Swordplay: Review

Swordplay: Review

Introduction:

Swordplay is a two player duel game that is in the vein of rock, paper and scissors head to head games. Players are trying to get in the head of their opponent to land an attack card on the hit side of the opponent's card. Each player has a deck consisting of the same 10 cards at the start of the game, each time they refresh their cards they leave themself exposed but add a new special card to their hand and adjust their hand.

Card Anatomy:

There are three main card types, evades, blocks and attacks. A card is made up of three squares on the left/right (depending on card colour) of the card. If the player attacks the effect that occurs to the other player is based on the card that player played and the symbol shown in the matching section.

Attack:

Not all attacks are made equal. There are three types of attack one high, one low and three cards straight to the middle of the opponent. 

The thrust is the least useful attack since only the refresh and En Garde will be hit by this attack. The section the card is attacking is represented by the highlighted segment.

Evade and Block:

There are two evade cards and two block cards. The card type is represented by the right hand side of the corner. The blocks do not let any hit reach in some instances they may even gain the upper hand. 

Evades are more risky as their one of the segments are open to a hit. However, each attack has a different negative condition that will occur if the attack is evaded leaving a risk/reward scenario when playing evade cards.

Special and Refresh:

A player can only re-shuffle their deck after a refresh is played. 

When the refresh is played the player chooses one special card to add to their hand. If they are hit they must discard their whole hand, alternatively if they are not hit they can choose which cards to discard if any. After which all other cards are gathered then reshuffled and the player redraws back to a hand of five cards.

Setup:

- Remove from each player's deck the five special cards.
- Shuffle each player's deck and deal each player five cards from their deck.
- Start each player's life at the heart with no swords (damage) shown.

How to Play:

Each round is played simultaneously with each player selecting one card each. The game will play a series of rounds until either one player has taken three hits or one player has no cards in their hand. When both players have selected their card a reveal will occur. Both of these cards will be placed in the centre of the table facing each other as shown. 

If there is an attack card in play with a highlighted square. The effect on the opposing players card in their square matching the space of the highlighted square will occur. This could be an evade, or a block with sometimes other effects; or a direct hit. 

If there is a successful hit (one that does damage) in the round, the players will draw back up to five cards in their hand, since having no cards in hand is a loss for that player it may be beneficial at times to take damage.

If the hit is unsuccessful and a block or evade occurs then the player with the symbols on their card will gain any relatable effect. Besides this each player draws one card. These effects can prevent a player from drawing a card (stressed), force the player to discard a card (off balance) or force a player to be exposed or gain the upper hand, respectively having to play their card face-up first or forcing the opponent to do this for the next round.

Final Thoughts:

- Not all cards are created equal players may want to refresh more frequently to clean the clutter out of their hand.
- This is a game that shines better with repeated plays and against the same player. 
- Really enjoyed the art and style of the game.
- The icons are good once familiar, this game would have benefited a lot from a player aid (reference) and even a standard 10 card cheat sheet. 

Swordplay is a pocket sized game that focuses on the abstract nature of fencing. This is done by a head to head mind game of trying to calculate what your opponent will play and successfully evade their move or strike hard with your own move. The art really captures the atmosphere as each segment lines up together and each player is gaining the positive or negatives of the card they played and if hit where the attack hit on their card. The main focus players have on their card is if they are going to hit and where. This is the kind of game that would shine with players who enjoy abstract head to head games. Swordplay is the kind of game where a meta of bluffing and gambling on the opponent's moves are built through repeated plays against the same player and understanding their thought patterns. If this sounds like your kind battle. s

Swordplay is quick, accessible, and easily portable.