There was a time when my boys were young that I handily beat both of them at Super Smash Bros. But as they got older, my grip on guaranteed victory slowly slipped away. Before I knew it, they could both beat me handily, and their only real challenge was playing against one another.
When I had the opportunity to review Legends of the Arena, I was all over it. It marketed itself as being the board game version of the video game classic Super Smash Bros., and I thought it might give me the perfect opportunity to relive my glory days of beating my boys at a game like Smash. I was pretty skeptical that a board game could actually emulate that video game feel and still be fun, but I’m glad to say I was proven wrong.
Gameplay Overview:
Legends of the Arena pits fighters against each other in a fast-paced, knock-down arena brawl. Much like the video game inspiration, the core loop is all about position, timing, and landing high-impact attacks to send your opponents flying out of the arena.
Hero Selection & Arenas: Players choose from a diverse roster of heroes, each with unique card actions and abilities, and battle across modular arena layouts.
Simultaneous Card Play: Each turn, players select and commit three cards from their hand to execute movement, attacks, and defense.
Tactical Positioning & Combos: You must anticipate where your opponents are moving on the board to line up strikes, dodge incoming hits, and trigger satisfying card combos that knock enemies out of position.
Game Experience:
Just like button-mashing in the video game can lead to victory—at least for rookies—so can choosing a few random cards in Legends of the Arena and hoping for the best. You never quite know where other players are going to end up on the board when the dust settles! Is it chaotic? Absolutely. Does the chaos take away from the fun of the game? Absolutely not!
As you get comfortable with the card actions of your hero and get to know the rest of the roster, the mind games really come into play. You start trying to read your opponents’ next moves to maximize your own opportunities. Some might say it becomes a glorified game of rock, paper, scissors, and in truth, that’s not too far from the truth, but that’s not a bad thing. If Legends of the Arena bills itself as the board game version of Super Smash Brothers, it succeeds in emulating the frenetic nature of micro games of rock, paper, scissors found in the video game.
I’m happy to say that I actually managed to relive my glory days and win our very first game! But that didn’t last long. After that, my 19- and 16-year-old sons started figuring out the card synergies, and each of them claimed victory in the next two games.
Whether playing 1v1 or 1v1v1, the game scales wonderfully. Matches were snappy, taking about half an hour each. It was an absolute blast filled with table chatter, jeering, groaning, laughter, and pure disbelief—and that was all in our first game! It’s rare for a tabletop game to evoke that level of emotional high and low so quickly. I expect it will be even better at 2 v 2 or 3 v 3.
It’s also incredibly satisfying, and rare, when you can pull off your combo as planned. There’s a glee of excitement with each turn as you think you’re outsmarting your opponent, only to be distraught when they’ve outsmarted you.
Halfway through our first match, my 16-year-old video gamer son looked up and said, “I want to play this at my birthday party; it’s so funny.” Coming from him, that is about as high praise as a board game will ever receive!
For such a small box, Legends of the Arena packs in an impressive amount of content. The dynamic art style fits the frantic theme perfectly, and the variety of heroes and interchangeable arenas means endless replayability. Veterans will definitely gain an edge as they learn the deck match-ups, but the unpredictable nature of the arena means beginners always have a fighting chance.
If there’s one drawback to this game, it’s the rulebook. I’ve had to make sure that my disdain for the rulebook doesn’t affect my final score. It simply does the game a disservice. Finding basic information is frustratingly and needlessly difficult. With so many possible card interactions throughout the game, I would have expected greater clarity.
A solo expansion is available for this game (I have yet to test it), but it’s unlikely I’ll ever touch it. Super Smash Brothers is more fun when played with others, and so is Legends of the Arena.
Final Thoughts:
Legends of the Arena doesn’t hide the fact that it’s trying to capture the spirit of Super Smash Brothers in board game form. I’m impressed that the designers were able to capture the frantic, emotional roller coaster of the classic digital arena battler, delivering endless replayability and laugh-out-loud table moments in a tight 30-minute package.
Final Score: 4 Stars — You’ll have a smashing good time with Legend of the Arena.
Hits:
• Successfully captures the chaotic, arena battle feel of Super Smash Bros.
• Dynamic art and packed box with many heroes to choose from
• Creates memorable moments
Misses:
• Poorly organized rulebook makes finding rules during play difficult
• High player count chaos might feel too unpredictable for strict strategy purists.
