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Sakura Arms

Game ID: GID0274955
Collection Status
Description

Sakura Duel — known in Japanese as 桜降る代に決闘を and also released as Sakura Arms — is a two-player dueling game in which players first choose two of seven megami (Japanese goddesses), each of which has a different keyword that empowers some of their cards. Players then see what the opponent chose before assembling a deck of ten out of 22 cards, with the players choosing cards both to take advantage of their own megami powers and to exploit their opponent's weaknesses. Players then duel to see who will be victorious.

The game uses a single kind of token to represent life, distance, aura (defense), and flare (special energy) based on the zone these tokens occupy. By moving tokens between zones, you attempt to gain the ideal position and set up as many attacks as possible — or be prepared to avoid attacks.

The gameplay at its core is simple, and due to its limited environment, it is relatively easy to learn the cards for a deck-building game. Building a deck and playing normally takes less than 20 minutes.

This is the first release for the second version of the Sakura Arms game system. A third version, with system changes and balance updates, has since been released.

Year Published
2016
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment: pos 2 · mix 0 · neu 0 · neg 0
Mentions per page
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Showing 1–2 of 2
Video ss_BzP6WzNo One Stop Co-Op Shop top_20_list at 11:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 12914 · mention_pk 37799
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 11:15
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • high-tension 1v1 duels with deep combo potential
  • strong solo variant designed by the reviewer
Cons
  • strict ruleset; may be less appealing for casual players
Thematic elements
  • goddess-powered duels with precise resource management
  • 1v1 card-based battler with mythic goddesses
  • tight, tense, strategic combat with flag-based resources
Comparison games
  • Exceed
  • BattleCon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • deck-building/combination with Sakura tokens — range, armor, fuel determined by tokens; players craft combos from two goddess decks
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • there's basically like a little tactical game you have these varied factions that like hugely vary the game
  • the solo mode is very complicated I'm super impressed
  • this is an amazing one in a small package for a small price
  • the story grabbed me and would not let go
  • the racing is the smoothest solo racer I've ever played by far
  • it's an emotional ending—the most emotional game experience I've had this year
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 4bBj2_Mm1p0 Rolling Dice and Taking Names general_discussion at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5911 · mention_pk 17516
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 0:00
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • tight pacing; tense decision-making
  • strong thematic flavor and art
Cons
  • smaller components (ink) can be fiddly
  • ink tokens are delicate
Thematic elements
  • limited resource management; aura and shield mechanics
  • goddesses and sakura leaves
  • deckbuilding with a focus on resource control
Comparison games
  • Radlands
  • Gutenberg
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • deck-building — 7-card base deck; three ultimates; leaves power aura/shields/life
  • Resource management — manipulate sakura leaves to fuel actions and defenses
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • The planning phase is the shining part of the entire game.
  • This is one of the most unique trick taking games I've ever seen.
  • It's a paradox.
  • Fast playing two-player game.
  • Wingspan is a great engine-building game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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