Snap Ships Tactics by Snap Ships
Price: ~$80
Players: 1-2 (up to 4 with expansions)
Playtime: 30-120 minutes
Perfect for: Duos who love measurement/spatial battling, ship construction, and strategic resource allocation.
Snap Ships Tactics is a game of spacecraft combat! Players first outfit their vehicles, finding their preferred balance of speed, agility, and firepower. From there, opponents fly into space using the various debris and nebulae to their advantage while engaging their enemies. As the pilots navigate and fire upon each other, they must be thoughtful about their precise positioning—letting a rival obtain a flank could be devastating. In the end, only the strongest (and smartest) ship will be left flying victoriously.
To begin Snap Ships Tactics, one to two players physically construct their craft using modular components (engines, weapons, etc.). The arena is an open map on a tabletop, with a few astrological obstacles scattered about. On their turn, players first perform some basic actions. Typically, these include restocking power and executing some basic movement such as turns or propulsion. Power, a limited resource, fuels the actions the pilots can take. Players assign power to perform additional maneuvers, attack opponents, and repair their ships. This happens by moving available power from the supply to various cards which represent the ship’s components.
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The key to Snap Ships Tactics is the spatial relationships: movement and range are dictated by specificity. The rulers provided in the box give players the exact length and radians they must abide by when determining how far a ship flies, turns, and can attack. Attacks have a small component of luck—players roll dice and assign damage based on the results, a product of weapon type and the enemy’s current defense value. Play continues until only one ship remains, with the others destroyed.
What works in Snap Ships Tactics is the fantastic model-building and balanced warfare. This game is ideal for anyone who has ever delighted in playing with blocks or constructing vehicles for make-believe battle. There’s a wonderful one-to-one correlation between the pieces/parts and the cards/abilities. The final builds are hefty spacecrafts that look and feel tactical. The actual fighting is incredibly engaging. Planning is essential to determine optimal flight paths and efficiency with resources. Tensions are likely to run high in the best possible way as players attempt to outmaneuver and outgun each other.
Individuals who don’t enjoy measurement-based battling may not enjoy Snap Ships Tactics as much as others. When games have precision as a core mechanic, they always run the risk of external variables having an adverse effect on the game. In this case, one bad accidental table bump could drastically change the positioning of the ships. There is also the notion that Snap Ships Tactics is a competitive, cutthroat player vs. player experience. That level of direct aggression may not be everyone’s cup of tea. Finally, even with all the best strategic planning, dealing damage still comes down to a roll of the dice on most occasions. For some, that randomness may prove frustrating.
Snap Ships Tactics is a fantastic game for people who love the creative aspect of design mixed with the strategic elements of multi-variable combat. Highly recommended.
Recommended if you like: Warhammer 40,000, Marvel: Crisis Protocol, Treasure Island
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