Now, I find myself in a strange predicament of reviewing a toy that my adult brain can’t quite understand. We were sent Beasts of Balance with the Battle Cards expansion set to review recently and I duly set it up (you will need a small cross head screwdriver and three AA batteries). Here is a quick video before I go into more baffling detail!
Whilst I was looking for said screwdriver, Miss H had got all the pieces out, skimmed the instructions and had downloaded and installed the app from Google Play. The instructions themselves are fairly sparse but that is because the app tells you what to do as you go along.
Once the platform was set up the app instructed us to press a button to connect (pair) the game to my phone. (If you are struggling with this, make sure your Bluetooth is turned on, and if you are not very tech savvy, please don’t worry, it’s quite straightforward really!).
Once the two are paired you are ready to play! It is a game for 1-5 players. You begin by scanning your Beast artefact (there are six Beasts to choose from). There is a symbol on all the artefacts (pieces) that you can touch to the corresponding symbol on the platform and this lets the app know what Beast you have chosen. Once you have each chosen a Beast then you begin to scan and stack other artefacts on top. The artefacts all have different purposes and can ‘feed’ or increase the points your beast has. When your stack tumbles, as it inevitably will, you need to restack the stack before all your points are taken away by an angry volcano!
Beasts of Balance Review
Are you confused yet? Well, then just pity me trying to tell you how it works! The thing is that Miss H picked it all up intuitively and became an instant expert in what was going on. She led the way, becoming quite impatient with me at times not being able to grasp the rules more quickly!
It’s a lovely bright and colourful game, and the graphics on the app are really quite stunning. It will make a great party game when their friends come around too.
We were also sent ‘Battle Cards’ that gave an extra dimension to the game. In the same way you can scan Beasts and other artefacts, you can scan these cards and each has a different purpose or effect on the game. For example there is the ‘Booby Trap’ card that lets you secretly choose an artefact, and the next time someone scans it one of their Beasts will explode! Or the ‘Immune Cocoon’ which will shield a Beast of your choosing from all effects until the cocoon disappears.
I have really just scraped the surface of Beasts of Balance. It’s a fabulous hybrid of traditional board game, puzzle and computer game. Whoever designed it must have been very clever and a little bit unhinged. Regardless though, the kids love it!
We were sent Beasts of Balance to review, but as always all the opinions expressed are my own.