I am not sure what I was expecting from Captain Tsubasa. It is a two player only game that just showed up on Board Game Arena. I immediately could tell that the artwork was from an anime or manga. But it is not one that I’ve heard of. So that is not what drew me into the game. I like learning two player games and I like soccer. So I thought, why not try Captain Tsubasa and see if it’s a game for me.

How to Play Captain Tsubasa

Captain Tsubasa The Card Game is a back and forth card playing game where players take turns being on the attack or defending to score goals. Determining if you score a goal or not comes down to comparing numbers. But how do you get those numbers?

Creating Your Hand

At the start of each round players draft cards from a center row. These are your first half strategies or second half adjustments as you look at them. So it can be things like a yellow card or a coaching decision of some sort. Starting with the defending player they select a card to add to four cards from their deck. And each deck is one of the teams of the Captain Tsubasa anime. Then the attacking player selects a card to add to their hand.

Card Play

Then starting with the attacking player they play out a card and activate abilities. Cards generally have a few different things on them. Shooting, passing, and defending are the main stats on the card. And those will help determine how well you do your action, passing or shooting when you are the attacker, or defending when you are the defender.

Cards also have special powers. Some of these are play an extra card or draw a card. Or you maybe remove that card from your deck. Some cards also let you get tokens. These tokens persist and you use them throughout the game when you want to alter the value of your action.

Resolving Actions

Once nine cards have been played or both players pass players then total up their value for their action. Tokens can be spent to increase the value by one per token. And finally, both players roll a die and add that to their value. Whomever is higher is the winner and in the case of the tie the attacking player wins.

The attacker does have a choice. When they select their action they pick either pass or shoot. If they succeed or fail when shooting the ball the opponent becomes the attacking player. But if they choose to pass and successfully pass, then they maintain the ball and are the attacker.

Special Cards

Some cards do have special abilities. Some of these can be one time use. It is the anime-esque special shots where players pick a card and compare. If you select the same card the shot is blocked if not the shot is saved.

There are other cards that are one time use as well such as yellow card. That card is going to give a player negative one to all their values until they can deal with it. This comes in form of a card that you can draft which is going to be eliminated but thematically is substituting a player off the pitch who has that card. And there are more of these special cards an powers as well to learn as you play.

Winning

There are six rounds per half. So twelve total rounds in the match with the possibility of overtime if the game ends in a tie. Once overtime is done if the game is still tied players share the victory. Otherwise the winner is determined by who scored the most goals in the game.

What Doesn’t Work

The game is limited in variety, now that is just the base way of playing the game. It is possible to play in other ways where you play with a bench and can substitute your players. That is going to provide some variety. But for me, I wish there was a touch more variety in the cards that you pick for your extra cards for first half or second half. Second half cards are generally better but often times the same for the most part.

What Works

Game Length

The game play is nice and tight in this game. The decisions are more impactful than I actually expected them to be. And you need to think about what cards make sense. The fact that it is only nine cards total per round means that you can create situations where you play six of those nine cards. But is it going to be enough?

The game is also the right length. I think in person it is not going to be too terribly long. The rounds go quickly and while there is a bit to do, because of the low scoring nature of the game, you feel invested the whole time.

The Dice

I like the little bit of randomness for the game as well. There is a card you can select that lets you reroll that die. But that little bit of randomness, a random bounce in a game of soccer keeps the scores more soccer like. And that helps with the tension of the game. Sports games are often hard to do because you lose the pace and tension, but that die roll that happens a few times a game helps keep the tension in the game.

Shooting or Passing

The choice of shooting or passing works as well. Sometimes you feel like you might be able to get a shot through but you need the die to do the right thing for you. But your passing score is higher, in which case, you might want to just pass the ball. Or late game, can you maintain the ball as the attacking player if you are in the lead. That is truly thematic to soccer so I love that element for the game.

Card Play

Finally, I think that the card play works well. Nothing is too much on the cards and if often makes you think about what you want to do. One strategy I haven’t messed around with too much is thinning out your deck of cards. But I think that is a very viable strategy. There are players who are maybe a one for everything, shooting, passing, and defending, but also let you draw a card and then lose that card from your deck. So it is a strategy to clear out some of those cards if you’ve built a different or better deck.

Who is Captain Tsubasa The Card Game For?

This is maybe the most challenging question. Captain Tsubasa is not a new anime so I don’t think it’s for anime fans. Not a ton of people will go back and check it out. So maybe for people who already love that anime or already love soccer. But sports games generally find a more limited appeal for board gamers. I think it is good enough of a game that people who want a different feeling two player game should check it out, but the theme might be a harder sell.

Final Thoughts and Grade on Captain Tsubasa

I love trying new two player games on Board Game Arena. And I honestly went into this game with low expectations. A lot of anime based games are not that great. Though, I think that is an area that if it can be opened up to a larger publishing front it can improve. But Captain Tsubasa really works as a game and while it isn’t a perfect one to one with soccer, I think it hits some key elements.

The biggest being that the score is almost always low. That is going to be what gives it that best soccer feel. And even when you set yourself up for a great opportunity to score, you still might not. Again that is that soccer feel.

When I rated it on BGG (Board Game Geek), I looked to see if there is going to be an English version. Right now the only way to play it in English is to play it on BGA. And yes, one is coming. So I think I want to pick it up because it is that enjoyable a game and something that to me feels different in the space of a two player game. Yes, it is that normal two player back and forth thing, but it works really well.

My Grade: B+
Gamer Grade: B-
Casual Grade: C
Strategy (out of 10): 7
Luck (out of 10): 5

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