The Art of Boxing Clever is live (Pack a punch)
Update: The Art of Boxing Clever has launched on Kickstarter and the campaign will run for 34 days. You may pledge for a copy of the game with or without the Arcade or the solo expansion pack, or with both.
Our preview post below was published on July 4.
The Art of Boxing Clever is a 1-2 player hand management game that recreates a boxing match. It will launch on Kickstarter on July 5.
A match in the game lasts for 10 rounds, and each round consists of 3 turns. Each player will play 2 cards on their turn, for a total of 6 cards per round. These cards will be played for Defense, Attack, or Blank (no action). When an Attack card is played, it targets the opponent's head or body, and has a hit point value. Defense cards are played to block an Attack, and Blank cards don't do anything: the player can neither Attack nor Defend. Each boxer also has their own special punch. Each time they throw it, the action card they play gives one extra hit point.
Each boxer has a particular boxing style, e.g. the Swarmer applies constant pressure, whereas the Slugger lacks agility but may pack a powerful punch. Depending on their style, they receive a number of initiator tokens which are placed on the round tracker and determine who goes first. A boxer's individual characteristics and stamina will also define how many Attack, Defense and Blank cards they have in their starting deck of 60 cards.
When an Attack is performed, the boxer targets a specific head or body area of the opponent, with each area being able to sustain 5 levels of damage. Damage causes the player to swap action cards for blank cards and may lead to getting Knocked Down or Knock Out. Each boxing round is being watched by Judges who keep the score. Judges are not always vigilant, though. The "Judge Watching" deck will contain 6 "eyes open" cards, and 3 "eyes closed". On each turn, a Judge card will be revealed, and if it's an "eyes closed", then the hit points for that turn won't count (!) If a boxer ever only has blank cards left in their deck, they are defeated.
The game comes with a solo AI expansion pack which allows you to play against any of the 5 boxers in the base game, in three difficulty levels.
Happy Sunday everyone.
I wanted to give you a heads up that the Early Bird Base Game Discount (saving £10GBP) and the reduced North American shipping offer for The ART of BOXING CLEVER I previously mentioned will be ending next Sunday (18th July). Please note, there is only a limited number of these discounted games available, so please take advantage of this offer sooner rather than later to avoid disappointment: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/taobc/the-art-of-boxing-clever-board-game
Best wishes
Rob
Hi guys
The team at The Curious Bear Games Company has just finished and released a new playthrough video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hz5JGvF6_Bg, which I thought you might be interested in.
Although we are demonstrating the 2 player version, the video will provide you with an insight into how a typical round plays and some advanced gameplay tactics. For the Solo Play, the AI will chose their cards based on the most effective and efficient use of the distribution of attack and defence cards for the particular boxer's style and attributes. This will be affected by which particular section of the fight it is (early rounds, mid rounds and late rounds). A chance element is then included to create unpredictability meaning every fight…
Hi Derek
Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad the info is useful. Unfortunately, the game going to retail will depend on the success of the Kickstarter, which is not guaranteed.
Just to give you some more info on future Solo Play plans if the Kickstarter is successful. The Solo AI expansion currently includes AI versions of the 5 original boxers (3 skill levels) from the base game and as you may be aware the game has a total of 15 boxers (including the 'Contenders' and 'Champions' expansion packs). If funded, future plans include expanding the Solo Play options to include all 15 boxers. As all boxers have a different combination of attributes and boxing styles, no boxer…
Hi @RobTerrell ! It's so cool that you popped in to share some info with us. Thanks so much. I'm loving the idea of the game (especially the solo aspect), but especially being in Canada the price did turn me off. Granted, I understand high prices on games most of the time.
I appreciate the option you gave, and I plan to look into that. :)
It may be too early to say yet, but will this get to retail eventually?
Again, thanks for the info and I love the idea of the game!
Oh wow!