Stats:
No. of players: 2
Amount of time to play: 90 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Azure Forest is an expansion for DreadBall that takes the sport to a jungle moon. The setting provides new challenges for coaches and teams. They are required to deal with the environment.

Azure Forest Rules Description:

New to DreadBall? Then you should read my review of it before reading this review. This review will deal with the new additions in the Azure Forest expansion and assume you have an understanding of the original game.

Azure Forest is the first expansion in the Galactic Tour Series. The rulebook gives the background for the moon Azure IX and why DGB set up a league there. It also contains a section with all you need to run a one-day DreadBall tournament.

This new league takes place in an open arena and you’ll have to deal with the elements. The home team rolls a d6 to determine the weather after the players have setup but before the ball is launched. There are also four Change of Weather cards added to the deck. These cause another roll and a possible change in the weather. Weather can make it harder to dash, throw and even limit each player to one action per rush.

After playing a game teams are bestowed with honours. Honours must be cashed in during their next match and help give players some advantages. These include ignoring threat dice to evade, slamming with a Strength of 2+ or ignoring threat zones for all tests during one rush. More honours are given to losing teams to help them compete in their next game.

The other change is for cheerleaders. They gain two abilities. One ability grants a fan check after any test. The other distracts an opponent making them lose 2 dice on a test. After using either ability the cheerleader is off the board and can only come back after a successful Supporting Coach roll.

There is also a new MVP in this expansion and 14 new cards (including the weather event cards mentioned above).

Quick Review of Azure Forest:

Azure Forest mixes up your typical DreadBall game and makes it a bit unpredictable. The new rules are easy to implement and can help spice up your game or league.

The components are all well made and the MVP is even metal. The cards match the style of those in the original game but have a different background on the face for easy separation after playing.

The guide for running tournaments is great and fits nicely in this expansion. Since tournaments are more focused on one game at a time than leagues, you could easily play an entire tournament in the Azure Forest.

The new cheerleader rules make them much more useful. I am not sure I would have bought a Supporting Coach before but now they have a legitimate place with the other coaches.

The weather rules force you to adapt in-game and adjust your play to deal with the current conditions.

If you play a lot of DreadBall you should pick the Azure Forest expansion up. It has the flexibility to be used in tournaments, one-off games or league play.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 4 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 5 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 5 out of 6
Overall 5 out of 6