Chaos & Confetti

KAPOW! is a strategic dice-building and battling game.  Take on the role of superheroes and villains as you fight your friends head-to-head.

The game comes with multiple unique heroes and villains, a whole lot of dice, and action boards that will help players pull off bigger and better turns as the game goes on.  Players will use dice to build attacks and defense, all while also trying to increase their own resource pulls.

KAPOW! provides for a unique experience, where players don’t just get more dice to roll as they powerup, but they also get to place, remove, and rearrange dice faces as the game continues.  

Player Count: 2 (up to 4 with a second base game) 

Ages: 8+

Playtime: 20 – 60 minutes

GAME PLAY:

KAPOW! is a one-on-one super fight (player count may increase with multiple base ses, volume 1 or 2).  The goal is to be the last one standing, as players work to bring down each others’ health points.  To win, players will need to gain and build dice in order to create strong attacks and defensive maneuvers.

Each player will start with a health tracker, a player screen, and an identical player board.  Beginner players will most likely want to start with just these basic elements, also setting their starting health to twenty points each and beginning with an identical set of dice. However, more experienced players may want to include super boards, which let them take on the roles of superheroes and villains.  These boards will alter beginning health totals and starting dice, along with opening up the options for player abilities.

No matter which way they play, the basic rules will remain the same.  Behind their player screens, each competitor will roll their available dice.  They will then choose where to place their dice on their board.  Options include building up attacks, setting up defense, grabbing power ups, and setting up traps that may spring due to the other player’s choices.  Some spots will require specific dice while others will take any dice.

Once everyone has made their final decisions, players will reveal their boards.  Whomever has the first player token will attack first.  Their attack will be calculated based on what decisions they made, and then the second player will subtract their defense stat from the attack.  Any left over attack will be taken from the defending player’s life total.  Players will then switch, and the second player will attack and the first will defend. 

Next, players will get to gain their power ups and set off any after-power up traps.  The power ups are key to victory in KAPOW!  Players can gain trait dice which have predetermined sides, but they can also gain action dice and dice faces.  Action dice are blank dice, but they can be enhanced thanks to dice faces.  Players will be able to easily stick their earned faces to their action dice.  Even better, they may add, take off, and rearrange faces each round, adding to the strategic elements of KAPOW!  You can’t control luck completely, but you’ll have a chance to bend in towards your will.

As players gain more dice and die faces, they’ll be able to create bigger attacks, put up better defenses, and pull off better versions of their character powers.  The core gameplay centers around building up die resources and then optimizing placement based on what is rolled.

Rounds will continue until one player’s health total reaches zero.  The first player each round will be decided by who had the highest defense the previous round.  The initial first player is either decided by lowest starting health or randomly.  

OUR THOUGHTS:

It’s no secret that our household adores superheroes, so KAPOW! already earned bonus points for its theming.  While none of the included superheroes or villains will be headlining the next big blockbuster, their designs are pretty cool.  The artwork alone gives off a lot of personality.  Thankfully, each character’s mechanics and special abilities also play really well, adding some nice variety and replayability to the KAPOW!

While we have both played dice rolling and dice placement games before, KAPOW! was the first time we saw a dice-building game.  It’s a unique gimmick and a fun spin on the concept of powering up during a game.  

Some board game players aren’t too fond of the luck aspect of dice-rolling games.  In a way, KAPOW! actually gives players a bit of control over their dice rolling fate.  Good and bad rolls will still play a factor, but players getting to choose the types of dice they roll and to literally put together their dice faces, give them a lot of power over what they may get.  It’s a neat concept that is simple enough to have fun with, but can also add a lot of depth and strategy for those who really want to optimize their dice.

It should also be noted that attaching, detaching, and rearranging the die faces are actually pretty easy.  The faces snap in easily and we never had any problem with them staying attached. The game comes with a few little tools to help pull faces off, but I also found that a finger nail can do the trick just as well.  Depending on how many faces you’re changing, or if you’re trying to remove them all at the end of a game, the removal can add a bit of time to cleanup or playtime, but it’s nothing too major.     

Overall, the gameplay is easy to pick up and fun to play through.  KAPOW! creates a fun dynamic of trying to balance out attacks, defensive maneuvers, and powerups while also trying to anticipate what your opponent might be doing.  It is cool to slowly build up power and start pulling off extra large attacks or to see combinations start coming together more easily.

The simple rules combined with the fast dice rolling action creates a game that is easy to pull out almost any time.   

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

KAPOW! brings a unique spin to dice rolling and battling through their dice-building mechanics.  Those who like quick strategy with a hint of luck, will find a lot to love about KAPOW!

We recommend KAPOW! to gamers who love superheroes, like fast-paced games, enjoy anticipating their opponents moves, and appreciate last-man standing type games.  

Let KAPOW! help you tap into your inner hero or villain.

Review – KAPOW! (Wise Wizard Games)

Website Link – https://www.wisewizardgames.com/kapow/

Price –  $49.99

Disclaimer: we were provided the a free copy of the game to play and review. All thoughts are our own.