Universal Fighting System

Infobox Game | subject_name= "Universal Fighting System"
image_link=
image_caption =
designer= Ryan Miller
publisher= Fantasy Flight Games
players= 2
ages= 10+
setup_time= < 3 minutes
playing_time= ~ 25 minutes
complexity= High
strategy= High
random_chance= Some
skills= Card playing
Arithmetic
bggid=19552The "Universal Fighting System" is a collectible card game originally designed by Sabertooth Games. The themes of the cards are drawn from a multitude of licensed gaming universes, principally Fighting game licenses. While the official product launch was in April 2006, the first set released in February 2006 was a special "battle box" based on the Penny Arcade online comic.It was announced on February 22nd, 2008, that the publication rights of the Universal Fighting System had been transferred to Fantasy Flight Games. [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/PDF/pr-2008-GamesWorkshop-Sabertooth.pdf Fantasy Flight Games press release]

Licenses

Two months after the release of the prototypical "Penny Arcade" Battle Box, the game officially launched with the simultaneous release of two separate sets of cards, one based on the "Street Fighter" series and the other based on "Soulcalibur III". All primary game releases since then have followed a similar two-set structure. A license with SNK Playmore allowed for cards based on "" and "Samurai Shodown V" gaming universes in December 2006, and a second Capcom license, "Darkstalkers", was added in November of the following year. As-yet unreleased licenses include Sabertooth Games' own original property, ShadoWar, with several more to be announced.

Gameplay

A game in the Universal Fighting System represents a battle between two adversaries. Each player controls one of the two characters, with the objective being to defeat the opponent (typically through loss of vitality). The two characters need not be from the same universe; for example, Chun-Li from Street Fighter could battle Cassandra from Soulcalibur or Tycho from Penny Arcade.

Players take turns, with each turn consisting of multiple actions. With each additional action a player takes in a turn, the difficulty of successfully completing that action increases. Players can continue to take actions until they choose to stop or until they fail an attempt. The game structure typically involve players building up "foundations" over successive turns, which then allows a greater number of actions before failure. Management of these becomes crucial, as players must strike a balance between using their resources for offense and defense; going "all out" for a series of attacks can leave one vulnerable to retaliation during the opponent's turn. The system relies heavily on card combinations, where one card enhances the effect of another.

As with many of Sabertooth's games, the Universal Fighting System is an advanced or expert level product (owing in large part to the fact that every card has at least one special ability), primarily aimed at older or more experienced gamers.

Card types

The Universal Fighting System has five different types of cards:
* Characters - A card which represents the combatant whose role the player is currently assuming. Character cards contain information about the character's hand size, special abilities, symbols/alignment, and starting vitality.
* Attacks - Orange-bordered cards which represent attempts to directly inflict damage on an opponent. Successful attacks that deal damage are added to your momentum, which helps towards enhancing certain attacks and other cards.
* Actions - Blue-bordered cards played from the hand which allow the character to perform some non-attack action or maneuver.
* Foundations - Grey-bordered cards which signify intensive training and reserves of inner strength upon which a character can draw to power attacks or abilities.
* Assets - Green-bordered cards which represent places or objects which are in play.

Card symbols

Cards in the Universal Fighting System include small symbols or graphics representing attributes of the card. There are 13 symbols in total, consisting of 12 defined symbols and the wildcard "Infinity" symbol. Three symbols appear on most cards, although some have one, two or four. These are used as a game mechanic to determine which characters are able to use which moves or powers. In order to play a card, at least one of the symbols on the card being played has to match a symbol on all of the other cards previously played during the turn, as well as matching a symbol on the player's character card. Hence, this prevents characters from using abilities which are not a match for their character, and prevents mixing abilities (in a single turn) which do not fit together. The symbols and their meanings are defined as follows:

External links

* Fantasy Flight Games' [http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ufs Universal Fighting System homepage]
* [http://www.ufscards.com UFS Cards] : UFS articles, previews, and decks brought to you from the player community.
* [http://cbdojo.navistudios.net/ Cardboard Dojo] : A UFS E-Zine
* [http://www.teamcanadaonline.net/ Team Canada Online] : A UFS/CCG fan website
* [http://www.ccgdb.com/ufs/ CCGDb.com] : A search engine for the UFS TCG, as well as several other TCG systems.

References