What is Stak Bots?

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Stak Bots is a sneakily strategic, battling robots card game from DogEared Games that launched at the UK Games Expo 2013.

It is both simple and strategic, but most importantly it is a lot of fun.

Play-board-games.com awarded it 5 out of 6 with full marks for player interaction. You can read their full review and others here.

Modify the game to play how you want it to. It can be tailored to either casual play, in-depth strategy and deck-building, or anywhere in between and is suitable for older kids through to adults.

We recently ran a successful campaign on Kickstarter for the Yellow Expansion pack! Another 60 cards featuring 16 new Bots are now ready to be enjoyed! You can order it in the shop, or read a review for it here.

You can watch a short video about the game here:

Players/Teams: 1-4
(New 1 Player Solo/Solitaire Drone Mode video – opens in a new youtube window/tab)

Age: 8 to adult
(Check out the new ‘Quickfire Mode‘ suitable for young players – opens in a new youtube window/tab)

Playtime: Adjustable from minutes up to an hour
(2 players with a simple game mode: 2-5mins through to 4 players with multiple Staks: 20-45mins. You can have more players than this and the game will be longer)

Features:

– Vertical Stak gameplay: each player has a pile (or several piles!) of face-down cards which they try to defend. Cards can be played on top, moved around within the Stak by other cards, turned to face-up or face-down etc.

– Flexible turn system: this allows you to carry out a number of different actions in any order and numerous times creating a multitude of possibilites from any one turn. You won’t be left with nothing to do on your go, or waiting turn after turn to draw a good card. It also allows you to react to changes in play caused by unexpected entry effects.

– Unpredictably strategic entry effect system: when you uncover new cards within a Stak or play them from your hand, some cards have instant effects such as dealing damage, moving cards around, picking up cards etc. These effects can then trigger other effects to create chaotic chains!

– Always involved in the game: Your entry effects can trigger when it isn’t your turn so you can influence what’s happening on other people’s goes. You can also choose to play reactively so that you can play cards from your hand to defend yourself against attacks.

– Adjustable complexity and game playing time: A number of  game modes allow you to adjust the game to suit you, so as you become more adept you can make it more challenging. These range from the simplistic rapid play of Blitz Mode through to the brain-melting tactical schemery of Multi-Stak play with several toggles enabled; the more Staks each player has, the more complicated things get and the more critical each decision becomes!

– Customise the game: Using a number of ‘Toggles’ you can change basic game mechanics; these can be very simple or a bit silly. Feel free to create your own!

– A multitude of Bot combinations: Each Bot is unique and has its own effect on the game. Each of these Bots can also have a different power level, changing how they are used in the game. Depending on what game mode you are playing and what Toggles you are using, different Bots will become more or less effective. There are 16 individual Bots in the first set. There will be many more Bots in future expansions, which can just be shuffled in with the original set.

– Everything you need in one box: No starter decks, booster packs, unknown cards etc. There are enough cards in the box for up to 6 players to have one shallow Stak each, or a few players to play with multiple Staks.  If you want to play with more Staks on the table or deeper Staks then simply purchase a second box of Stak Bots and mix it in. This will also allow you to experiment more with the balance of cards in a deck; what happens if you play just with purple and red cards?

– Shared deck or balanced decks: Everyone can play from the same draw pile for a quick game, or you can divide the cards up equally by rank, allowing for a more balanced game. You can also use the rank point system to customise your own Stak deck.

 

You can order a copy now using the link at the top on the right or by visiting our shop, where you can get discounted bulk packs of Stak Bots.

We hope you enjoy the game!

Please let us know how you get on by using the contact page or Facebook or Twitter!

 

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