Game: Fightball

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ArtEmiSa64 — 2007-09-05T23:25:28+00:00

Aztecs vs The Dark (High Resolution)

Thread: Re: Review in Haiku

Logomachist — 2007-04-24T22:06:22+00:00

I read a review of Brawl that suggested a multiplayer version in which everyone sits in a circle and you can play cards against the players you're adjacent to.

From these reviews I'm leaning toward Brawl because Falling looks like it could get repetitive and Fightball doesn't take advantage of its theme. Plus I'm not a basketball fan.

Thread: Re: Review in Haiku

abrannan — 2007-03-06T14:20:27+00:00

Very interesting. Your experience with this game differs so greatly from my own. I found the "court" of cards laid out to be a fantastic abstract representation of a basketball court. From the Red cards making up the "lane" on out to the three point arc, I don't think you could represent a basketball court any better using cards.

As for the "math", it's really not that hard for me. Each player (and shot) has a zone it excels in. Play players where they shoot best, and drop the best shots on them and you'll rack up the points quickly. Also, given the order the cards must be played (player, ball, shot), it's very easy to see where you need to play the card that's in your hand. Once a shot is closed out, you don't need to worry about that stack anymore. If you've got a player with a strong block value, drop him on one of your opponent's stacks. Usually, I've got a couple of "decoy" shots out there to draw off blocks, but I generally don't count on those going in. Each team only has two or three special cards, so it's easy to remember what your team can do that you might have to plan for.

The math might become an issue at higher levels of play, where being able to sneak in off-value shots might make a difference, but for your first 10 or so games with the same opponent, solid basic play should be enough to rack up enough points to play competitively.

Rob,

Fightball, Falling and Brawl all hit different spots in the "real-time" card game genre. Falling is the only one of the three that supports more than two players (though you can have tournaments with the other two). Brawl gives a lot of variety in characters, so there's a little more to explore before you get into repetition (each deck can play very differently against a different opponent). Fightball takes a little more to get into, as it can seem overwhelming the first few times you play (see the above review), but to me it offers the deepest gameplay with the most options. It all depends on your tolerance for a post-apocalyptic re-theme of an NBA CCG that was never published.

Thread: Re: Review in Haiku

Logomachist — 2007-03-06T05:57:25+00:00

What if you just wrote the value on the colored cards? Would that be enough to save the game?

(I'm trying to decide between this, Falling and Brawl.)

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jtt765 — 2007-01-13T21:37:52+00:00

game in progress

Thread: Fierceful battles, heavy losses

Mosse — 2006-07-29T08:48:28+00:00

I remember playing a very frustrating cardgame called "Stress" when I was younger. Ever since - I've stayed well clear of speed-type games. Until I stumbled upon Fightball a few weeks ago. I know of only one store here in Finland who carries Cheapass-games so the next time I visited Helsinki i picked up a pack containing the teams Texas WILDCATS and the CRUISERS.

I was very pleasantly surprised that the quality of the cards were not the standard cardboard/paper found in other Cheapass-games, like Kill Doctor Lucky. Because in a fast and furios the cards get thrown about and heavily abused regularly the cards need to be either of good quality, or come with close to unlimited replacements. But the cards were of good cardstock quality, colorful and very nicely drawn.

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The only thing I will probably do is make a gameboard for the pitch myself. The cards work, but are not that practical. I though about making it out of cloth. If I ever get around to finishing it, I'll post a picture of it here...

On the the game - I got the mean bad-ass Cruisers, while kid brother Jens wanted the beautiful cheerleaders of the Texas Wildcats.

After we had reviewed the rules we agreed this would either suck badly, or be a great game. No middle-ground here - it would either work, or not at all... Four quarters of a match later, we decided it did not suck at all.

We ended up playing two matches, and Jens managed to win both, 52-26 and 44-27. Why? He picked up on the atmosphere of the game, even if he proclaimed loudly to hate stress-games prior to our matches. (He decided not to hate them anymore after then) He played as if he was obsessed! Flipping cards like crazy. Also - I forgot completely about defending, when Jens slapped his shooters to block mine as soon as I got them on the pitch.

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Sure there's some luck in the game. In one of the eight quarters we played during the day particularly, I got most of the shot-cards early, being forced to dump them in the discard pile. So when I finally got shooters and balls in position, all my shots were buried in the discard pile.

Having said that - I know I lost the two matches because I didn't play as well as my opponent. And there's no shame i losing to the better player (...says the loser...) Jens was the one to BUZZ-out in all quarters. He was very successful in his defence, and successful enough in his offense. In other words, he found a better balance. On the other hand, he was out-of-breath and shaking after every quarter...

This, to me, is the sign of a great game! High in atmosphere, simple yet still a game of skill rather than pure luck. This is also the only problem. But it's a problem it shares with all other skill-games. It's fun only when playing someone of about equal skill.

My respect for mr. James Ernest just got bumped up a notch.
It's simple and fun, yet deep enough so that a player will improve with practice.

Thread: Re: User Review

ynnen — 2006-02-01T16:22:13+00:00

Nice review, Neil. Fightball is one of my favorite Cheapass games, and my favorite real time game overall. I love the art, love the simple rules, love the frantic pace.

And I learned a great tip on keeping those court cards in order! Thanks for that great idea -- I'll mount the cards on a large piece of cardboard so they don't slide all over the place, and help make setup/cleanup that much quicker!

Overall, what is your favorite team deck?

How would you term your style? Blocker? Attacker? Churner? <-- that's me, set up 2 or 3 scoring plays, then race to the bottom of my deck before the opponent knows what hit him.

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