Brawl (game)

"Brawl" is a real-time card game designed by James Ernest and released in 1999 by Cheapass Games.

Gameplay

Like Spit or "Icehouse", players in "Brawl" do not take turns, instead either making a move or staying inactive as best suits their strategy at that moment. The game is fast-paced (games typically last a minute or two) but still has a fairly high level of strategy.

Each player has a different deck of cards. The object of the game is to win the most "Base"-cards by playing the most "Hit"-cards onto the "Base" before a "Freeze"-card is played on it. The game ends when a "Freeze" is being played on every "Base" in play. Player wins a "Base"-card if he has most "Hits" on his side of the "Base". If both players have the same number of "Hits" on the "Base", the owner of the "Base"-card wins the "Base".

Cards

Here are all different types of cards published in the decks, as of 2006, including rules applying to them and some facts:

Nonbase Modifiers

Base

*At the beginning of the game, each player places one "Base" on the field.

During the play, a "Base" is played either to the left or the right of "Bases" already in play. There can never be more than three(3) "Bases" in play at the same time.

A "Base" is considered to have two sides, one for each player, on which one can play "Hit"-cards

Hit

"Hits" come in three(3) basic colours, Blue, Red and Green.

A "Hit" can be played on either side of a "Base" that does not already have a "Hit"-card. A The "Hit" can also be played on a "Hit" of the same colour.

Kasanova-deck introduces a unique "Wild Hit", which can be played on any "Hit", but not on a "Base" or a "Press". Also, any "Hit" or "Block" can be played on a "Wild Hit".

Hit-2

Follows exactly the same rules as an ordinary "Hit" and is counted as one, except that it cannot be played on a "Base" or a "Press". Also, when counting for the winner of a "Base", "Hit-2" counts as two(2) "Hits".

Block

"Blocks" come in three(3) basic colours, Blue, Red and Green.

A "Block" can be played on a "Hit" of the same colour.

Ting Ting -deck introcuses a unique "Wild Block", which can be played on any "Hit".

Clear

A "Clear" is played on a "Base" after which that "Base" and all cards played on it are moved to the side of the field. This "Base" is no longer in play.

If there is only one(1) "Base", you can not play "Clear" on it. Also, if there are three(3) "Bases" in play, you can not play "Clear" on the one in the middle.

Press

A "Press" can be played either on a "Base", a Base Modifier or a "Block".

If played on a "Block", a "Hit" can be played on it. This "Hit" must be the same colour as the "Hit" under the "Block".

If played on a "Base" or a Base Modifier, it nulls the effect of every Base Modifier (if any) underneath it.

Freeze

Every deck has three(3) "Freezes" and they are places at the bottom of the deck between mixing of the cards and the beginning of the game.

A "Freeze" can be played on a "Base". After that, no more cards can be played on that "Base" or on any other card connected to it.

Base Modifiers

The Base Modifiers were first introduced by the "Club Foglio" Set and cannot be found from the original 6 decks. They are all played on a "Base", another Base Modifier or a "Press" played on any of the previous two kinds of cards.

Hold

If no other card has been played on a "Hold", it prevents a "Clear" from being played on that "Base".
*Only found in the Club Foglio -decks.

Null

When counting won bases at the end of the game, the base under this card counts towards neither player;
*Only found in the Club Foglio -decks.

Reverse

When counting hits towards winning a "Base", odd number "Reverses" switches the owner of both sides.

Double

When counting won bases at the end of the game, this "Base" counts as double the number of bases for each "Double" on it.
*First introduced in the Catfight Set

Decks

The original set consisted of 6 decks:
*"Bennett"
*"Chris"
*"Darwin"
*"Hale"
*"Morgan"
*"Pearl"

As of 2006, four sets of expansions are available for the game:
*Catfight Set
**"Nickie"
**"Sonia"
**"Tamiya"
*Club Foglio Set
**"Alex"
**"Crane"
**"Gina"
**"Mischo"
**"Rent"
**"Tess"
*"Ting-Ting"
*"Kasanova"

In 2001, "Brawl: Club Foglio" won the Origins Awards for "Best Card Game Expansion or Supplement 2000" and "Best Graphic Presentation of a Card Game 2000". [cite web|url=http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/2000/list-of-winners| title=Origins Award Winners (2000)| publisher=Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design| accessdate=2007-10-17]

In 2005, the French company Eclipse Vis Comica published the six original decks in French (though the cards were in English), and added a new promotional deck, "Natacha". These decks were all 44 cards instead of the original 35 cards, and included new rules, including "customization" options. For this edition, the name of the game was changed to "Fight", and the characters were all replaced with more flashy, anime-style characters.

References

External links

*bgg|392|"Brawl"
* [http://www.savant-garde.com/kasanova/index2.html Kasanova deck] , an unreleased licensed "Brawl" deck
* [http://suberic.net/~dmm/games/brawlspoilers.html "Brawl" Spoilers] , a quick-reference table for the recipe of each of the decks for "Brawl"