A Brief Overview of What Gameplay in Flash Duel is Like
In Flash Duel you and your opponent(s) play on a two-dimensional playing track, and attempt to win a round by scoring a "hit" on the opposing player or team. The first player or team to win three rounds gets to claim victory.
You start the game with a hand of five cards, which replenishes itself at the end of each of your turns. The cards have numbers on them, 1 through 5 -- and each card can be used for multiple purposes. For each given card, you must make a decision -- will you use it to move, attack, push, or dashing strike your opponent? Or will you save it for defense?
Each round only takes a few minutes at most, because the deck is small and when it is depleted time is called and the game moves to sudden death. Considering the short length of each round, there are an impressive amount of interesting tactical decisions to be made in them.
To make things interesting, every character gets to pick a completely unique character who gets three abilities which influence the way they play. I'll cover the characters in a bit more depth later on, but let me just get this out of the way right now -- the characters are the best and most interesting part of the game.
Component Quality -- What Exactly Do You Get in Flash Duel Second Edition?
The above picture shows the entire game, but it's quite a bit of stuff to just look at so let me categorize it for you.
The Box: It is made of a "glossy feeling" cardboard. Very nice to touch and look at. It's actually quite shiny. On the inside of the box is a proper insert that has space to hold all of your cards, the board, and other components without too much shifting in transport.
Board: The board folds up for storage and does what it's supposed to do. No complaints here. There's also a second, portable "card version" of the board -- more on that later.
Pawns: The pawns represent your character on the board. Standard fair here -- they are nothing to shout home about, but I am happy that my favorite color is provided (can you guess which one?
Cards: There are 50 cards with numbers printed on them -- you will use 25 of those cards for the standard 2 player game, and more cards for other player counts.
There are also 60 character ability cards (3 for each character) and 8 "mega sized" ability cards for the "Deathstrike Dragon" (more on the dragon later).
The quality of the cards is acceptable but nothing special. Seems comparable to many other board and card games on the market, although the artwork on the character cards is quite cool and pleasing to look at.
Rules: The game comes with a short rulebook that is easy to digest. This is, afterall, a simple game, but the rules really help to ease you into it. It has detailed instructions for the 7 different game modes, and a small FAQ in the back.
Extras: Flash Duel Second Edition has one very nice extra in particular -- the game comes with a portable deck box that can fit in your pocket, and a portable card-version of the board so you can easily transport the game with you on the go where you wouldn't want to carry an actual box. All you need are a couple of coins to replace the pawns and you're good to go. Very thoughtful and generous touch!
Flash Duel's Gameplay Modes
Rather than go into detail about Flash Duel's rules (they are really quite simple -- all you need to know is that you will be attacking, blocking, retreating, positioning, pushing, and "dashing striking" your way to victory) I thought I'd take some time to talk about something else -- the fact that this game comes with rules for 7 different ways to play.
1) Simple Mode: Simple mode does not use the special character abilities, which may make the game easier (albeit less interesting, in my opinion) to teach to people. Personally as an experienced gamer, I dived into the full game immediately, but the option is here for you if you want to focus on just the basics.
2) Full Mode: Full mode is for 2 players and simulates a 1v1 duel between two characters. Character abilities are in full effect. This is sort of the "meat and potatoes" of the game -- the other modes are really fun as well but feel more like "extras" (very welcome extras) to me.
3) Solo Mode: Flash Duel's rulebook includes rules for allowing a player to face any of three different characters solo. It's pretty fun for practice or just to kill some time, but doesn't provide as much challenge or intrigue as playing against another human being.
4) Team Battle: There are rules for a 2v2 mode that is actually very interesting. Teammates can help each other to defend and coordinate their attacks. A lot of the character abilities interact in very interesting ways here and I've had a lot of fun with it -- my girlfriend, niece, and nephew like to do a "girls against boys" match!
5) Custom Clockwork: This is basically a ruleset where you are allowed to "customize" your abilities and build your own character. Seems like its fun for the right people, but personally I really like playing the very well-designed premade characters. Having to draft your own abilities before the game also adds to the setup time and usually I just want to jump right into the game.
