Titans Tactics

This is a very fun game! I fist played at comic con, and ended up with a signed copy. I bought another on Amazon so that I could keep the signed copy. The game is a 1 vs 1 arena battle. Each turn is based on action points, and there is room for a ton of strategy. There is a lot of replay ability as there are multiple factions to play with. One of my friends likes to even mix factions via a blind draft. This is one of my favorite 2 player board games, and I even heard a rumor that a 4 player variant was in discussion!

Titans Tactics is a great tactical skirmish game that's very, very replayable even without randomization elements. It rewards both strategic planning with selecting your team, and tactical play in the turn based combat. I really like that all the teams are very unique but none of them feel like they're overpowered - just different, and better suited to certain types of play. I sat down and learned this game pretty well over two plays, though of course I feel like I get better each time I play.The other thing I really like about this game is that it's quick - most deep strategic games are 4 hour events, whereas this really does finish in the half hour that it claims to.

Skill driven, well paced, extremely replayable. Solid construction too.Clearly intended to be fair and reward forethought; feels like something you'll get better at every time you play, without requiring booster packs or hours of time investment.

Emphasis on the strategy. No dice, no shuffled decks. If you win it is because you out-thought your opponent. This could likely make the game tougher to get into for people who like a bit of randomness which can tend to de-emphasize skill. I had a chance to meet the designer and he said his goal was to make a fun strategy game that could be played in less than half an hour. He has succeeded well.THE GOOD:Replayability. 5 factions with 6 heroes each, and each player picks 3 of those heroes for a game, meaning 20 possible character combinations per faction. 10 faction matchup possibilities gives Titans Tactics 4,000 possible variations. Plus in each game each player gets to place their heroes and a wall token where they want, so lets just go ahead and call it "a lot".Strategy: You don't know the power of strategy in a game until you've been told "draw any three cards you want". Cards are colored and are spent to power abilities of the same color. There are three cards of each color in your deck and there is no draw phase. At the end of each character's activation, you can take an additional action OR draw any 3. It's often a brutal choice. Discard abilities are cruel. Abilities which draw you cards can be game-swinging.Speed: Whatever happens, the game is over fast. There are a maximum of five turns, no matter what. Even if you're down, the game is short enough that you probably aren't totally out.ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT:Cards: The font is too small, making readability hard. The ongoing ability tokens can be tricky to wrangle and remember when they start to stack up.Complexity: There are a lot of abilities, and the lack of randomness means it's easy to be punished for making the wrong decision.Curve: The unique mechanics can be hard to understand and leverage. There's a lot of "aha" moments, and if one player gets it first, the other may be in for a tough run. If someone who knows the game well is playing with a new learner, I would strongly recommend some sort of 'house-rule' handicap.Overall very fun and very satisfying when you win. The mechanics are fascinating to explore, and there are essentially endless variations to keep it from getting stale. The designer had a clear vision and executed solidly.

A fantastic little unheard of gem . A tactical skirmish game with no unit elimination or luck involved. Rewards careful observation and planning and only lasts about thirty minutes. The components are nice high quality and there is great artwork on the cards. Highly recommended. I don't understand how it's so cheap.

Interesting Mechanism - Reminds me a little of Summoner Wars