May the best brawling beetle win!
Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl is a 2 to 4 player quick and easy brawler, where you and your foe pick a suitably quirky Beetle sumo to enter the ring. The main objectives being to either push your opponent out, force them to run out of tokens to play, or be the first player to push the title belt out of the ring and claim it for yourself. You’ll achieve this by strategically using your own supply of wooden tokens to push your way into the sumo ring, hopefully causing the right chaotic chain reaction to knock tokens out to then go back into your own supply, or ultimately, knock out your opponent.
May the best brawling beetle win!
Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl is a 2 to 4 player quick and easy brawler, where you and your foe pick a suitably quirky Beetle sumo to enter the ring. The main objectives being to either push your opponent out, force them to run out of tokens to play, or be the first player to push the title belt out of the ring and claim it for yourself. You’ll achieve this by strategically using your own supply of wooden tokens to push your way into the sumo ring, hopefully causing the right chaotic chain reaction to knock tokens out to then go back into your own supply, or ultimately, knock out your opponent.
Sounds simple right? Well in a sense it is, and that’s what makes Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl so easy to pick up, set up, and play, time and time again…There are rules and setup modes specifically designed for young kids creating a “junior league” to help make it a very approachable game for all ages and each player count whether it is 2,3, or a 4 player team brawl has a clear setup guide with a simple image detailing how every token is setup on your sumo platform. The extra fun wrinkles added to the formula is how your Beetles interact with the game…
Tiny Brawlers with a big attitude…
The insect brawlers you choose in Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl all have their own powerups and special token which can be added to the sumo ring if certain conditions are met. These conditions are displayed on their character cards alongside fantastic art depicting how these tiny brawlers would flex and show off in the ring. I’m particularly fond of Sisyphus, the dung beetle (tickles my childish level of humour) who has a token shaped like a large ball of dung which they can add into the ring if their card conditions are met.
You can choose from a roster of six aspiring insect sumo masters, and each one has a quirky uniquely shaped token ranging from flowers to snapping mandibles which can interact with the sumo ring and cause tokens to move around in chaotic ways. This really adds to the replay value as you’ll only ever use 2-4 brawlers at a time, with 4 player mode being a 2v2 team match so not only will you be able to play different combinations of 2 beetle tag teams, but you’ll also see how they fair in one-on-one matches as well.
Built to battle….
The components in Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl are a delight to unbox, with most of the tokens you interact with (from the discs you’ll use to push into the ring, to the beetles themselves with their powerups) being made from wood, with a nice coat of paint and a varnish finish. The character cards are high-quality card stock, which retains the colourful character designs and clear print for the player instructions. The final components, the sumo ring and log platform you use to push your chosen token into the ring, are made from chunky, thick, cardboard which all slots together and mercifully, fits neatly back in the box once your tournament/battle is complete.
It’s the attention to detail and choices made to keep the box contents a high quality which helps elevate the overall experience of playing Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl my only real gripe in regards to components, is the decision to use carboard stock for the title belt, especially when I would consider this game to sit in a more premium price range for a short playtime, party boardgame, considering its family target audience.
Final round results!…
Kabuto Sumo: Beetle Brawl is a fun, silly, family brawler game, which is quick to setup, learn, and play. It has just the right amount of strategising to scratch your brain and variety in the gameplay with its cast of quirky Sumos to make it an easy recommendation for family boardgame night. It comes in at a more premium price point for a quick 20-minute game, however, the components and replay value go a long way towards making up for it. Whilst it might not be the one sole game you’ll play for an evening, it would sit nicely in the collection as a fun intro game for kids or a game for when you want to have a bit of silly competition after fighting through some of the heavier games the hobby can provide.
