Tony: Here, review this.
Narrator: Tony tosses Brian a copy of Boss Fighters QR. Brian greedily snatches it out of the air and examines the box.
Brian: Wait. What is “QR” short for?
Tony: Quality Reassurance. Duh.
Narrator: That is false.
Brian: Oh, I thought it was short for Quick Response.
Narrator: It is.
Tony: No. First responders sued because it was too similar to First Responder, or FR as they often call themselves.
Narrator: They did not, and they certainly do not.
Brian: Makes sense.
Narrator: HOW does that make ANY sense? It is literally the stupidest thing I have ever heard.
Brian: So why do you think I would like this game?
Tony: You know how you love to audit everything midgame, like rules, scores, card effects, or whatever else you feel the need to double-check? This is a game about auditing Boss Fighters to make sure they accurately report their arena income.
Narrator: It is 100% NOT about auditing!
Brian: This is going to be the best game EVER!
Narrator: I quit…
This is the true story of how I received my review copy of Boss Fighters QR.
Gameplay Overview:
Boss Fighters QR, published by Pegasus Spiele, is a cooperative boss battler for two to four players, with a battle lasting between 40 to 60 minutes. The main gimmick feature of the game is players scanning cards, which have the titular “QR” codes on their backs, so the app can handle the cards’ effects in the game. Yes, the game does require an app, however, even if that is a non-starter for you, I ask you to keep reading. The app is GREAT, but more on that later.
Play progresses through rounds, with each round consisting of the following seven phases:
- Planning – The app assigns potential attack damage and potential additional status effects to each player.
- Shield – The app assigns shields to the three types of attacks that players can make on the boss – Melee, Ranged, and Magic.
- Action – Players scan a card/item to perform one action (play a card, use an item, etc.) in clockwise order, with every player having three actions in this phase (note that some cards allow provide players with additional actions).
- Attack – If players did not reduce the damage assigned to them in the 1st phase to zero, players take the remaining damage and status effects.
- Status – If a player has status effects, they are resolved now.
- Discard – Players discard all cards played this phase and, if they desire, any or all unplayed cards from their hand.
- Draw – Players draw cards from their deck up to their hand limit
The game ends when either the boss or one of the players is defeated. If the players win, they unlock the next boss as well as upgrades. If the boss wins, players should play the boss again until they are victorious…or just fail forward and go for the next boss. I won’t tell Pegasus Spiele. I promise.
Game Experience:
What made me wish I was fighting bosses IRL:
Note: This review will be as spoiler-free as possible because bosses and items are unlocked as players progress through the campaign.
As previously mentioned, an app is required for the game. I absolutely LOVE the app. It tracks everything except players’ health. This was an intentional decision made by the designers, as including health tracking in the app would require additional card scanning and would slow the game down. The app allows players to focus on the game and their decisions instead of upkeep/token maintenance.
After scanning your card or item, the app does all the calculations. It reminds you of additional actions your card may grant. It tracks the boss’s shield strength and health. It manages the boss’s attack phase, informing you of the damage and status changes that occurred. I only had two minor quibbles with the app, and they are covered below. That being said, if any game could change an anti-app boardgamer’s mind, I believe this game could.
The game has been updated to fix bugs, introduce seasonal bosses, and recently added an Elite Boss Mode. This mode allows players to go back and fight the first five bosses with the loot earned during a completed campaign. It was also added for FREE. You could not do that without an app.
But a great app without a great game is a waste of an app. I sincerely enjoyed the game’s combat design. Boss Fighters QR creates organic cooperation. While open communication of card values is not allowed, discussion of attack types and other beneficial actions is allowed. This is important because the game includes support actions. These actions can cause damage, but ONLY if a player, including yourself, has already played that attack type in that round (the app will warn you when you scan a support card, but the required attack has not yet been taken). Player cards can also provide additional actions, protection from boss damage, card draws, heals, and special actions. thoroughly enjoyed working with my teammates, trying to figure out how to maximize damage while protecting the player with the lowest health.
The game includes an eleven-boss “campaign.” Well, a tutorial boss and ten bosses. I have a campaign in quotes because there is no story connecting the bosses or why the players are fighting them. It is a bare-bones campaign in which defeating a boss simply unlocks the next boss and player upgrades. Honestly, I love that about this game. If I want complex boss-battler campaigns, there are plenty of options out there.
This game allows me to fight a boss, hopefully kill it, upgrade my character, and move on to the next boss in about an hour. The campaign also adds different types of upgrades as you progress, from items that any player can utilize to character- and class-specific upgrades. The steady progression combined with the ten unique bosses maintained my excitement throughout the campaign, as well as created that “just one battle” desire game designers strive for.
Finally, I must discuss the replay value. The game includes four races and four classes. Any race can be any class. Race/class combos create your hand limit, what cards you unlock, as well as which special racial and class abilities will be available to you during the campaign. After beating the campaign, I was not done with the game. I wanted to play it again with a race/class combo we had not seen. You can also go back and replay any of the fights you have conquered, allowing you to do one-shot battles.
In addition, the game provides four difficulty levels for each of the bosses. There are also seasonal bosses that are available for limited times, as well as the Elite Boss Mode discussed above. While there is significant replay value in the box, this game is begging for an expansion. I would love to replay the original game with new races/classes, as well as fight new bosses. That being said…
What made me wish I was playing a game that did not require an app.
While the game is RIPE for expansions, on 6/9/26 on the Boss Fighters QR BGG forum, Pegasus Spiele stated that a physical expansion is being designed, but that it is “very time-consuming, so it won’t be ready for the near future.” While the seasonal bosses do provide additional timed content, new races, classes, and bosses are the heart of this game. I hope that the expansion is finalized before the “cult of the new” mindset of many gamers takes over, and they forget about this game. An expansion that allows more race/class combinations, as well as more bosses, will only make this game better.
Another issue is that there is no midgame save. If the app crashes, you will have to start over. You can leave the app open and return to the game at a later time, but there is no button in the options menu that lets you save at any point in time. The game is saved when the battle is completed. This was not an issue for me because a) the app never crashed and b) the game is short enough to make sure you can complete it in about an hour, but I wanted to make you aware that a midgame save is not currently available in the app.
My only other minor issue is that scanning the cards can be a pain, especially with higher player counts and/or large tables. Cards need to be held 15cm, or 5.9055 inches, from the device you are using. Some players had difficulty getting their cards to register. When you know a card game relies on the scanning of QR codes, this is not a surprise. For me, this inconvenience is more than overridden by the calculations and game management the app provides.
Final Thoughts:
I went in thinking this would be a gimmick game at best, and left thinking this is one of the best games published in 2025. The elegance of the gameplay, combined with the unique bosses, is what makes this game great. I love the combat system and how it allows for cooperation that feels meaningful. The upgrades and boss unlocks are just the right level of complexity and ramp-up. The race/class combos create the modular replay value I love in cooperative games. The app resolves most of the behind-the-scenes math and bookkeeping, allowing players to focus on gameplay and not token management.
If you like cooperative games as well as the idea of an integrated app and the benefits it can provide, while still utilizing physical components, I cannot recommend this game enough. You should at least try, if not buy, Boss Fighters QR. It is an amazing fusion of technology and physical components, creating one of the best board games I own.
Final Score: 4.5 Stars – The most accessible boss fighter game on the market
Hits:
• The app
• The combat system
• The campaign
• The replay value
Misses:
• No physical expansions in the near future
• No midgame save
• Scanning cards can be annoying
