Splatisphere is a game of gladiatorial combat and fighting set in a sci-fi universe. You manage a team of warriors (up to four) that you build up, equip and unleash on your opponent. The game is played on a hex-based arena, with stand-up cardboard figures representing the fighters.
Your fighters are from one of five races, each with statistics that determine their strength in combat, and special skills. Character creation is a large part of the game and is similar to a simple RPG system.
Combat is similar to many miniature based systems. The turn phases are: (1) Initiative, which determines how many actions you get per turn; (2) Movement, using movement points; (3) Actions & Attacks, when you can perform the number of actions allowed by your initiative roll; and (4) Tests and Withdrawals, when you check to see if your fighter can shrug off his wounds, random events and when you can withdraw a fighter from the contest.
There are also rules for spell casting, special arenas and managing a gladiatorial team through a campaign.
Contents are: A rule book, arena map, terrain overlay sheet, two sheets of stand up figures and a bag of plastic stands for the figures.