Kapow Volume 2: Rapid Review
Information:
Mechanics: Dice-Builder, Head to Head, Assymetrical
Player Age: 12+ Player Count: 1 - 2 Players (2 v 2 with volume 1 and 2)Time to Play: 20 - 60 Minutes
Game Designer: Larry Bogucki, Robert Dougherty, Douglas Hettrick, Carl Van Ostrand
Player Age: 12+
Game Designer: Larry Bogucki, Robert Dougherty, Douglas Hettrick, Carl Van Ostrand
Rundown:
Kapow is a head-to-head game set in its own comic-themed universe. Players roll their dice pool and allocate it to a big board of possible actions. The board can easily be identified as attacking, defending, immediate actions and power-ups. Players designate their dice simultaneously, matching the icons required on the board set behind their player screen, which is then revealed.
Each attack and defence is determined by a base number plus kicker (can have multiple kickers), and can then be multiplied. Each player calculates their total attack and then applies damage after the opponent's defence is negated.
The large twist to Kappow is that it is a dice-building game. Through power-ups you can gain additional dice or, even better, a completely blank dice that you can personalise. There are six possible faces; offensive (might and energy), defensive (toughness and agility), and special faces (x-factor and wild). 
Alteration:
There are six unique characters that include both heroes and villains.
Each character has their own starting health, die pool and abilities. Some characters have passive abilities that have a cost of zero. These may seem negative at first, like losing health, but most of the time they help you immensely. Some moves will aide your defence or heal you. Mostly the characters focus on attacking, where some attacks will take numerous turns to resolve. This is where the real personality of your playstyle will shine when you find the character you best resonate with.
With two editions of the game (volumes 1 and 2) there is a two vs two mode and the big twist in this mode is team-up cards. These cards must be fulfilled by both players, however, a screen covers the other players area so neither will know when the task is completed. When both players do fulfill the card, each will gain the benefit from their side. These cards can be swapped around to change which benefit a player receives or to make it easier for the players to fulfill.
Production:
The aesthetics of the game and theme are great. Kapow is set in its own comic universe with fantastic iconography and characters to match. The icon helps with both immersion and usability.
The production in this game is high quality, especially the custom blank dice with a piece for removing faces and the player/character boards. One thing to note is the initially daunting amount of options available on the player/character boards. At first this can seem overwhelming but the reference sheet inside the player screen will help to untangle the choice pathways. This is a game that you will be hard pressed to forget the rules between plays due to the multiple functional icons.
Interaction:
As this is a head-to-head game, it's all about how are you going to defeat your enemy. This is particularly challenging when considering how you want to divvy out your dice. Naturally, players will gravitate to large attacks or upgrading their dice armoury but a good defence is essential in this game. Defending does two things additional to merely defending. Firstly, it allows you gain new faces through almost every defensive ability, so even if you only have one custom dice you can still alter your dice setup at the end of every turn. Secondly, after combat the player who has the highest defence gains the first player marker, meaning in a close game you will go first when it comes to landing the final blow and you gain the first choice of a die face that you were both needing. For these reasons, even with a character who appears attack focused, a decent defence should be highly considered.
Determination:
- Intuitive gameplay
-I am a sucker for a good comic theme.
- Characters feel unique.
- Interesting dice building/pool building gameplay.
- Defending is just as important as attacking.
- Board looks daunting at first but once play starts everything becomes clear.
Kapow is an intuitive head-to-head game with a fun dice-building game engine. One of the pivotal things that makes it unique is the fact that defending is just as important as attacking. It is the slower way but can still be the main way you enhance your custom dice while elongating the game. At first glance, the large pool of actions were daunting but it quickly dissipated as the game began. Mainly helped by the player screen and lightning fast turns. If you want a fun head-to-head game that is easy to remember and exuberant to play then Kapow is a [king] hit.
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