Matthew BaileyI’m going to try to be as spoiler-free as possible, and I’ve only shown things from the first boss. We have actually played through the entire game and, part of the reason there were slightly fewer posts this week is because we’ve spent far more time playing through this than we normally would with most games. The boys absolutely adore it, and it’s great fun to play.
It’s worth noting that this does require an app to play, although as far as I can tell it doesn’t require an internet connection. This means that while there may, in the very distant future, be a situation where you can’t access the app through the regular app stores, the game should always remain playable if you’re happy to use a little technical know-how.
In Boss Fighters QR, you work together with the other players to battle a series of bosses throughout a connected campaign. Each boss has its own attacks, abilities and mechanics, which are controlled by a companion app (that we ran on an iPad to give a nice big screen, although you could also use a phone) that scans cards and manages the encounter.
As with our previous recommendations for games such as “Gloomhaven”, playing this really feels like playing a card game, while the app simply removes a lot of the background admin faff that I personally don’t find enjoyable. I’m always happy when apps make certain games easier to play, and this takes that idea to the next level.
As you progress, you’ll unlock new cards, items and gameplay elements that expand the experience and build your character as you go. It’s worth saying, though, that you can have other people drop in, and it is possible to play the game as a one-off if you want to.
At the start of the game, you choose a Hero and a Class. These determine your starting health, hand size and the action cards available to you. Your Hero and Class cards are placed in front of you, your action cards are shuffled into a draw deck, and you draw up to your hand limit (which is normally seven) before the fight begins.
A boss fight is played over a series of rounds. During each round, the boss plans its attacks and gains shields before players take turns performing actions. After everyone has acted, the boss attacks, status effects are resolved, cards are discarded and players draw back up to their hand limit. The objective is to reduce the boss’s health to zero before any hero is defeated. If a single hero reaches zero health, the party loses the fight.
Most of your actions involve playing cards from your hand. Attack cards deal damage to the boss, Support cards can add extra damage if the correct attack type has already been played, Protection cards reduce incoming damage, and other cards provide healing, card draw, additional actions or unique special effects. While you can discuss your plans and card effects with the group, you cannot reveal the numerical values on the cards in your hand.
Bosses are protected by different shield types. Melee, ranged and magic attacks must first break through the corresponding shield before they can damage the boss directly. Equally, as you progress through the game, some of the shields gain negative effects, and there are often hidden mechanics that you need to work out. A good example from one of the earlier bosses is that attacks above a certain value reflect damage back at you. Equally, there are skills in the game where breaking a boss’s shield with a particular attack grants a bonus. Because of this, coordinating attack types with the rest of the group is often more effective than simply playing your strongest cards.
This is where the game truly shines. Rather than being an all-out battle using your biggest attacks, it becomes a genuinely strategic experience. As a group, you’re constantly discussing, chatting and planning. You’re managing each other’s health, working out who is best placed to soak damage or take a curse, and trying to determine the best way to use the cards available. You’re rarely going to play every hand perfectly, so it becomes an intricate and interesting puzzle of working out the best possible approach.
As the campaign progresses, you’ll gain access to new loot cards, items, status effects and hero abilities. Many boss mechanics are designed to be discovered during play, encouraging you to learn attack patterns, adapt your strategy and work together to overcome each challenge.
I’m not going to talk about these too much because I don’t want to spoil anything, but every time you encounter a new boss it’s exciting trying to work out what makes that boss tick, how best to damage them, and how to deal with the attacks they throw at you.
Every time you win a battle, you open a treasure chest and gain access to new cards that can be used to upgrade your deck. This leads to discussions about who should take each card and how best to distribute them across the group. Depending on player count, this can have a significant impact on difficulty.
Talking of difficulty, there are four different settings available. We played through most of the game on Normal, but there is also an Easy setting, along with Hard and Extreme settings for those who want a serious challenge. You’re getting a lot of content here for what’s in the box, and it’s extremely compelling to play.
Component-wise, you obviously need access to a tablet or phone. We found playing on a tablet much better because you can see everything far more easily. You can also use a laptop, but it’s generally better to have something that can lie flat on the table because of the way you interact with the device and pass cards over it.
The cards are really nice, the production quality is excellent, and the app itself is very well made.
We absolutely adored “Boss Fighters QR” for so many reasons. For those of you with kids who enjoy video games, there’s definitely a little video game crossover here that they’re likely to appreciate. Yet it still plays very much like a deck-building, boss-fighting cooperative card game. You have health dials that you move manually and cards that you play manually, but the app handles all of the background faff that, particularly if you’re the only adult in the group, you would normally end up tracking yourself. With all of that taken care of, you can simply focus on enjoying the game in front of you.
The only small criticism I’m going to make, and it really is a minor one because we love this game, is that unless I’ve completely missed it, there doesn’t seem to be any way to undo an action if a mistake is made.
For example, Toby thought it was his turn when it was actually Jack’s turn, and he used a potion. This meant Jack couldn’t then use that potion, and Toby’s use of it was effectively wasted. I can understand why this happens. For instance, if you play a card that isn’t legal to play, the game doesn’t stop you. Instead, it lets you play the card and effectively wastes the action. That’s fine. However, in situations where somebody accidentally plays out of turn, I could potentially see some benefit in having an undo button. That said, it’s really not a major issue.
“Boss Fighters QR” is easily the kids’ favourite game of the year, and it’s probably my favourite game of the year so far. It’s fresh, hugely enjoyable to play, easy to get into, and so much about it stands out. It’s a hot favourite to win this year’s Spiel des Jahres, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.
Absolute top-tier game. 100% recommended for this summer.
Disclaimer – A copy of the game was gifted to me by Pegasus Spiele. I have not been paid for this review and all thoughts and opinions are our own.
