It’s time to talk about the new game that I got to play last week on BGA (Board Game Arena). This one promises a lane battler in the style of something like League of Legends with the toys that you find around your house. Is it a good implementation of that idea or is it going to be just another two player game. Let’s talk about Toy Battle, how it plays, what doesn’t work, and what works well. And you can see if Toy Battle is a game for you.

How To Play Toy Battle

Toy Battle is an area control game where you seek to beat your opponent by either gaining dominance in an areas and points for that, or by reaching your opponents base. That is pretty standard, I feel for a game like this.

The actions are very simple for your turn. You either draw two troops to add to your troops in hand. Or you play out a troop. Most troops are going to give you an ability on them as well. When you play out a troop it needs to be adjacent to your base or connect to it by other troops. You play your troop either in an empty spot that meets those criteria or on top of an opponents troop that has a smaller value than your troop. You go back and forth taking turns until one person hits one of the win conditions for the game.

What Doesn’t Work

It’s not a major negative for the game, but this game feels like things that have been done before. I said League of Legends, and I really get that feel. And the toy theme works, but it’s a theme that I’ve seen done before. Mainly it feels like it’s a familiar idea with the lane battler and does it do enough to stand out from other games like that.

What Works

I like the speed of the game. Some games drag out when you play them on BGA. But Toy Battle hasn’t thus far. It helps that it’s a two player game, but even with that you need responsive players. And maybe I’ve just been lucky with responsive players, but the game moves quickly. I think the two options for your turn really help make this game accessible for a lot of players. And the two player limit also makes it go very quickly.

I enjoy how each toy has a different power. I think the lowest number has no power, but otherwise they do. Some of them let you break the game in terms of where you place out another character. Or they might let you pull back a troop who has a power you want to use again. While they are not complex, it adds in some fun strategy to the game that way. And I think it’s an area where the game could expand in the future, give another set of troops for players to swap into the game.

And the two ways that you win work. I’ve lost to someone reaching my base. And I’ve won by just controlling enough areas. Each of them seem doable in any game. And you need to consider the troops you are drawing, or the paths your opponent is building to determine your strategy. While the game isn’t super tense when you play it on BGA, I think with the two win conditions it would be a lot more tense in person.

Who is Toy Battle For?

I think this is for people who want that high interaction and strategy in a game. It is about outthinking your opponent and utilizing the abilities to the best of your ability. But it’s kind of like Root, in some ways, or Critters at War. It is going to give you that tense war element of a game, really, but it has a cute theme on top of it. So, I think this is for people who want that interaction and area control and maybe have a partner or friend they game with often who doesn’t like that as much, but this theme just might work.

My Grade for Toy Battle

So, I compare Toy Battle to a lot of things. And as I was writing about it, I realized, I enjoy this game pretty well. Right now it’s just a pre-order, but I might grab this game when it comes out. Because, for me, it takes some things about lane battling that I enjoy and gives me a nice area control element with it as well. And it works well for two players. Often times area control at two players isn’t that interesting, but here it’s good.

And the powers and abilities of the troops that you place out is another big selling point. You need to figure out your strategy and break up your opponents. And sometimes that means playing out a troop just for it’s ability so that you can mess with something. And I feel like as I play more, the more I can mine the depths of different strategies with the troops.

That said, there are a couple of things that keep me from just gushing over the game as a two player game like I did Zenith on BGA. I think that’s because the game feels a bit more familiar than some. Now, it’s better than Gold’n’Crash where that game was too long for a two player game. This one gets the timing right, but as I play it more, I want to see if I feel like playing the game or if it just makes me want to play other two player games.

My Grade: B
Strategy: B+
Luck: C-

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