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Knizia non-collectible card game of fantasy arena combat the winner is not the toughest |
last update: November 30, 2004 | |||
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While the game is incredible, the rulebook for Titan: The Arena leaves a whole lot to be desired. The following is our attempt to answer questions and clear up some of the vague points in order for you to enjoy the game to the fullest. As well, we've got some strategy hints for you! A couple of important notes: Fantasy Flight Games has re-released Titan: The Arena as Colassal Arena, adding 4 new monsters and a new rule I really don't like (the hand ends when the last card is drawn). OTOH, you can play Titan: The Arena by the original rules with this deck and not pay an arm & a leg for the privilege. Sadly, this is not true of GMT's over-inflated Galaxy: The Dark Ages, the scif-i sequel to Titan: The Arena. (It was rumored to have been 90% completed before the buyout of AH by Hasbro aka the Hasborg Collective.) I've only played it once, but I'm convinced that Titan: The Arena is the better of the two games. The biggest problem with Galaxy is that it adds complexity...
...at the price of adding additional chaos. Titan: The Arena has never been a game of high control, anyway, but Galaxy accentuates the problem and has a longer playing time. Clarifications, Rulings & Other Stuff Secret Bets The only thing you can do directly with the card is reveal it (as your betting action). Once you do the card goes in the line with the monster. After it is played to the table some of the special powers can access it. You cannot play the card yourself. You played it when you made the bet as a combined bet and card play. If the play of the Head Referee causes multiple secret bets on the same creature to be revealed simultaneously, the player who played the Head Ref card reveals first, followed by the rest of the players around the table in clockwise order. The cards are placed in a stack above the creature card, and a revealed secret bet card counts as a "visible strength card," which can be manipulated by creatures such as the Unicorn. There are some folks out there who play that all revealed secret bet cards are available (lined up above the creature card) but this (a) not in the rules, and (b) it makes the play of the Head Referee a double whammy. Not only do people know who bet on a particular creature, but they also have access to a low card (since one of the basic strategy tips in this game is to use low cards to place secret bets) to play against that creature. On top of that, the access to multiple cards makes the Unicorn's role too powerful! (If you haven't guessed by now, we don't play that way at Game Central Station.) All wagered chips placed in the secret bet column, voluntarily or due to the Head Referee, count 5 ducats for whichever player bet them (until the creature dies). This is true regardless of how many players have secret bets on the creature. Optional rule: A revealed secret bet is worth only as many ducats as the amount of any normal bet during the round in which it is revealed. According to Rob Placer, "We have played both ways, and find that by making a revealed bet worth no more than any other bet in that round, it adds to the reasons for placing a secret bet and then defending that creature to the end." Here at Game Central Station, we do NOT use this optional rule, but post it in case you feel like living dangerously. How Quickly Does Death Occur? The round isn't over until the turn is over - creature death is only checked for at end of every turn. This raises an important point that players often miss - you cannot discard your excess (for example) Cyclops cards the turn you eliminate the Cyclops. The cards aren't strength cards of an eliminated creature until after your chance to discard has already come and gone. See Section 8, "When every creature has a card in the column of the current round at the end of the player turn, that round ends and the creature with the lowest card is eliminated." Spectators Are NOT Strength Cards Remember...spectator cards are not strength cards. The only creature that can use his power on spectators is the Dragon. Referees do NOT let you pick up spectators. (My friend came up with a great "story" way of explaining this... the spectators, worried about their own wagers, leap in front of the creatures to fight for them. Unfortunately, the creature is momentarily shoved out of the way and is unable to see to use his power until another strength card is played... and the creature shoves the pesky spectator out of the way. Betting Wars Remember, if no one has a majority in ducat value, there is no backer, so no one can use its power. (Another strategy tip hidden inside the FAQ... it's an effective way to slow down a player with the Hydra or the Titan.) This is clearly spelled out in the rules. Again, some mutant variants are floating around on this issue... including one where tied backers can both use the power. Another extension on this allows anyone to use the powers when they begin play (since all players are tied with zero bet on each creature at the beginning of the game.) Horse hockey... we here at Game Central Station think these ideas both stink like day-old Cyclops carcass. Use the Force Once, Luke You get to use the creature's power once, for each strength card you play on it. You could use the creature's power multiple times by playing multiple strength cards (but, obviously, not in one turn). Dragon Power Note that the full description of the Dragon's ability says that it can only destroy a visible card played in the CURRENT combat round, so you can't use it to destroy older cards to make them unavailable to the Troll or Unicorn. In contrast, the Dragon (15.2) does not specify "strength card", so the Dragon can burn spectators, as long as their in the current combat row. Hydra Power After playing on the Hydra, you may only play another strength card or Spectator (not a Referee). You could play another Hydra card, but it wouldn't activate the power again. NOTE: the following is a "word from Don Greenwood", posted by AH RuneQ, who is the rec.games.board newsgroup mouthpiece for Avalon Hill. Don was the developer of Titan: The Arena: After playing on the Hydra, you may only play another strength card (not a Referee or Spectator). You could play another Hydra card, but it wouldn't activate the power again. Yes, this is different than the rule I list above... because, as far as I can tell, the designer violates his own design! There is nothing in the rules about the Hydra (15.3) or Spectators (9.0) to keep you from playing a Spectator as your second play. It is clear from the rules that Referees and making a secret bet are forbidden. Anyway, we just ignore this ruling, but I thought you might be interested. Titan Power House ruling: the Titan's ability can be used against someone who has fewer than 3 cards (due to the Cyclops or late in the game) If he has two cards, you may look at both cards and keep one, returning the leftover. If he has one card, you may look at his card, then return it to him. Unicorn Power The Unicorn can exchange the top card of two different piles (combat piles in each round, discard pile, revealed bet pile) of ONE creature if they are both strength cards. Spectators (a) are not strength cards, and (b) are not specific to a particular creature. Thus the Unicorn can't move Spectators. You may not rearrange cards in one pile with the Unicorn power. New Creatures Finally, from the warped pen of Mike Stachowski comes some suggestions for new creatures.
