Gone Cardboard News: Battle for Olympus – New Game from a New Company

Smartass Games is a new publisher preparing to release its first game, Battle for Olympus, sometime in 2008. Battle for Olympus is a card game for two players, although the game’s designer, Peter Grant, said that it’s now being tested with three and four players as well. “The game was designed to be relatively simple to pick up and play for beginners,” he says, “but to also have some strategic elements to keep more advanced gamers intrigued.”

Players are competing to claim land trophy cards as the player who claims the most wins the game. As you might guess from the game title, battles will determine who takes home a trophy and who gets rooked. The combat mechanism is reminiscent of Iliad. “Battle cards have symbols at the top that are used to determine which card ‘beats’ which other card,” says Grant. Claim three land trophies of the same color, and you receive an additional battle card, the Mercenary, to boost your odds during battle.

Eight types of battle action cards modify combat; Scouts, for example, can force an opponent to reveal his hand of cards or retrieve a previously played action. Your hand size is limited to four cards with any extras that you would draw being placed in a reserve pile to be claimed after battle. Six Ares cards in the deck serve as a timing mechanism and additional spur to combat. Whenever Ares shows up, players must battle, whether or not they’re prepared; after the final Ares card arrives, the game ends, and players tally their trophies.

Battle for Olympus will include rules in French and English and retail for approximately $25. This game has been added to Gone Cardboard.

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