Das Echtzeit Kartenspiel
2002-01

BRAWL¸ was soviel bedeutet wie "Rauferei"¸ ist ein neues Spiel von Truant¸ das zur erfolgreichen CheapAssGames-Serie von James Ernest gehört.
BRAWL wird als erstes "Echtzeit-Kartenspiel" bezeichnet¸ was bedeutet¸ daß es in diesem Spiel keine Spielrunden oder Zugreihenfolge gibt¸ wie in Spielen normalerweise üblich. Dadurch¸ daß jeder Spieler seine Karten so schnell ausspielen darf¸ wie es ihm möglich ist¸ ist das Spiel äußerst rasant und belohnt Schnelldenker mit flinken Fingern.
Allen Hinweisen zu den verschiedenen Kartendecks zum Trotz¸ bleibt bei dieser Geschwindigkeit und einer durchschnittlichen Spielzeit von 1-2 Minuten gar keine Zeit für Taktiken oder strategisches Vorgehen.

Aber zumindest im Rahmen dieser Rezenson wollen wir ein wenig langsamer vorgehen.
Bei BRAWL spielt man einen Wettstreit zwischen zwei Straßenkämpfern aus. Jeder Straßenkämpfer wird durch ein eigenes Kartendeck dargestellt¸ das z.B. (Kämpferin Pearl) aus 5 Basiskarten¸ ca. 23 Hit-¸ Block-¸ Press-Karten¸ 5 Clear-Karten und 3 Freeze-Karten besteht.
Eine der Basiskarten legt jeder Spieler in die Mitte des Spielfelds. Im Verlauf des Spiels können maximal 3 Basiskarten auf dem Spielfeld liegen - was der Fall ist¸ wenn der erste Spieler eine weitere Basiskarte ausspielt. Basiskarten können im weiteren Spielverlauf auch wieder entfernt werden (durch Einsatz der Clear-Karten) wodurch Platz für eine frische Basiskarte frei wird.

Der Kampf wird durch das Ausspielen möglichst vieler HIT-Karten einer Sorte auf eine Basiskarte entschieden. Es gibt HIT-Spielkarten in den drei Farben Rot¸ Grün und Blau - und die seltenen HIT-2-Karten¸ die doppelt gewertet werden.
Wer bei Spielende die meisten HIT-Karten an einer Basiskarte anliegen hat¸ gewinnt diesen Schlagabtausch an dieser Basiskarte - wer die meisten Basiskarten gewinnt¸ siegt im Turnier.

Ein BLOCK kann durch eine PRESS-Karte (ohne Farbe) neutralisiert werden. Dann kann man wieder HIT-Karten der passenden Farbe ablegen.

Auf den ganzen Stapel wirken die Kartentypen CLEAR und FREEZE. Eine CLEAR-Karte ermöglicht dem Spieler eine der Basiskarten mit allen bislang darauf abgelegten Spielkarten aus dem Spiel zu entfernen. Dies wird durch "Wegwischen" des Kartenstapels bewirkt¸ weswegen immer nur eine seitliche Basiskarte auf diese Weise entfernt werden kann.
Jeder Spieler hat drei FREEZE-Karten¸ die den Abschluß des Kartendecks bilden und damit in der Regel als letztes gespielt werden. Eine FREEZE-Karte friert eine Basiskarte mit allen darauf abgelegten Spielkarten ein. Ein FREZE empfiehlt sich¸ wenn man eine bestimmte Basiskarte für sich gewonnen hat und verhindern will¸ daß der Spieler weiterre HITs oder einen CLEAR ausspielt.

Die Anzahl der meisten Karten eines Decks ist variabel und spiegelt die persönliche Angriffsstrategie eines Kämpfers wieder. Einzig die drei FREEZE-Karten sind eine Konstante. Es empfiehlt sich sein eigenes Deck und möglichst auch das Deck des Gegners ungefähr zu kennen.
Jeder Kämpfer hat natürlich sein eigenes Deckblatt¸ so daß sich die Karten gut auseinandersortieren lassen.

