Z-Man GamesChallengers!

I order this game because I saw it was produced by Z-Man games but after doing some research on the game I felt I wouldn't enjoy it when it arrived because of the overly simple mechanic. However a was quit surprised by the game and really enjoyed playing it with my family. The deck building wasn't overly complicated. It was a quick learn and very easy to help people get going on their first tournament before stepping away.The game has 2-8 people facing off in a tournament with two players competing against each other at the same time. This makes it a great game for larger groups cause more people doesn't exactly equal a longer game. I even played a 3 player game with a fourth player (grandma) who isn't experienced in board games just flipping cards for the robot. This worked really well for the person who didn't really want to learn the game but wanted to sit and enjoy the company with those who did want to play the game.I noticed what others found most confusing was the initial deck building. The draw 5 discard draw back up to 5 and choose your card phase. The drawing another 5 was what they found confusing. With first time players it might be easily and quicker to just have everyone only draw 5 cards and forget about the step to discard and draw more cards. When playing with people who don't fully understand how to deck build already then adding the extra discarding step while choosing cards was just confusing for most. However the card abilities for the most part where easy for players to understand without having to constantly ask for clarification.What I liked about the Game1. Neoprene mats2. Removable deck draw boxes3. Box insert stores everything perfectly and room for sleeving most cards.4. Player count doesn't effect game length because everyone plays in groups of two at the same time.5. Each round doesn't take long.6. Robot for odd number of players works fairly well.What I didn't Like1. The "1" and "7" on the trophies looks too similar (see photo)2. There is almost no iconography for card abilities.3. Card stock is slightly cheaper4. They made room for sleeving your cards. However you can't sleeve the full set of cards (see picture)5. Set up is a little tedious if you switch our sets you use.6. Dark and Light Player coloring isn't very clear at first. I had to explain this multiple times to people.7. I personally don't like the card art and think the box cover art is fairly ugly. I don't mind the cartoony direction just don't love this style. This is more personal preference. Others might not mind.8. Robot for odd number of players can be a bit too easy even if you level it up each round.Overall I do enjoy this game and can't wait to pull it out during those game nights when one or two more people showed up then expected. If you aren't switching card sets the set up is very very quick and easy.

This game is essentially based on the kid's game of War. I say that because I have around 500 board games and none of them are like this. It's more like that simple game except it's not that simple. In the battle phase, you have little autonomy. That's by design. Some cards allow you to manipulate your deck but, often, you're just flipping cards and resolving the effect.The beauty of the system is in the deck building phase. At first it may seem superfluous but drafting new cards is everything in this game. Do you choose a particularly strong card or something that synergizes with your deck? That's up to you. Once you've built that deck, you just turn it loose and let it run.If I had any negatives about this game, it's about the play time. This game runs seven or eight rounds. That sounds like a lot but it plays pretty quick when you get accustom to the flow of the game. It's a bit of a struggle with new players because this game is quite different. If you push them over that crest, shuffle up and play again, the game takes half the time. Since the decks more or less play themselves, a round can be done in just a couple of minutes once people understand the game but they have to play once to "get it". So that negative is really just a temporary obstacle that often works in the game's favor. I've played a couple of times with people that immediately want to play again and the games have played much faster.

For this game, you really need to know what you're getting.This is a strategy deckbuilding game with a lot of silly, and a little stupid. And if you're OK with a lot of silly and a little stupid, you will probably love Challengers! if you have a even number of players.In Challengers, you are deckbuilding in preparation for a game of War. Yes, that game of War where you mindlessly turn over cards and hope for high numbers, even knowing that there are a bunch of low numbers in your deck.The only player choice is made during the deckbuilding phase, and then you get to sit back and watch the chaos.And if you're OK with a chaotic game like this, where choices are limited and it's all down to luck, then you've found a winner with Challengers! If you think this sounds like a waste of time, then for you, it probably is. We had a few stand up and cheer come-from-behind moments and a lot of inglorious losses.This is a great deckbuilding intro for kids, and for the grownups with the right tastes, this will be a hit, but I think a lot of people will absolutely hate it also.

The directions are written really well and allow you to quickly glance at them to understand what to do.There’s plenty of bold face words to immediately find what you’re looking for.The directions are only 2 double sided sheets. It also comes with 2 double sided game play examples. I would advise to read the directions before those.The varying cards really allow you to come up with multiple strategies.Do you want to build out your deck by choosing multiple lower level cards? Or fortify it with strong cards but fewer? Do you want lower number cards to take advantage of combo bonuses? Or go for the powerhouse cards that aren’t quite as powerful as the combo but they are powerful? For instance, pull the mime card at the right time and it turns from a power of 1 to 7!Each player draws and discards their cards (doing the entire 1/2 phases) at the same times which really saves on time. There’s little waiting which makes it seems like there’s a whole lot more action.The fewer actions and things to do in the game don’t make it seem simple. It makes it faster and more action packed without taking away the complexity which is deck building and battling.This game is very easy to reset up. We didn’t go through even half of any of the letter decks so I just shuffled the discard piles and placed them on the bottom as the instructions tell you to. Then I chose new trophies and gave each player back their 6 starter cards that match the symbol on their card. Then we were set back up for a new match.We timed our 4th game and it only took 16 minutes to play based on the directions two player rule of whoever tops the other person by 11 points over wins.STRATEGIES I TRIED:Game played choosing lowest cards I can: I lost the first 2 trophies, I won the third. I lost the fourth. The other player played by getting the highest cards they could immediately. I lost at the end of the 4th round by default because they had 11 points over me.Game played choosing the highest card I can every time no matter how many cards I can draw: I won these rounds- 1, 2, 4, 5, 7 and won the game!PROBLEMSThe only problems I can see with the game so far is the cards come super curved. You’ll have to flatten them out. And the problem in gameplay is how well the other player actually shuffled their cards.There’s a pyrotechnician card that says “if you have a single or no card left in your deck then gain 2 fans”. I read this as “if you have a one strength it no cards left in your deck gain 2 fans.

This game is pretty easy to play. There are only a few pages of instructions and they have it broken down so you can get started quickly. If you are playing with people who have not played any kind of deck building game before, the Challengers game is a good one to start with. I love playing deck builder games, but they can be rather slow and boring due to waiting for everyone to take their turn and build their deck. I love that we are all picking cards and discarding at the same time as it really speeds up the game! You can also speed up the game even more by skipping the discard phase and just playing with whatever you draw, which is great for playing with younger kids. Once you have played a few rounds, you can zip through fairly quickly and keep everyone interested and engaged. I found that the mats were very helpful in making it clear who you were "challenging" and where you were rotating to next after a round. They are the most unique feature to the game.I love that there is room in the box to store everything. There are a lot of pieces, which can be a little daunting when you first open the box, but setup and cleanup goes pretty quickly. The cards bend easily and are kind of thin for a card game, but you can put them in sleeves or use an automatic card shuffler to keep them flat. The artwork for the game is full color and the characters on the cards are well illustrated and fun. Some of them are ridiculously silly, which makes them popular with the kids.I initially planned on playing this game solo, but did not really enjoy playing against myself, even with the robot option. This game is definitely better played with friends and family, especially if they are willing to get silly and have fun with it! My nephews had a blast playing and we had a tough time talking them into letting us take turns playing with them, too!