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This classic game of the Fantasy Monster Slug-a-thon is a standby from the The Avalon Hill Game Co of yore. The game still has a very devoted following, which is a tribute to the depth of the various strategies and approaches. The game is divided into two realms, the masterboard and the battleboards. On the masterboard, legions of mythical creatures roam about trying to recruit bigger and badder monsters and kill opposing legions in the process. When a combat occurs, the action moves to the corresponding battleboard type corresponding to the area the fight is taking place in. After lots of dice are tossed, the army that remains standing is returned to the masterboard with the spoils of war: points.
The points are used to recruit Angels and Archangels and to augment the leader character of the player's army: The Titan. As the points increase, the Titans become ever more powerful; at game end, the titan is able to kill most other character with a single blow. But be careful: If the Titan dies, the player is out of the game.
The last Titan standing is the ruler of all, and winner of the game.
- Accessible trick-taking with a deduction twist
- Scales well from 2 to 5 players
- Two-player variant with a simple dummy setup
- Quick, fluid setup and play
- Music-themed art that reinforces the game’s vibe
- Light on depth for heavier gamers
- Some players may balk at the musical notation choices described in the rulebook (e.g., dotted half note naming)
- Box claims 30 minutes; actual playtime varies with rounds and player count
- music/deduction motif with a Xylophone-inspired aesthetic
- A casual game night setting with trick-taking and bidding
- light and approachable, designed for families and casual groups
- Pitch
- The Crew
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Auction / Bidding — After seeing a subset of cards, players bid how many tricks they think they will take; bidding can occur after examining adjacent cards.
- bidding — After seeing a subset of cards, players bid how many tricks they think they will take; bidding can occur after examining adjacent cards.
- dummy_hand_variant — In 2-player play, there are two dummy hands on one side; players always act from one side of a chosen hand, keeping flow simple.
- hand management — In 2-player play, there are two dummy hands on one side; players always act from one side of a chosen hand, keeping flow simple.
- public_information_and_deduction — The highest card in the trick is public and players deduce others' potential hands based on current knowledge.
- scaling_with_player_count — The game scales from 2 to 5 players with adjustments to hands; uses a dummy variant for 2-player play.
- Trick-taking — Players follow the lead color; the highest card of the lead color wins the trick unless a trump card is played (yellow in 3-player, red in other counts).
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's kind of an interesting game
- not knowing what's 100% in front of you
- trick taking is second nature to us at this point
- quick simple game really
- this definitely had a very similar kind of flow
- we could table this without a problem
- it's not going to be 10 minutes around
- the music theme does tie in really well