interesting ★ Low or mitigatable luck elements ★★★☆☆ Raw enjoyment

Mario López Menésstar5,2

A nice skirmish game which has a unique aesthetic in its genre. PROS - Really pretty with its pre-painted chibi miniatures and overall aesthetic. - Nice tutorial system included in the rules. - Easy to teach to casual gamers thanks to the 2 previous points. - Pretty deep when having a wide array of miniatures. CONS - Heavier than expected at first sight, which may be a problem for some casual gamers. - The 1vs1 asymmetric skirmish genre is quite loaded. It competes with many other games that have a not random selling model.