Beispielsweise wird die Kämpferin Pearl (Part 2) als "komplex" eingestuft¸ da sie über eine gute Auswahl aller Kartentypen verfügt. Das bedeutet auch ein überdurchschnittliches Maß von fünf gemeinen CLEAR-Karten und entsprechend viele Basiskarten im Deck als Ersatz. Pearl hat allerdings auch eine gemeine Lücke: es gibt nur eine rote HIT-Karte in ihrem Deck. Wenn der Feind das weiß und versucht die Basis-Karten mit roten HIT-Karten zu blockieren und sich rote Mehrheiten zu sichern¸ kann Pearl nicht viel machen - außer ihre CLEARs einzusetzen.
Der im gleichen Set enthaltene "trickreiche und leichtsinnige" Kämpfer Darwin hat immerhin 9 HITs¸ um Pearls Lücke auszunutzen. Auch die anderen Farben sind ausreichend vertreten¸ ebenso wie er durch viele BLOCKs glänzt. Seine Schwächen sind eine geringe Anzahl CLEAR- und Basiskarten.

Der "schlüpfrige" Bennett verfügt ebenfalls über viele Basis- und CLEAR-Karten und ist auch bei den HITs gabnz gut bestückt (primär Blau) - allerdings hat er kaum BLOCK- und PRESS-Karten.
Die "geschmeidige" Morgan ist vor allem in den Farben Blau und Grün stark¸ verfügt aber nur über wenig Rot und hat keine PRESS-Karte.

Strategie und Taktik
Wie schon gesagt ist es sinnvoll den Aufbau des gegnerischen Decks ebenfalls zu kennen um ggf. den Funken einer eigenen STrateguie ins Spiel einzubringen.
Das sogenannte Training in dem die Spieler abwechselnd Karten ausspielen und zwischendurch Überlegen können¸ erlaubt so etwas wie strategisches Denken. Das eigentliche Tunier in "Echtzeit" (also ohne Spielrunden oder feste Zugfolge) ist jedoch ein reines Karten-Abwerfen¸ bei dem allein noch die Beachtung der Spielregeln im Vordergrund steht.
Ggf. kann man durch langes Training aber tatsächlich sowas wie eine Strategie einbringen¸ auch wenn die zufällig gemischten Decks natürlich immer das Improvisieren erforderlich machen - ebenso wie der Einsatz von CLEAR-Karten das eben noch verfolgte Konzept umwerfen kann.

Technisches Die Spielkarten sind im Gegensatz zum üblichen CheapAssGames-Design bunt und sehr ansehnlich illustriert. Die Anleitung besteht wie üblich aus einer photokopierten DIN A4 Doppelseite. Diesmal ist diese mit viel Text und (zu) wenigen Illustrationen versehen.
Irgendwie sind weder Text noch Illustrationen in der Lage die Faszination des Spiels beim ersten Lesen zu vermitteln. Das verwundert¸ weil das Spielkonzept eigentlich sehr einfach ist.
Der Mangel liegt beim Vermittels des Faktors "Echtzeit-Spiel"¸ also dem eigentlichen Reiz von BRAWL. Das Üben im Turniermodus¸ wo es eine feste Rundenabfolge gibt¸ macht keinen Spaß und sollte wirklich nur zum Einweisen neuer Spieler verwendet werden. Das Spiel gibt seine Faszination leider erst nach einiger Übung preis.
Am besten lernt man BRAWL natürlich von jemandem der es bereits beherrscht.

Fazit:

