Pixel Tactics 2

Another great PT game.

A great quick game to set up, full of tactical possibilities. Every card is so flexible and the synergies are yours to find.

slower then first box,but still interesting. your cards can be your main hero, or a fighter in any of the rows, AND how they have different powers depending on the row they are in

Pixel Tactics is a series of card games (3 for now plus 3 minipacks, soon to be expanded to 5 plus Pixel Tactics Deluxe) that is inspired by the combat in old 8 and 16 bit video game rpgs and tactics games. You remember, the one where you had 8 or 9 guys that stood in a grid on a battle screen against a grid of enemies, and all did their actions in turn. Each box has 2 identical decks of 25 cards, each one a unique character. There are rules online for drafting, or playing with custom decks, and more variants will be introduced in the upcoming Pixel Tactics deluxe. This review will be based on standard gameplay as that's how we play it right now. Each card has 5 text boxes on it. Each character has 3 powers, depending on which row of your grid you put them in, and a fourth power, called an order that activates if you discard the card, rather than play it to the table. If you turn the cards upside down, there's a leader version of the character with a unique power, usually with some sort of global effect. At the start of the game, you pick a card from your initial 5 to be your leader, and put them in the center of your grid. Play then alternates between players in waves. The first person gets 2 actions for their Vanguard Wave (front row) followed by Player 2. Play then passes back and forth through each wave (corresponding to your rows) until Player 2 finishes his Rear Wave. At that point play order switches, and Player 2 becomes Player 1 for the next round. On your turn, you get 2 actions, which can be attack, use a power of one of the characters, discard a card to use it's order power, draw a card, move a hero in your unit, or clear a corpse. When heroes die, you turn them over and they stay on the table. It takes an action to remove the body to play a new hero. This annoys some people, but its important because there are characters who benefit from corpses. Some units can animate the dead, some can use them to buff their own strength. No decision in this game is light. Even drawing cards has consequences in that it's an action you're not attacking or summoning heroes or arranging a better defense. Casualties are checked at the end of each wave, which means you can keep "dead" heroes fighting if you can find a way to heal them before the casualties are checked or find a way to skip that step for a round or two. All of this sounds like a lot, and it can be a little overwhelming when you first play as EVERY card has 5 options on it. In reality, it plays pretty smoothly and quickly once you know what you're doing. I think my first match took 45 minutes, now we play in 20-30 minutes. This game has a lot of neat character interaction, and other than reading the power boxes, which are generally 1 or 2 lines, it's not complicated. Yes, the cards interact with each other, but not in complex ways like Magic. In this set, the main interaction mechanic is "forerunners" and "supporters" which just means a card affects the card ahead of or behind it in formation. Even powers that seem to throw the rules out the window are pretty straightforward if you simply think about the rules. I should also mention that the rules are printed on a large single fold out sheet, that has a full color play surface on the back and illustrations and some examples in the rules. It's really not complicated. Overall I love this game. Each set has a different mechanic and all the cards interact well. The fact that you default to identical decks between players means you know what may be coming from across the table, but you won't be able to predict how it'll be used as there's always 4 different things each card can do. The game does not end until a leader dies, and the decks never reshuffle, so resources become limited and the game won't drag on. Games are tense, and have a lot of strategy. Yes, the draw is random, but because each card has so many uses and possibilities, superior (but adaptable) strategy will carry the day 99.9% of the time. I highly recommend this to strategy gamers looking for something shorter, and portable, yet deep and rewarding. Don't let it's cute looks fool your, there's a lot of game in this tiny box.

The best part is it adds more chaos to the game then you can imagine. Its so much fun.

The best part is it adds more chaos to the game then you can imagine. Its so much fun.

Pixel Tactics is a series of card games (3 for now plus 3 minipacks, soon to be expanded to 5 plus Pixel Tactics Deluxe) that is inspired by the combat in old 8 and 16 bit video game rpgs and tactics games. You remember, the one where you had 8 or 9 guys that stood in a grid on a battle screen against a grid of enemies, and all did their actions in turn. Each box has 2 identical decks of 25 cards, each one a unique character. There are rules online for drafting, or playing with custom decks, and more variants will be introduced in the upcoming Pixel Tactics deluxe. This review will be based on standard gameplay as that's how we play it right now. Each card has 5 text boxes on it. Each character has 3 powers, depending on which row of your grid you put them in, and a fourth power, called an order that activates if you discard the card, rather than play it to the table. If you turn the cards upside down, there's a leader version of the character with a unique power, usually with some sort of global effect. At the start of the game, you pick a card from your initial 5 to be your leader, and put them in the center of your grid. Play then alternates between players in waves. The first person gets 2 actions for their Vanguard Wave (front row) followed by Player 2. Play then passes back and forth through each wave (corresponding to your rows) until Player 2 finishes his Rear Wave. At that point play order switches, and Player 2 becomes Player 1 for the next round. On your turn, you get 2 actions, which can be attack, use a power of one of the characters, discard a card to use it's order power, draw a card, move a hero in your unit, or clear a corpse. When heroes die, you turn them over and they stay on the table. It takes an action to remove the body to play a new hero. This annoys some people, but its important because there are characters who benefit from corpses. Some units can animate the dead, some can use them to buff their own strength. No decision in this game is light. Even drawing cards has consequences in that it's an action you're not attacking or summoning heroes or arranging a better defense. Casualties are checked at the end of each wave, which means you can keep dead heroes fighting if you can find a way to heal them before the casualties are checked or find a way to skip that step for a round or two. All of this sounds like a lot, and it can be a little overwhelming when you first play as EVERY card has 5 options on it. In reality, it plays pretty smoothly and quickly once you know what you're doing. I think my first match took 45 minutes, now we play in 20-30 minutes. This game has a lot of neat character interaction, and other than reading the power boxes, which are generally 1 or 2 lines, it's not complicated. Yes, the cards interact with each other, but not in complex ways like Magic. In this set, the main interaction mechanic is forerunners and supporters which just means a card affects the card ahead of or behind it in formation. Even powers that seem to throw the rules out the window are pretty straightforward if you simply think about the rules. I should also mention that the rules are printed on a large single fold out sheet, that has a full color play surface on the back and illustrations and some examples in the rules. It's really not complicated. Overall I love this game. Each set has a different mechanic and all the cards interact well. The fact that you default to identical decks between players means you know what may be coming from across the table, but you won't be able to predict how it'll be used as there's always 4 different things each card can do. The game does not end until a leader dies, and the decks never reshuffle, so resources become limited and the game won't drag on. Games are tense, and have a lot of strategy. Yes, the draw is random, but because each card has so many uses and possibilities, superior (but adaptable) strategy will carry the day 99.9% of the time. I highly recommend this to strategy gamers looking for something shorter, and portable, yet deep and rewarding. Don't let it's cute looks fool your, there's a lot of game in this tiny box.