6) Raid on Deathstrike Dragon: The Deathstrike Dragon is an evil "boss" type character, and he is incredibly powerful. So powerful that you usually need more than one player to take him down! This mode can either be played with an automatically controlled Dragon (there are rules for that) or with one player controlling the dragon and 2, 3, or 4 other players cooperating to take him out. The Dragon's abilities are so good that he gets massive oversized cards to show off his strength! He also gets a gigantic black pawn with a pointy tip. Menacing!
7) Betrayal at Raid on Deathstrike Dragon: This plays like the above mode, but one of the mortal players is secretly on the dragons side. The game comes with 5 "Loyalty Cards" that are hidden but will determine whether or not you are a traitor. I have not played this mode yet.
Flash Duel's Most Interesting Feature: Asymmetric Characters!
At the start of the game, each player gets to choose between one of twenty characters. Each of these characters oozes personality and its own unique play style. Want some samples?
Rook: Rook is a stone golem that has rock armor. He can advance down the track terrifying his opponent and shrugging off their dashing strikes. Then, if his naive opponent lets him get close, he has unblockable attacks that can win him the round uncontested.
Argagarg: Argagarg is a peaceful water shaman that wants everybody to just get along and stop fighting. His goal is to win the game through avoiding conflict -- if the time runs out, his "Pacifism" ability allows him to claim victory without ever even landing a blow. That should prove his point!
Onimaru: Onimaru is a samurai who studies the art of war. He can use his abilities to make sure he always has the upperhand -- and his signature move, "Clockwork Soldier" actually lets him summon an extra pawn on the board to help him corner his opponent!
Persephone: Persephone looks like some sort of goth girl, and she finds delight in pain and control. She can use her abilities to manipulate her opponent and force them to make moves they wouldn't otherwise want to make. Crazy stuff!
Gwen: Gwen is a character who is actually suffering from a devastating illness, the "Shadow Plague" -- while it grants her extraordinary power (she maintains a larger hand size than anyone else in the game) her clock is ticking, and should the round end in a time-out she actually loses two rounds.
Lum: Lum is a gambling panda who uses a risky playstyle. One of his moves allows him to give his opponent an ultimate "dare" -- they can either forfeit the round immediately, or the loser loses two rounds!
Well, I could go on for a while being as how there are 20 characers (21 if you count the Deathstrike Dragon). But hopefully that small sample gives you an idea of the kind of diversity and personality this game has achieved through these characters.
Playing Time, Demographics, Etc
Flash Duel is a very quick game, and is very accessible. I could teach it to just about everyone, and everyone I have taught it to has enjoyed it to varying degrees.
It will especially appeal to those who find joy in exploring matchups between asymmetric powers or characters. That's definitely sometihng I'm into.
Because of the 7 different modes of play, there is at least something in here for a lot of people.
Recap Time: Positives and Negatives about the Flash Duel game:
Extremely quick to play. You can actually get in several games of this in the time it takes to play another game. It also packs a lot of depth into a short playing time (all things considered)
Feels like it's "always on" -- you're never waiting for your turn for too long, and the entire game feels like an exciting "high" without any lows
The characters are well designed and are a blast to play. Part of the fun is just experiencing all of the different matchups for yourself.
The artwork is very attractive. There isn't much variety with the character art, but what's there is well done and very charming
7 different modes of play mean there is a lot of content here for such a small box
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If you're looking for an enormously epic game, this isn't it. This game is fun, interesting, and tactical, but "epic" isn't a word I'd use to describe it
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The numbered cards in particular are subject to wear from constant shuffling (rounds are quick and the cards are reshuffled each round)
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If you need a copy of the Flash Duel rules, they are here: Flash Duel Rules
Check below for my final verdict on Flash Duel!
The Verdict on Flash Duel - Is It Fun?
This game is a lot of fun, and everyone I've shown it to has enjoyed it enough to play it again. Some more than others.
If you're looking for a game that plays quick but offers varied and interesting play, then Flash Duel is probably a good choice.
There aren't really many bad things to say about this game. Whether it's "worth it" or not just depends on how interesting it sounds to you.
Because this is a simple game, you pretty much get what you see. It doesn't have much hidden beneath the surface. But that surface is varied and interesting. This isn't some stupid game that is trivially solved after a couple of plays.
The game retails for about $35 (price might vary on Amazon from time to time, check the link below) so if that sounds like an attractive price point to you then check it out.
- Roger Wilco
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