Dogio the Witch

© Copyright by Dogio[artikelEnde] from Minneapolis¸ MN 4/26/2003 My favorite game I'm a college senior at the University of Minnesota and was introduced to Brawl almost a year ago by a Ph.D. student in my lab. Over time¸ I've purchased all 16 Brawl decks (including the first 6 which are unfortunately now out of print). Needless to say¸ I've now spent quite a bit of money on Brawl¸ but it's been worth every penny. Here's what I like and dislike about the game: Pros: 1. Speed! Brawl is a 'real-time card game'¸ meaning that there are no turns. Your goal is to play your 35-card deck as quickly and intelligently as possible¸ such that you can be ahead once you get to the bottom of your deck and reach the all-important Freeze cards that can stop game play. It takes about a minute to play a game of Brawl¸ and another minute to deal with the 'aftermath': counting points¸ getting the decks back together¸ and reshuffling them. This means that it's easy to play a game or two during a lunch break¸ in between classes¸ and so on. You can play with up to 16 players¸ and even a 16-player game will only take 1-2 minutes to play and another couple minutes for 'aftermath'. 2. Easy to teach. It takes about 10 minutes to explain the rules to a new player and play a couple of turn-based practice games. It's also the sort of game where you can learn some of the rules in small chunks: you won't need to know the rules about cards that aren't present in the decks that you're playing with. Plus¸ decks are rated as Easy¸ Moderate¸ and Advanced¸ so you can start beginners out on the Easy decks. 3. Number of players. Brawl can be played by 2-16 players¸ as long as each has a different deck. I've had extensive experience playing Brawl with about 10 or so players (basically¸ our entire lab). In most other games¸ changing the number of players can really affect the length and strategy of the game; that's certainly not true of Brawl. Basically¸ in a 3+ player game¸ all the players sit in a circle¸ choose one deck¸ and play two simultaneous games of Brawl: one with the person on their left¸ one with the person on their right. Playing Brawl with 3+ players adds a lot of interesting dynamics and strategy to the game; for instance¸ you can try to play cards when your opponent isn't paying attention to you¸ but is focusing on his/her other opponent. It also pays off to watch what important cards (especially Presses¸ Reverses¸ and Doubles) have been played in your opponent's other game¸ since you then know they can't play these cards against you. 4. Variety. You'd think Brawl would get boring quickly¸ since the games are so short and there are only about 10 different types of cards. If you only buy two decks¸ make sure neither of them is rated as Easy¸ or the game will get quickly boring. But buying 4 or 5 decks will get you 6 or 10 different 2-player combinations¸ and this is where the fun of Brawl really lies. Games with 3+ players add a whole new element of strategy; if that gets boring¸ there are also 4- and 6-player 'tag team' rules that can lead to intense¸ strategic play. 5. Balance. All the decks seem to be relatively balanced. Decks rated as Easy can hold their own against the more Advanced decks; you've just got to play your cards faster and get to the end of your pile before your opponent can play all of his/her nastier cards. Easy decks are especially fun to play in 3+ player games¸ and they seem to be vital for 'tag team' play. With that said¸ I think there are some decks that are used more often in our group. These tend to be the more advanced decks¸ such as Pearl¸ Bennett¸ Rent¸ Tess¸ Crane¸ Sonia¸ and Ting Ting. (Ting Ting's 'Wild Block' cards are evil incarnate.) 6. Not like Falling. Cheapass Games¸ building on the success of Brawl¸ has introduced a few more real-time card games¸ including Falling and Fightball. I'm not a real fan of either¸ nor are the other people I play Brawl with. If you didn't like Falling¸ don't let that prevent you from buying Brawl; the games are really much different. (On the other hand¸ Cheapass' new real-time game¸ Light Speed¸ seems pretty good¸ though I've not yet played it extensively.) Cons: 1. Speed! There are some people who just can't handle playing at the speed Brawl requires. This usually isn't a physical issue¸ but a mental one: some people just seem to be unable to deal with the quickly-changing nature of the game. People who enjoy lengthy analysis of a game won't like Brawl. If you *only* like games like bridge¸ chess¸ go¸ Risk¸ etc.¸ Brawl might not be for you. There is a lot of strategy in a typical game of Brawl¸ but that strategy is typically found in short¸ furious bursts¸ not in the form of a long-range plan or strategy. 