Matthew BaileyGame 51 of the “Now & Then Summer Marathon 2024” is “Beasts of Balance” played with Henry(3), Toby(6) and Jack(9).
“Beasts of Balance” is an app-based dexterity, puzzle, and strategy game that I have had my eye on for quite a few years, but for some reason, I never took the plunge—until recently. I finally picked up a copy online, and ever since, all three of my boys have been obsessed with it.
Though it isn’t cheap, this is undoubtedly one of the best dexterity games out there, primarily because it masterfully blends the elements of a dexterity game, a strategy game, and a video game all in one without feeling gimmicky.
Let me explain.
The general concept of “Beasts of Balance” involves creating a world where you use various artefacts to place on the game’s plinth, bringing different creatures to life within their respective biomes. To play the game, you need to download an app, which I know might be a turn-off for some, but trust me—this game would be nearly impossible to recreate without it. The app connects via Bluetooth to the plinth and displays your world with three different biomes: sea, land, and air.
Your goal is to create life in your world, keep that life going, and merge animals to evolve new species. When you place an animal on the plinth, it comes to life on the screen in its respective biome. For example, a shark appears in the water, a bear on land, and an eagle in the air. Each time you place something on the plinth, the life of all the animals decreases by one. To keep these animals alive, you can use artefacts corresponding to the different biomes or an artefact that focuses on one specific animal. These artefacts help you raise the animals’ life levels and increase your overall score.
You can gain more points by using merge artefacts, balancing them on the plinth to combine two animals and create species worth more points. If you start to struggle or run out of certain artefacts, you can migrate animals to different areas—for example, moving air animals to land or land animals to the sea. This strategy can make it easier to manage and sustain the animals’ lives.
Essentially, “Beasts of Balance” is two major games in one: a strategy puzzle game where you merge and manage points without letting them drop, and a dexterity game where you must balance everything on the plinth—a task that is far from easy. Some powerful artefacts prevent you from losing points when animals lose life, but they are often awkwardly shaped and difficult to stack, adding an extra layer of risk and reward.
One of the most impressive aspects of the technology behind “Beasts of Balance” is what happens if the tower falls. If the stack collapses, you have a few seconds to rebuild it on the plinth—it doesn’t have to be in exactly the same arrangement, but everything must be back on the plinth. If you manage to do this, your game continues as normal. If not, the game ends, and your final score is recorded.
The component quality is exceptionally high. The artefacts are made of premium plastic that feels great to hold and use. Everything has a satisfying weight to it, and the blocky design of the different beasts allows them to fit together in interesting and novel ways. We’ve played this game many times, and I’m still discovering new and innovative ways to balance these pieces to maximise points.
Another positive aspect is that the game is not difficult to learn. It’s very accessible, and achieving an average score is quite feasible, but pushing yourself to reach a high score or get everything on the plinth is a real challenge.
The app works well, and in all the time we’ve spent with the game, I’ve had no issues with the technology. It just works flawlessly. We’ve mainly used an older iPad to play, but the app can be downloaded on phones or other platforms if preferred.
We generally play the game cooperatively, though there is also a battle mode that uses Battle Cards sold separately. Unfortunately, we haven’t tried the full battle mode as the Battle Cards are out of stock and hard to find. This brings me to my biggest issue: while you can now find the base game fairly cheaply on eBay, if you want to expand with additional artefacts, they can be quite expensive—often around £20 per artefact. Likewise, some items, like the Battle Cards that my boys really want, are out of stock and difficult to obtain on the secondary market.
“Beasts of Balance” is definitely one of the best stacking dexterity games I’ve ever played. It seamlessly melds dexterity with strategic puzzle gameplay and flawlessly incorporates video game elements.
If you think you’ll be content with just the base game, there’s a lot to enjoy here, and honestly, you might not need any expansions. However, if you’re someone who knows they’ll want expansions once they get into a game, be aware that the expansions are pricey and can be difficult to find without resorting to the secondary market.
If you enjoy dexterity games and think this one might appeal to you, “Beasts of Balance” is definitely one of the best I’ve played in a long time.
