The Art of Boxing Clever is live (Pack a punch)
Update: The Art of Boxing Clever has launched on Kickstarter and the campaign will run for 34 days. You may pledge for a copy of the game with or without the Arcade or the solo expansion pack, or with both.
Our preview post below was published on July 4.
The Art of Boxing Clever is a 1-2 player hand management game that recreates a boxing match. It will launch on Kickstarter on July 5.
A match in the game lasts for 10 rounds, and each round consists of 3 turns. Each player will play 2 cards on their turn, for a total of 6 cards per round. These cards will be played for Defense, Attack, or Blank (no action). When an Attack card is played, it targets the opponent's head or body, and has a hit point value. Defense cards are played to block an Attack, and Blank cards don't do anything: the player can neither Attack nor Defend. Each boxer also has their own special punch. Each time they throw it, the action card they play gives one extra hit point.
Each boxer has a particular boxing style, e.g. the Swarmer applies constant pressure, whereas the Slugger lacks agility but may pack a powerful punch. Depending on their style, they receive a number of initiator tokens which are placed on the round tracker and determine who goes first. A boxer's individual characteristics and stamina will also define how many Attack, Defense and Blank cards they have in their starting deck of 60 cards.
When an Attack is performed, the boxer targets a specific head or body area of the opponent, with each area being able to sustain 5 levels of damage. Damage causes the player to swap action cards for blank cards and may lead to getting Knocked Down or Knock Out. Each boxing round is being watched by Judges who keep the score. Judges are not always vigilant, though. The "Judge Watching" deck will contain 6 "eyes open" cards, and 3 "eyes closed". On each turn, a Judge card will be revealed, and if it's an "eyes closed", then the hit points for that turn won't count (!) If a boxer ever only has blank cards left in their deck, they are defeated.
The game comes with a solo AI expansion pack which allows you to play against any of the 5 boxers in the base game, in three difficulty levels.