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

Dreadball is a miniatures sports game. This fast-paced, futuristic sport is full of non-stop action and you’ll have to capitalize on each of your possessions to win.

Dreadball Description:

Dreadball takes place over fourteen rounds called rushes. Each team gets seven rushes per game. The score is like a tug of war with points. When you score you move the marker towards your side. If you ever get to seven points you win. If after the fourteen rushes are over if the score marker is on your side of the track you win.

The game starts with both coaches placing six players on the field. You also get cards and a coaching die. The cards allow you to make extra moves or trigger events on the field. Your coaching die can be added to any roll but then it is discarded.

Once the ball is launched the team that is on the current rush can take five actions. Once the five actions are resolved the rush is over. The basic actions are run, sprint, slam, throw or catch. Running and sprint help you move around the arena. You slam someone in the hopes of getting out of the way or even out of the match. And the better you throw the ball the easier it is to catch.

Each player on your team may only execute two actions per rush. They may also have one card played on them per rush. A rush ends when you score or lose the ball. Once a rush ends the other team begins their rush instantly.

The system for checking if you are able to successfully complete your actions is pretty straight forward. You roll three dice and want to meet or beat your target number in that stat. Some circumstance can modify the number of dice you roll. And when you roll sixes, they are successes that you can re-roll and have a chance for another success. If your action is in opposition with another player you need to beat the number of successes they roll. Finally if you roll twice as many successes than you needed, some checks get you a free action. Free actions must be taken as soon as they are earned.

There are also a few extra actions. These don’t count toward the allotted five for your rush but can really help you out. The first is picking up the ball. This ends your movement, but if you can snag it cleanly off the pitch you gain a free run or throw action. The dash extra action allows you to move extra hexes after you run or sprint. You must declare how many extra hexes you wish to move and for each extra hex you need an additional success. Evade is similar but is used when you are moving through a hex that is threatened by an opponent. Each time you move through another threatened zone you need one more success.

There are three positions your team may have: striker, guards or jacks. Strikers are good at handling the ball. They get bonuses when throwing, catching and picking up the ball. Guards are good at slamming and moving opponents out of the way. They cannot handle the ball at all but are heavily armored and strong. Jacks are jack-of-all-trades. They can do everything but don’t get many bonuses.

You score by entering a strike hex and throwing the ball into the strike zone. There are three scoring zones, two outer ones and one in the center. The zone in the center is deeper in the opponent’s side of the pitch. You do score more points for going further into your opponent’s territory though. Each scoring zone has one hex that scores you one extra point but is a further throw. So you can score one or two points in the closer scoring zones or three or four points in the farther scoring zone.

You may gain cards buy spending an action. And you gain coaching dice by performing well and getting your fans involved. Anytime you score three or four points, injure someone for three or more turns or showboat (by doubling the successes they need on a strike), you draw a card. Each card has a fan support section with zero to three dots. Once you get three dots you earn a new coaching die.

You can also foul and risk getting caught by the ref. You can sucker punch, stomp and even sneak extra players onto the pitch. If you get caught you go to the penalty box or might be thrown out of the game.

Quick Review of Dreadball:

Dreadball is fun and full of non-stop action. You must play to your team’s strengths and make tactically sound decisions to win.

The components for this game are very good. The miniatures look great and are not too hard to put together. I still need to paint my teams (which I have never attempted) but it will help differentiate between the players. The board, cards and chits are of good quality too. The rulebook looks awesome but could be a little better organized. You’ll spend half of your first match looking things up but once you understand the system things should flow pretty well. I do wish they had player aids with the available actions and the types of rolls and stats they use.

I enjoy sports and board games and think Dreadball has done an excellent job blending theme and mechanics. Everything is pretty intuitive and even when you need to look up a rule you tend to have a feeling what you’ll find.

All the variety of actions combine to create a fulfilling experience. You need to really think about how you take a run action and just where it will leave you on the board. You can feel the tension of throwing the ball at the strike zone or a teammate. Cause if you miss the zone or they drop the ball your rush is over.

I also like the dash and evade extra actions. They involve pressing your luck and might get you in just the position you need to score big.

The way the fan support is used to gain coaching dice is really cool too. It is nice to be rewarded for a job well done.

I didn’t talk much about but there are four teams from Season One and new ones keep coming out. There are rules to run leagues and have your players improve their stats. You can even hire MVPs and buy new players for your roster. You can play Dreadball at whatever level and depth you like.

There is not much to dislike about Dreadball. It plays pretty quickly and can be full of highs and lows. This is the type of board game you talk about long after playing it and recall the crazy ways you scored, or pushed your team to the limit. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys sports and board games. You should try it out if you can or if you are on the fence read a few more reviews. My vote is you buy it.

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 6 out of 6
Overall 6 out of 6