Titan the Arena

Titan the Arena is a fast-paced card game for two to five players. It has nothing to do with Avalon Hill's classic game, Titan, but I suspect the title was chosen to attract the same fans.

Titan the Arena is a very good game with only one flaw, which is addressed below. It consists of 110 cards and 25 betting chips in five different colors. Eight of the cards have red backs, the others blue. The red cards represent the eight fantasy combatants in the arena (Titan, Hydra, Dragon, etc.), and are laid out in a column at the start of the game. The remaining cards are shuffled, and eight are dealt to each player. Each player takes one set of five betting chips of the same color.

The artwork on the cards is good, but there isn't a lot of variety. Each creature has eleven cards with the identical picture on it, numbered uniquely from 0 to 10. There are also eleven "spectator" cards, numbered from 0 to 10, with different art - such creatures as a minotaur and ogre, which act as wild cards, as you can play them on any creature. Finally there are three referee cards, which allow a player either to reclaim a played card or force someone to reveal a secret bet.

The game is played in five rounds: a round lasts until one combatant dies, and may consist of numerous turns. At the end of the game, there will be only three creatures left - whoever has the highest value in bets left on those three creatures wins the game.

A turn consists of four phases, some of which are optional:

1. You may place a bet (use the betting chips) on a creature which hasn't already received a bet this round.
2. You must play a card in the current round's column, if you can. You play one of the number cards (from 0 to 10) next to the appropriate creature.
3. You may discard up to three cards belonging to dead creatures (none in the first round, of course).
4. Draw your hand back up to eight cards.

Bets placed in the first round are worth four points at the end of the game. Bets placed in the second round are worth three points, and so on - no bets may be placed during the fifth round.

You may also play a "secret bet" during the first round only. Simply play a card face down with a chip on it - that's your only bet and card play that turn. A secret bet is worth five points at the end of the game.

When every creature has at least one number card played, the one which has the lowest number showing loses the round, and is out of the game. Remove all its cards and any bets placed on it. If two or more creatures are tied for the lowest score, the round continues in sudden death mode.

Card play can be fierce and bitter. If you've got a four-point bet on the Unicorn, for example, you have to be careful. If you have the Unicorn 10 card, you don't want to play it too soon - or someone else will cover it with a lower card before the round is over. On the other hand, if you wait too long, the round might end before you play it, and your Unicorn might die.

Each creature also has a special power which the "backer" can use. A backer is someone who has the highest value revealed bets showing for the creature, and plays a card on it in a given turn. These range from the Cyclops' "paralyzing stare" (force another player to play one turn with only half their hand, chosen at random) to the Scout's ability to draw three cards to the Unicorn's ability to swap two cards showing of any one creature, etc. This makes the game very interesting, and gives players extra incentive to kill off your best creatures - not only will they deprive you of victory points, but also of special powers. As I said, there's some vicious card play in this game - in the "good game" sense!

The only flaw in the game is that the rules are under-diagramed. There needs to be one more illustration, showing what the game looks like after a second round, and after a third round, with a secret bet revealed so you can see clearly where to place them. As it is, you can (barely) figure out how the game works, but it takes at least three readings of the rules to do so. There's no excuse for this - more blindtesting would have revealed the lack of clarity and need for another diagram.

But once you get over the hurdle of muddy rules, it's an excellent game with a good replay value.

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As a bonus, here is an unofficial version of the missing diagrams. (That is, Avalon Hill knows nothing about this.) It probably will mean nothing to you if you haven't seen the rules, but if you have, this may help you understand what's going on:

This is the situation just after the final game diagram in the rule book - page 4. Assuming someone played the "3" on the Hydra, leaving the Warlock with the only "0", it looks like this:

                R1 B1  CR
                __     __
               |  |   |  |       CR = Creature Card
               |8 | O |Cy|       B# = Betting for round #
               |__|   |__|       R# = Strength card for round #
                __     __        SB = Secret bet chip
               |  |   |  |       SC = Secret bet strength card
               |2 | O |Dr|        O = Betting chip
               |__|   |__|
                __     __
               |  |   |  |
               |3 | O |Hy|
               |__|   |__|
                __     __
               |  |   |  |
               |9 | O |Rn|
               |__|   |__|
                __     __
               |  |   |  |
               |8 | O |Tn|
               |__|   |__|
                __     __
               |  |   |  |
               |2 |   |Tr|
               |__|   |__|
                __     __
               |  |   |  |
               |1 | O |Un|
               |__|   |__|
                __     __
               |  |   |  |
               |0 | O |Wr|
               |__|   |__|

So the Warlock is dead: the creature card for the Warlock, the strength "0" card for the Warlock (and any strength cards under it), and the betting chip in between them are removed and returned to the box.

The second round is then played. The next diagram shows the cards after the end of the second round, but before the losing creature is removed. Note that the Unicorn's power was used to swap the Ranger's high "9" from the first round position to the second round, keeping it alive.

         R2 B2  R1 B1  CR
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |7 | O |8 | O |Cy|
        |__|   |__|   |__|
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |4 | O |2 | O |Dr|
        |__|   |__|   |__|
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |5 |   |3 | O |Hy|
        |__|   |__|   |__|
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |9 | O |0 | O |Rn|
        |__|   |__|   |__|
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |2 | O |8 | O |Tn|
        |__|   |__|   |__|
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |1 | O |2 |   |Tr|
        |__|   |__|   |__|
         __     __     __
        |  |   |  |   |  |
        |8 | O |1 | O |Un|
        |__|   |__|   |__|

So the Troll is removed, and the next round begins.

During the third round, someone revealed a secret bet on the Dragon. This allowed them to play a number card on the Dragon, and thus use the Dragon's power to burn off a high card on the Ranger, revealing the previously played low card underneath. The Unicorn's power was used on itself to move the high "8", played in Round 2, to the Round 3 slot.

    R3 B3  R2 B2  R1 B1  CR  SB SC
    __     __     __     __
   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
   |4 | O |7 | O |8 | O |Cy|
   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|
    __     __     __     __     __
   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
   |9 | O |4 | O |2 | O |Dr| O |0 |
   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|
    __     __     __     __
   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
   |6 | O |5 |   |3 | O |Hy|
   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|
    __     __     __     __
   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
   |1 | O |9 | O |0 | O |Rn|
   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|
    __     __     __     __
   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
   |3 |   |2 | O |8 | O |Tn|
   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|
    __     __     __     __
   |  |   |  |   |  |   |  |
   |8 | O |0 | O |1 | O |Un|
   |__|   |__|   |__|   |__|

So the Ranger is dead, and the entire row would be removed at the end of the third round.

The remaining five creatures would battle it out for another round, then the four remaining at that point would fight for one final round until only three are left alive.

Other games by this designer I've reviewed are:

• En Garde
• Euphrat & Tigris
• Flinke Pinke
• Galaxy the Dark Ages
• Honeybears
• Lord of the Rings
• Medici

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