2. Price. While each individual deck is reasonably priced¸ buying all 16 can be a bit spendy. I recommend starting with Crane and Sonia. Crane is very well-balanced¸ with 1 of almost all the 'tricky' cards - he's therefore rated as 'Advanced'. Sonia fills in the gaps with her Presses and Reverse. The Catfight decks don't explicitly rate difficulty levels¸ but I'd rate Sonia as 'Moderate'. This will expose you to nearly all the cards¸ except Wild Block and Hit-2¸ which are modified versions of the standard Hit and Block cards. For variety¸ I recommend getting a third or fourth deck as well. Then¸ play Brawl with some people; if they like it¸ encourage them to buy a couple decks¸ different from yours. Repeat this a few times with a few different gamers and soon you will have all 16 decks available to you. :) Once you realize what sorts of card combinations you like or dislike¸ you might want to buy another deck or two that caters to your preferred style. Reviews and card counts of each deck can be found on various web sites; unfortunately the review guidelines don't let me include a URL. 3. Mild rule difficulties. The basic rules of Brawl are very straightforward; the main problem here is that of synchronicity. For example¸ there is a card called Clear that removes a Base from the game¸ and a card called Hold that makes a Base unclearable. If these two cards are played simultaneously¸ what happens? However¸ this sort of situation doesn't happen very often¸ so you can either talk it out when it does¸ or create a convention that resolves these disputes. I suggest the rule 'If a Base's clearing is under contention¸ it is not cleared¸ and the Clear cards are removed from the game' since this also covers another case where the remaining 2 bases are simultaneously cleared by 2 opponents (which is illegal because 1 base must be in play at all times.) 4. Card quality. This is only an issue with the original set (Bennett¸ Pearl¸ Morgan¸ Hale¸ Darwin¸ and Chris). These cards are flimsier than the newer decks and will tend to show wear pretty quickly¸ especially due to the fast-and-furious nature of Brawl play. Thankfully¸ the newer Brawl series (Club Foglio and Catfight) are made of higher-quality card stock and don't wear as badly. I also recommend playing on a smooth table so that cards can be quickly swept aside without danger of nicking or bending the edges and corners. ktyama from Japan 6/15/2001 Fun¸ Fast¸ Addictive - Everything a game should be! I was looking for a fun and easy to learn game I could play with my wife¸ so I picked up two decks of Brawl. I figured¸ 'What the heck-they are only a few bucks each. Why not give it a shot?' Boy¸ what a pleasant surprise! Brawl is simply an irresistable game that will have you saying¸ 'Come on-just one more round!' Each character deck has a different mix of hits¸ blocks¸ and counters¸ so the same strategy of playing will not yield the same results. For example¸ my wife¸ who plays with the 'Chris' deck¸ has to work frantically and quickly when she is blocked; whereas I¸ with my 'Darwin' deck¸ can play a little slower¸ since I have a lot of tricky cards I can use to befuddle her. By slow¸ we are still talking mere seconds¸ since the games are over in about a minute! You will find yourself racing frantically¸ flipping cards and trying to use split-second thinking and reflexes to get the upper hand on your opponent. It is not unlike a variation of War¸ but with all the faults of that game removed. Is luck a factor? It is only if you are playing slowly. You will find that you can simply speed up your rate of play when unlucky cards appear. What makes this game a must-have is the fact that you can learn the basics rather quickly¸ but you begin to realize after a few rounds that you could have played your hand a little differently¸ and a little more intelligently. Brawl is a game that requires real strategy¸ in addition to reflexes. But perhaps the biggest reason why this game deserves 5 stars is the ratio of fun to cost. You will be hard pressed to find a better value for your gaming dollar. (Did I mention that the artwork and quality of the cards is outstanding?) Pick up a couple of decks¸ grab your spouse or a friend¸ and have at it! A gamer from NYC 6/6/2001 An Exciting Surprise - Quick¸ Fun¸ and Addictive Take a few minutes to learn the game¸ and you are about to experience an exciting surprise from this tiny¸ cute card game. Great mix of quick reflex and tactical thinking. Just like playing an extremely fast-paced¸ real-time strategy game. Brawl provides 3 levels of decks. Easy decks play very quickly (very little thinking¸ almost only reflex)¸ while advanced decks play relatively slowly (more variety in your cards¸ more thinking). This makes the playing balance just right. You will find yourself continuing to play this highly addictive card game. Each play takes less than a minute! It's cheap! Buy all the decks! I'm a college senior at the University of Minnesota and was introduced to Brawl almost a year ago by a Ph.D. student in my lab. Over time¸ I've purchased all 16 Brawl decks (including the first 6 which are unfortunately now out of print). Needless to say¸ I've now spent quite a bit of money on Brawl¸ but it's been worth every penny. Here's what I like and dislike about the game: Pros: 1. Speed! Brawl is a 'real-time card game'¸ meaning that there are no turns. Your goal is to play your 35-card deck as quickly and intelligently as possible¸ such that you can be ahead once you get to the bottom of your deck and reach the all-important Freeze cards that can stop game play. It takes about a minute to play a game of Brawl¸ and another minute to deal with the 'aftermath': counting points¸ getting the decks back together¸ and reshuffling them. This means that it's easy to play a game or two during a lunch break¸ in between classes¸ and so on. You can play with up to 16 players¸ and even a 16-player game will only take 1-2 minutes to play and another couple minutes for 'aftermath'. 