For anyone unfamiliar, I want to take a brief moment to introduce the "Tabletop MOBA".
They've been around for a couple of years, though I haven't played one yet (I'd like to try). Analysing them would make for a great game design exercise, and I would like to chat with some of the designers about their interpretations as well.
They generally run 45-120 minutes, and tend towards lower player numbers (likely due to the complexity of taking turns). Common themes include a selection of heroes or sometimes factions, progressing across the board to the enemy base, and non-player-controlled troops.
Below is a list of the games of which I'm aware. Note that I mention the maximum recommended player count; much more can be found at the links.
| Title | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Champions of Nexum | Coming Soon™ | 3v3 with miniatures |
| Guards of Atlantis II | 2020 | 5v5 with cards and no randomness |
| Skytear | 2020 | 2v2 with cards and miniatures |
| Cloudspire | 2019 | 2v2 with tiles, chips, miniatures |
| Glyph: A Dota2 Board Game | 2019 | 3v3 with cards, on tabletop simulator |
| Radiant: Offline Battle Arena | 2019 | 1v1 with cards |
| Battle for Biternia | 2018 | 2v2 with cards, on tabletop simulator |
| ELO Darkness | 2018 | 2v2 with deck-building and tokens |
| Guards of Atlantis | 2017 | 4v4 game with cards and miniatures |
| Judgement | 2017 | 1v1 with miniatures |
| Rum and Bones: Second Tide | 2017 | 3v3 with pirates, cards, miniatures |
| League of Ancient Defenders | 2016 | 3v3 with miniatures |
...and here's a couple of images, just to whet the appetite!
Based on the BoardGameGeek ranking, Cloudspire was the top performer with Rum and Bones: Second Tide not far behind — just outside the top 1000 games at time of writing. (All images from BoardGameGeek by the way!)
Lots of different interpretations there! Does anyone have any stories of playing these? I would love to hear in the comments.
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