It’s very difficult to describe exactly what Re;Act is, as it’s such a unique game. It’s a manga-inspired Asymmetric PvP battler with card timing stack mechanics – that’s a mouthful – in which each player uses their Art to attack their opponent. Each Art Style has completely mechanics; most, but not at all, have a unique deck of cards to support the cards you start with in play. Across the table you move your pieces to attempt to do damage to your opponent, whilst activating your abilities and unlocking your Masterpiece: your super-move, in true epic FIGHT! mode.
HADOUKEN!
Each character is completely distinct visually and mechanically, and has both a Difficulty and Complexity rating (which the designers acknowledge sound a little too similar as terms): Difficulty is how hard they are to play, and Complexity is how many components you need to keep track of – for the neuro-diverse, you can consider it the Spoon rating. The Dancer, for example, is hyper-mobile, flitting non-stop across the board, with low Difficulty and High complexity; the Calligrapher (the game’s signature character, and also my personal favourite) is the reverse in every way: slow, steady, high difficulty, low (ish) complexity). With a huge range of characters to choose from, and an array of expansions to further this, you’ll definitely find something to suit your playstyle. Some characters don’t even use the game’s core deck mechanic, using dice instead, so if you’re more of a dice gamer than a card gamer, you can enjoy the madness also. Prefer tile-laying? Well, the Tagger (graffiti artist) can tag the game board with strategically placed tiles, as well as being super mobile (parkour!). Now, you might think the sheer variability means that it could feel bewildering figuring out what your opponent’s character does: luckily, every character also comes with a simple reference guide that you pass to your opponent.
At its core is the Reaction chain, which is a fascinating mechanic. In your turn, you play blue INTENTION cards to the Reaction chain, with the chance to play red REACTION cards to your opponent’s chain (you can also play Reactions in your own chain). The chain is laid out right to left, but triggers left to right once complete – so triggers as a stack (think MTG). Your card effects are usually aiming to summon and move your creatures, with a view to damaging your opponent – however, you’ll also be looking to interfere with their chain. You only have a limited number of cards (typically, a deck of 30), so you have to decide when to play; also, cards (such as your character or summons) typically have exhaust abilities, which can only be used once per turn. Card layout is very clear, with the text justification indicating if the card is discarded (left) or returns to the player’s board in front of them (right). For characters with decks, there is the added jeopardy where decking out means losing the game – but camping and waiting is itself a risky strategy.
SHORYUKEN!
Because Re;Act is a game infused with anime /video game battling, there is of course a super-move mechanic: the Masterpiece. Each turn after the first, you can add a card to your Masterpiece: having all 3 parts UPGRADES your character, flipping their card into a more powerful version (usually); once you’ve triggered the move, they downgrade back to the original version, discarding the cards, and you start powering up again. However, there is catch: there are only 5 spaces on the Masterpiece track, and it’s a common zone. This means that rather than unleashing your Masterpiece, you might decide to block the track to prevent your opponent from using theirs! And as if that’s not enough, the masterpiece must be placed in sequence – which some characters can jumble up. Yes, it’s another thing to keep track of, but it very quickly becomes intuitive. Damage tracking is also very neatly tackled, by using the same Masterpiece cards: they are double-sided with the same image, but the reverse is Black & White: when you take damage, you flip the card (which doesn’t affect the Masterpiece move), and when all 3 are flipped, you lose!
TATSUMAKI!
The game components are superb. Visually, Re;Act is stunning, whether you’re a fan of Japanimation or not. Each character looks and feels totally unique, as well as coming in their own handy deck box that holds them and all their components, even using the upgraded deluxe acrylics – which also, for a massive game, makes it incredibly portable. The card art is spot-on, real Final Fantasy vibes, and every deck has different backs making it immediately obvious to whom it belongs. The regular tokens and boards are all good quality card stock, but it really is worth investing in the deluxe edition. Not only do you get the acrylic standees for all characters and summons, you get acrylic tokens and trackers PLUS two character playmats – or, if you can, track down the KS deluxe with the simply stunning art book which also gives you the game’s fluff. It’s a huge box of stuff, with a lot to unbox – which does mean the buy-in is pretty high – but the game is clear, with a well- presented and detailed rulebooks (along with a very active discord community and FAQ, all accessible through the QR codes included). I come back to the Difficulty vs Complexity factor: in an era where “weight” is increasingly an unhelpful metric, the game breaks down everything really clearly, and allows you the player to handle the level of complexity that bests suits your own needs. I applaud the consideration and accessibility of Re;Act, and look forward to seeing it grow and grow! An absolute smash-hit.
Tell us your thoughts on Re;Act by heading over to our Instagram!
