Sports Entertainment in miniature Part 2 - RUMBLESLAM in other words.

PART 2

Rumbleslam - a game of wrestling in a fantasy world... Or as I see it the game that:

a) Broke my 'going to concentrate on the games I have got' pledge IN A BIG WAY.
b) Got me into Pro-wrestling (firstly WWE and then others) which I had successfully managed to either avoid or deride for 55 years IN A BIG WAY.

There are plenty of 'what's in the box' unboxing videos flying around and Beasts of War did a play through which is on their site I think. So this is a more - 'what I love about it' type post not really a review as such, yes I am a fanboy!

Pictured above is what a typical game layout will look like. You have a 'team' of wrestlers from various stables (casinos in the game) which you can play as a 'team' or mix and match with other characters from the same casino, superstars or even other casinos (although you will not get the little sponsorship buff if they are not from the same casino). Wrestlers are hired up to a certain 'dosh' level for the game 1000K being the base short game (40 minutes or less) although I think once you have played a few and are using superstars and event cards most people will be playing 1500K games and the time is around 50-60 mins.

Each wrestler has a stat card with, amongst other things, how many squares they can move over the course of their activation and how many actions they can do, and how many and what type of the special dice they roll for doing what they are doing (copper, silver and gold with the possible amount of hits increasing with the die colour). Different actions take up differing amounts of action points - a normal slap, stomp, punch, knee or whatever other 'brawl' action you want is a point, bouncing off the ropes is a point, climbing on the turnbuckle a point, trying to lift a wrestler a point - you get the idea.

Specialised attacks cost more but do more damage or an 'effect' - so a grapple like a head lock will cause your opponent to have no defence dice against your brawls to come - grab them round the head and smash the shit out of them kid !   Signature moves normally cost the most and are the most devastating the better the wrestler is.

Basically to attack you roll the requisite dice, they roll the requisite defence dice depending on how they are defending and the one with most fists wins. Win by 4 or more and you do a beatdown which gives them extra damage and maybe an effect. Lose by 4 or more and they reverse your attack stopping your go and maybe even causing damage.

After an initial start of round (there are six of them) dexterity roll to see who starts the players alternate activating their wrestlers - when the wrestler runs out of actions or the player wants then the next wrestler goes - no getting bored in this game mister! All the action of the squared circle is there in all its glory - high flyers soar from the turnbuckles, big boys beat down their opponent, wrestlers bounce of the ropes to attack and clothesline, grapples, head slams, pile drivers, joint wrecking holds - IT'S ALL THERE. There is a clever mechanic for being groggy bought on by some attacks or being 'dazed' as a beatdown where the injured wrestler will get minus action or movement points (kept track of by tokens on the cards) on their next activation. Conversely there is a clever mechanic for getting the crowd riled up and cheering for you (or booing if you are a heel) and that can give you extra action points or activate your 'crowd pleaser' ability (which are wide and varied but always useful).

After a few rounds players fly through their activations and the action is quick and smooth. You win 'royal rumble' style when all your opponents are thrown out the ring - or if the bout ends you win by having more 'dosh' worth of conscious wrestlers in the ring. There are already fan based house rules for movement out the ring, special 'bouts', covers and pins etc and rumour has it official ones will add to the game play even more.

Star wrestlers are, well, as the name suggests STARS and the shouts of 'THIS IS AWESOME' is often heard ringside... Yet like in reality the booker can be against them and a lucky roll or pure strength of numbers can see there lesser locker room bros being put over! Even if you are a big shot that little psyched up hafling grappler can cause a shock when the popcorn hits the fan!

SO all in all a perfect game really - quick, fun and fairly easy to pick up and very easy to play when you have got the rules down (which is normally a few rounds). Non wrestling mates have enjoyed playing and wrestling fans LOVE it...  The only down side is the printed dice (which is all that could be funded) which the crowd would be shouting 'You fucked up' or 'Delete' at - basically the fists rub off QUICK. Solved by a spray coat of varnish and hopefully people find that out before its too late. There are etched dice on the way hopefully. WOO WOO WOOOO

All in all though it's BRILLIANT = 'And you can't teach that !'

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