by Shane Ostrom

Created on: August 12, 2009   Last Updated: August 15, 2009

When Battle Ball first came out a few years ago I was probably seven or eight years old. It looked so fun to me because at that point the games that I played when I was three, four, five years old bored me and the fact it was a futuristic version of football. It looked so exciting! I had to get it! With my interests, there were many more exciting things out there for me so I never asked for it for my birthday or Christmas. A year or two later it went on the after Christmas clearance for over 75% off! My mom bought it for me for under five dollars so my dad and I played it that night.

Obviously at the time I could not write for Helium (or anywhere else), so I actually read the rules again and played with my brother to write this review for it.

PROS-

A nice strategy game with easy rules Beautiful figures to play with. Unique "combat" system using different types of dice.

CONS-

Actually there weren't really any bad parts that I didn't like. It is a better game for eight and nine year children though, but an adult could enjoy it with kids.

This game is HUGE. The board consists of three main parts that each come folded in half. You can connect the three pieces as if they were puzzle pieces. After finishing the "puzzle", the board is 20" by 44" (1'8" by 3'8"), so it might be hard to find a good spot to play it. Luckily it takes only about 20 minutes on average to play. Another good thing is that it's easy to shorten the playing time. The rules say the first player to get three touchdowns wins. You can easily make this two or even one for a quicker game play. Although I like more complex games like Rune bound and World of War craft: The Board Game, this game is a nice break from the very long, complex games that I usually like to play. It was a simple game that even a five year old could learn, but still is a strategic game that can be very challenging sometimes, like a rubrics cube.

I recommend this game to every household with kids above six. I think it is an enjoyable and fun game that anyone can enjoy from five to one-hundred years old!

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