“War” is a card game that traditionally uses a deck of cards. Both you and your opponent get half the deck, and you flip cards over and have them fight each other. Whoever has the highest value card wins the fight and the victor takes both cards. Sometimes you have to flip over more than one card in what’s called a "war." The game has twists and turns, but the winner is ultimately decided at the start of the game when you are dealing cards out. Players have no decisions to make, and players are seen “automatically” resolving battles until one player wins, yet this game and its ideas stand the test of time. I know I've played my healthy share of War, and had a blast every time I played! Watching the cards flip, and the anticipation of a risky War breaking out and the question of who will claim the pile of cards was always exciting! Despite not having input or influence on the outcome, the game enthralled me.
Fast forward to the late 2010s and we see the breach of an explosive new genre in video games called “Auto Chess” or “Auto Battlers.” In these games players pick cards or units to be on a team, and they automatically fight, or resolve a winner. Sound familiar? Now while these games feature much more player decisions and strategy, they still feature that element of randomness and surprise, and the thrill of watching a risky War break out lives on in these games.
Board games in the past few years have also started to see a rise in this approach. Games where players choose and build a team or curate a selection of cards/tokens, then see how they play out in a more limited choice environment in hopes of their strategy working, and claiming victory over several rounds.
The 2023 Kennerspiel des Jahres Winner “Challengers!” and its sequel “Challengers! Beach Cup” are seen as the first adaption of “Auto battlers” and lean into it by claiming to be “The First of Its Kind!” In Challengers, players start with a basic deck, and over the course of the game will add and remove cards from their deck with a limited selection of cards then battle another player who has done the same. Building teams on the fly and getting cards to work together that you may not have thought would, is the magic of this game! Challengers also features an impressive 8 player count, or up to 16 if you have both versions, allowing for a fun and chaotic game night!
Since the release of Challengers we have seen more games in this style. While most don’t make direct ties to the term “Auto Battler,” many feature elements or designs of having some planning, then resolving a winner with minimal decision making. Games like “Wizard Cup” from the designer of Love Letter, Seiji Kanai, takes a direct head-to-head two player approach, having players choose wizards from their deck of 18 cards, and have 6 of them “automatically” fight each other. This game has counterplay options, and allows for each player to try and read the minds of the other, making that resolution ever so satisfying when it pays off. First to claim victory twice wins!
One of my recent favorites to play is “Fliptoons!” Fliptoons works like a deck builder, and has you adding cards and removing cards to your deck throughout the game. At the start of each turn everyone flips over 6 cards at the same time, making two rows of three. When a card is played, you do what it says, and where it ends up in your grid could help or hurt you. By the end of it, you will gain fame, and use that to hire or let go members of your cast of toons. Be the first to 30 Fame and you trigger the Final Flip as everyone has one more chance to claim the most fame! While this game describes itself as a deck-builder, the entire time I was playing I couldn't stop thinking about how I was automatically flipping cards over to get a score and then making choices to alter my playstyle.
The more I think about this style of game, the more I think about “War” and the fun of the “unknown known.” Watching and resolving what you don’t know scratches an itch in board games that I find absolutely ingenious. When your plan comes together, and your synergies and choices finally get to shine, is very rewarding! Games like “Quacks” also feature this style of play, and has been around since 2018. Players reach into their bag, grab a random ingredient and place it resolving its abilities. The only difference is players can choose when to stop placing ingredients, hopefully before their potion explodes, then decide how they want to alter or add ingredients to their bag, repeating this until all the rounds are done crowning a winner.
The two latest releases that follow this style of games are Tag Team and Hot Streak. While Tag Team, much like Challengers, using the term Auto-battle to describe the game, Hot Streak leans into the “unknown known,” and features the excitement of seeing a race play out after placing bets and witnessing the rise and fall of your favorite mascot. Tag Team features very interesting decisions to make on how you order your cards, while planning against your opponent's deck and the possible cards they have added, before watching them automatically fight each other, with synergy being a big focus!
As more games are being made, more games break the mold and blossom into something new and creative. It's a great time to be playing Board and Card Games with so many unique and bold games on the rise! I, for one, welcome this style of game, and am excited to see what else is in store for this growing “Auto Battle” style.
