Ages 12+
Two (or more) players
About 60 Mins.
Overview
Dog Fight is a game for two or more players where (in the basic rules) each player controls a starship on a hex board representing outer space. By running cards (placing them down in a specific order, and then revealing/using them in sequence shortly thereafter) you may command your ship to move, attack, upgrade itself, repair, or a multitude of other actions. From what I have gleaned from the advanced rules, after you understand the basic game you can command smaller fighter ships and even some space structures for a richer, more strategic experience.
Each ship has a “Hull” number, which essentially represents hit points. Zero = destruction. Each ship also has a number of Energy counters, which can be spent on ship-specific special abilities that can come in handy in a situation where you might desperately need to move but don’t have a command card to do so. Also there is a specific range (in hexes) which each ship can fire, which can be obstructed by hiding behind moons, stars, and other stellar objects to obstruct an opponent’s line of sight to attack.
Rulebook
The rulebook is very extensive. You can download a tutorial document which is great to read before you decide to start your first game, which will definitely give you the gist of the rules, but the rulebook that actually comes with the game is a lot thicker, and can be a little daunting at first, but really it isn’t so bad. I found some clarity issues when I read it the first time, but the author, Fox Games, addressed them immediately and fixed them (bravo). Once you read all the rules, anything specific you might be confused about can typically be found very easily in the rulebook’s glossary, and the back page of the rulebook has an easy to follow chart of turn steps and what happens in each one. With the aid of this, our first game was only minimally hindered by our inexperience, the chart is priceless—use it!
Although it may be wordy, it is clear that Fox Games knew exactly what was going on when they wrote it. I had a very rough time finding any problems with it, and even the one thing I was confused about was easily clarified by the context of other sections, it shouldn’t give anyone any trouble.
Gameplay
The gameplay (for the basic rules) is simple, yet satisfying. Having to make your decisions in advance is a great element that makes it difficult for one player to truly dominate another. There is also a bit of bluffing that can occur in deciding what you are going to lay down first. In order to move, you need a move card, and you need to place it down and wait until it activates before you can actually move. The same for attacks, repairs, and other actions. But before you start placing cards down, you can activate your special abilities on your ship by paying energy counters. Sometimes these allow you repair, or draw extra cards, or move a certain amount of spaces, these can be a lifesaver and decide the game if used correctly.
I was only able to play with two of the decks, but I am glad to see there is a great variety of options available to people who want to customize their game experience. This is a great example of a stand-alone game that has a rich offering of expansion content. There are multiple game boards; each one varies with the amount of obstacles and starting points, which offers even more variety to the game. This is a great joining of your typical Trading Card Game type gameplay with the special strategy of a Tactical game like chess. It is a great blend and has a great appeal to a wide audience.
Art
In a word, fantastic. Literally, this may be the best looking offering I have seen so far on TGC. I asked the author, Michael Fox, about the art early on, before he asked me to review Dog Fight for him because I wanted to know how I could obtain artwork that refined and polished. It’s all very professional looking and all the art is very in-context for the cards abilities. Even the color version of the rulebook is quite a piece of work. The borders and little artistic appendages make it absolutely beautiful. If your excuse for not getting games on TGC is that they don’t look professional enough, Dog Fight just killed your last excuse.
What could be better?
Not much. The boards were drawn in a bit of a low resolution for some reason, and appear a bit pixilated, but really it’s no big deal. The card art makes up for it by far. I would love to see randomized packs available for Dog Fight one day, and I’m sure TGC will figure out a good way to do that eventually. And maybe if the Starship cards were easier to identify in a pile (like had different backs or something) that would be good too, but I can understand why they don’t already have that-different backs would mean adding a different deck for them, and that would add a couple dollars to the cost of the final product so that’s totally understandable.
Final Word
I’ve been told this game has been a work in progress for over five years, and it shows. I talked to Fox Games about his art and the trouble he went through to get everything just the way he wanted it was very impressive. The gameplay is fun, it appears to be balanced pretty well, I haven’t found anything game-breaking in it and I am having a really hard time finding an excuse not to give this game a perfect score. Let me clarify…I don’t believe in ‘perfect scores’, nothing is perfect okay? There is always something to improve upon. Always. But, in light of the fact that this game really just blew me away, and it is leaps and bounds beyond even some of games that I see in retail stores, I am compelled to give Dog Fight a 5-star rating, I feel like it deserves it.
This is a very well made game, a great addition to The Game Crafter’s library.
Well done.
[The Author, Michael Fox (Fox Games) has graciously donated a copy of his game, Dog Fight, for the purposes of this review. Thank you very much, Michael! We had a lot of fun, and you handled my creative criticism extremely professionally. If anyone else would like to have his or her game reviewed and advertised for free on our website, please feel free to send me a message on TheGameCrafter or email me! This review was written for TheGameCrafter using their 0-to-5-star rating system.]