Thanks to the rec.games.board posters whose questions and answers inspired this FAQ: Paul A., Rob B., Jonathan C., Eric H., Kevin J. M., Mark McE., Robert M., Ray M., Rob P., Lance "Squiddie" S., Mike S. , Bruno W., Don W., Doug C., Toyohiro W., Steffan O'S., TLDreaming, Aaron F., Hans T., and the anonymous dude or dudette behind AH RuneQ (who has an inside track with Don Greenwood). Sequence of Play WAGER
CARD PLAY
DISCARD
DRAW
IF
Titan: the Arena Strategy Well, let's start by saying that the conductor is not sure he's qualified to speak to this issue. My record is pretty good, but a lot of my wins should probably be classified as "teaching wins". In other words, I played people who hadn't played before... and even with five players, Titan: the Arena has some subtleties that aren't readily apparent on your first playing. What we'll try to do instead is distill down the long conversation about strategy from the rec.games.board newsgroup into a coherent form... and, of course, I'll put my two cents in every once in a while. (Starting with Tip #7, a conversation on r.g.b. about T:tA strategy last year between Eric Gorr & Graham Wills provides us with a bit more help.) (1) Use low numbered cards to place secret bets. Gosh, this seems obvious, but it's really key. It not only give you a positive use for a lousy card and frees up hand space, but it also removes it from play (barring the Head Referee rearing his ugly head) so that it can't be stolen by the Titan and used against you. (2) Listen carefully to the "groupthink" about the relative value of creatures. Any group that plays more than one hand of Titan: the Arena will develop opinions about which creatures are powerful and which are weak. This is just like poker, people... keep your mouth shut and your ears open. Groups will tend to place secret bets on the creatures they regard as 'survivors' and ignore creatures they see as 'weak'. Take advantage of their tendecies and work to kill off their 'survivors' and bet on the 'weak' monsters. (Like any strategy in Titan: the Arena, this is subject to the cards you draw.) (3) One possible strategy: bet on weaker creatures. If a player does not have a bet on either of two creatures and has the choice to kill either (and he is not targeting any one player's bets in particular), he will likely kill the creature which is most powerful/dangerous to him. Since decisions basically along these lines occur all the time in Titan: the Arena, the weaker creatures stand a better shot of surviving (in theory). (4) Another possible strategy: bet on strong creatures. It gives you the use of their powers... and in the cases of the Hydra, Dragon & Unicorn, this increases your ability to kill other creatures. (5) Don't forget your tap shoes. As Aaron Fuegi so beautifully puts it, "It isn't that hard to start throwing up bulleyes on the more powerful races with a little song-and-dance here, a little deal there." In other words, never forget the power of negotiation, threats & bluff. This IS a multi-player game, after all. (6) Play your hand, not your strategy. You've got to play what you've got, not what you wish you had or hope to draw. (Again, this seems simple, but people get locked into particular modes of play that provided a win way back when and never let go of them... don't be one of them.) (7) Spectators are very powerful. Spectator cards shouldn't be used lightly. Near the end of the game, as the available cards to draw are running low or are gone, having cards that can be played anywhere is very useful. (8) Ultimate power The power to end a round is something you should always try to obtain, even if you have to share it with someone else. (This is the reason why I always try to kill the Hydra and encourage others to to do so as well...a double play is the best power, especially late in the game.) You can consider the people to your left and your right as your allies in the game. In general, a single person won't have the power to end the round in a way that benefits them, but two people generally can. You should work at making deals (and keeping them!) with the people sitting next to you to find a way that ends the round in a way the benefits you both. If you cannot end the round, then try to play a card that will increase the odds of the round not ending before it comes back to you. (9) Bump... Set... Spike Try to ensure that the player *after* you and you have some investments in one or more creatures. Then, on your turn if you cannot end the round, you can endanger a creature not shared by you and the next person, so that they can kill it. If that is not possible, you at least can protect any creature you do not share with the next player. Summary: set the next player up so they can end the round in a way that does you no harm. (10) Don't get greedy Don't waste your betting tokens on getting more then two first round bets, if you even have that option. Two is even a bit greedy. Odds are good that at the end of the game, only a single first round bet that you made will survive and having just a single first round bet makes you look like far less of a target early in the game. It's relatively easy for players to agree on killing a creature of a player who has more then a single first round bet surviving. Power Rankings Folks seem to pretty much agree on the top three "strongest" creatures: Hydra, Dragon & Unicorn (although not necessarily in that order). As well, the Warlock is considered the weakest of the creatures, with no real agreement on how to order the others. We here at Game Central Station have a strong preference for having control of whichever creature we've got cards for. Power, schmower... (see tip # 6, above). Departures BoardgameGeek entry for Titan: The Arena BoardgameGeek entry for Galaxy: The Dark Ages The Game Cabinet: Grand National Derby... Believe it or not, Titan: The Arena was originally a German horse racing game... here are the rules. Steffan O'Sullivan's Review of Titan: The Arena</A> As always, Steffan's review is excellent... and his diagrams help explain the rather ham-handed rules | ||
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