2. Easy to teach. It takes about 10 minutes to explain the rules to a new player and play a couple of turn-based practice games. It's also the sort of game where you can learn some of the rules in small chunks: you won't need to know the rules about cards that aren't present in the decks that you're playing with. Plus¸ decks are rated as Easy¸ Moderate¸ and Advanced¸ so you can start beginners out on the Easy decks. 3. Number of players. Brawl can be played by 2-16 players¸ as long as each has a different deck. I've had extensive experience playing Brawl with about 10 or so players (basically¸ our entire lab). In most other games¸ changing the number of players can really affect the length and strategy of the game; that's certainly not true of Brawl. Basically¸ in a 3+ player game¸ all the players sit in a circle¸ choose one deck¸ and play two simultaneous games of Brawl: one with the person on their left¸ one with the person on their right. Playing Brawl with 3+ players adds a lot of interesting dynamics and strategy to the game; for instance¸ you can try to play cards when your opponent isn't paying attention to you¸ but is focusing on his/her other opponent. It also pays off to watch what important cards (especially Presses¸ Reverses¸ and Doubles) have been played in your opponent's other game¸ since you then know they can't play these cards against you. 4. Variety. You'd think Brawl would get boring quickly¸ since the games are so short and there are only about 10 different types of cards. If you only buy two decks¸ make sure neither of them is rated as Easy¸ or the game will get quickly boring. But buying 4 or 5 decks will get you 6 or 10 different 2-player combinations¸ and this is where the fun of Brawl really lies. Games with 3+ players add a whole new element of strategy; if that gets boring¸ there are also 4- and 6-player 'tag team' rules that can lead to intense¸ strategic play. 5. Balance. All the decks seem to be relatively balanced. Decks rated as Easy can hold their own against the more Advanced decks; you've just got to play your cards faster and get to the end of your pile before your opponent can play all of his/her nastier cards. Easy decks are especially fun to play in 3+ player games¸ and they seem to be vital for 'tag team' play. With that said¸ I think there are some decks that are used more often in our group. These tend to be the more advanced decks¸ such as Pearl¸ Bennett¸ Rent¸ Tess¸ Crane¸ Sonia¸ and Ting Ting. (Ting Ting's 'Wild Block' cards are evil incarnate.) 6. Not like Falling. Cheapass Games¸ building on the success of Brawl¸ has introduced a few more real-time card games¸ including Falling and Fightball. I'm not a real fan of either¸ nor are the other people I play Brawl with. If you didn't like Falling¸ don't let that prevent you from buying Brawl; the games are really much different. (On the other hand¸ Cheapass' new real-time game¸ Light Speed¸ seems pretty good¸ though I've not yet played it extensively.) Cons: 1. Speed! There are some people who just can't handle playing at the speed Brawl requires. This usually isn't a physical issue¸ but a mental one: some people just seem to be unable to deal with the quickly-changing nature of the game. People who enjoy lengthy analysis of a game won't like Brawl. If you *only* like games like bridge¸ chess¸ go¸ Risk¸ etc.¸ Brawl might not be for you. There is a lot of strategy in a typical game of Brawl¸ but that strategy is typically found in short¸ furious bursts¸ not in the form of a long-range plan or strategy. 2. Price. While each individual deck is reasonably priced¸ buying all 16 can be a bit spendy. I recommend starting with Crane and Sonia. Crane is very well-balanced¸ with 1 of almost all the 'tricky' cards - he's therefore rated as 'Advanced'. Sonia fills in the gaps with her Presses and Reverse. The Catfight decks don't explicitly rate difficulty levels¸ but I'd rate Sonia as 'Moderate'. This will expose you to nearly all the cards¸ except Wild Block and Hit-2¸ which are modified versions of the standard Hit and Block cards. For variety¸ I recommend getting a third or fourth deck as well. Then¸ play Brawl with some people; if they like it¸ encourage them to buy a couple decks¸ different from yours. Repeat this a few times with a few different gamers and soon you will have all 16 decks available to you. :) Once you realize what sorts of card combinations you like or dislike¸ you might want to buy another deck or two that caters to your preferred style. Reviews and card counts of each deck can be found on various web sites; unfortunately the review guidelines don't let me include a URL. 3. Mild rule difficulties. The basic rules of Brawl are very straightforward; the main problem here is that of synchronicity. For example¸ there is a card called Clear that removes a Base from the game¸ and a card called Hold that makes a Base unclearable. If these two cards are played simultaneously¸ what happens? However¸ this sort of situation doesn't happen very often¸ so you can either talk it out when it does¸ or create a convention that resolves these disputes. I suggest the rule 'If a Base's clearing is under contention¸ it is not cleared¸ and the Clear cards are removed from the game' since this also covers another case where the remaining 2 bases are simultaneously cleared by 2 opponents (which is illegal because 1 base must be in play at all times.) 4. Card quality. This is only an issue with the original set (Bennett¸ Pearl¸ Morgan¸ Hale¸ Darwin¸ and Chris). These cards are flimsier than the newer decks and will tend to show wear pretty quickly¸ especially due to the fast-and-furious nature of Brawl play. Thankfully¸ the newer Brawl series (Club Foglio and Catfight) are made of higher-quality card stock and don't wear as badly. I also recommend playing on a smooth table so that cards can be quickly swept aside without danger of nicking or bending the edges and corners. ktyama from Japan 6/15/2001 Fun¸ Fast¸ Addictive - Everything a game should be! I was looking for a fun and easy to learn game I could play with my wife¸ so I picked up two decks of Brawl. I figured¸ 'What the heck-they are only a few bucks each. Why not give it a shot?' Boy¸ what a pleasant surprise! Brawl is simply an irresistable game that will have you saying¸ 'Come on-just one more round!' Each character deck has a different mix of hits¸ blocks¸ and counters¸ so the same strategy of playing will not yield the same results. For example¸ my wife¸ who plays with the 'Chris' deck¸ has to work frantically and quickly when she is blocked; whereas I¸ with my 'Darwin' deck¸ can play a little slower¸ since I have a lot of tricky cards I can use to befuddle her. By slow¸ we are still talking mere seconds¸ since the games are over in about a minute! You will find yourself racing frantically¸ flipping cards and trying to use split-second thinking and reflexes to get the upper hand on your opponent. It is not unlike a variation of War¸ but with all the faults of that game removed. Is luck a factor? It is only if you are playing slowly. You will find that you can simply speed up your rate of play when unlucky cards appear. What makes this game a must-have is the fact that you can learn the basics rather quickly¸ but you begin to realize after a few rounds that you could have played your hand a little differently¸ and a little more intelligently. Brawl is a game that requires real strategy¸ in addition to reflexes. But perhaps the biggest reason why this game deserves 5 stars is the ratio of fun to cost. You will be hard pressed to find a better value for your gaming dollar. (Did I mention that the artwork and quality of the cards is outstanding?) Pick up a couple of decks¸ grab your spouse or a friend¸ and have at it! A gamer from NYC 6/6/2001 An Exciting Surprise - Quick¸ Fun¸ and Addictive Take a few minutes to learn the game¸ and you are about to experience an exciting surprise from this tiny¸ cute card game. Great mix of quick reflex and tactical thinking. Just like playing an extremely fast-paced¸ real-time strategy game. Brawl provides 3 levels of decks. Easy decks play very quickly (very little thinking¸ almost only reflex)¸ while advanced decks play relatively slowly (more variety in your cards¸ more thinking). This makes the playing balance just right. You will find yourself continuing to play this highly addictive card game. Each play takes less than a minute! It's cheap! Buy all the decks! Ian Cooper <20c@mediaone.net> from Boston¸ MA 1/30/2001 Addictive and fun tactical card game This is the most fun I've had with a game for a long time. It takes 5 minutes to learn (if someone can teach you¸ it takes less time)¸ and less than a minute to play. I just got the game last weekend¸ so I'm still kinda getting used to the speed of the game. The different fighters have different strengths and weaknesses¸ which means that there are some tactics involved-but I haven't reached that level of play yet¸ so I can't make a judgment on how well that aspect of the game works. In the meantime¸ I'm just having a blast with this thing. You have to buy this game-it's cheap and fun¸ and you can play it anywhere. Paul from New York 1/1/2000 Addictive insanity OK¸ so you draw only 1 card per turn and play it or not. OK¸ so there may be only 1 possible move¸ and you would be stupid not to take it. OK¸ its a lot of luck¸ and a lot of pure quick reflexes. OK¸ there may be very little strategy and very little tactics. OK¸ so it almost plays like advanced real tim WAR. But for some darn reason¸ you just have to keep playing this strange little card game. I'm dying to get some more decks... A gamer from Arizona 12/29/1999 A Brawl-fest of Fun! Brawl is a great real-time game that will make you want to shuffle the cards again. There are 6 (possibly more to come) decks to choose from-each with different strengths and different weaknesses. Play them all and decide which one you like. The game lasts about 2 minutes at most. Each player requires one deck to play. The play is done in real-time with each player throwing cards down such as a 'HIT'¸ 'BLOCK'¸ 'PRESS'¸ and 'CLEAR'. The winner is the person winning the most 'BASE's. But who cares who won?! Shuffle the cards again or grab a different deck and play again! ->