When you think of a Battle Royale, what is the first thing to come to mind? Fortnite? Pubg? Apex? No silly, Boardgames…..right?!

Yes, that confusion & face you are making right now exactly what I was feeling with VR Distribution reached out & asked if I’d like to review Kolossal Games newest game, Reload. As you can see, I’ve said yes. Yet, mainly because I had so many questions, was so very confused & was desperate to see how Kolossal Games made a Battle Royale Boardgame!

Will Kolossal Games be walking away as the Winner, Winner Chicken Dinner or will they have to RELOAD to a new game?

How To Play

Choose one of the following game modes:

• Battle Royale – Every player for themselves! The player with the most fame at the end of the game wins! Battle Royale uses the Standard Fame track (1 Start piece, 2 middle pieces, 1 end piece) shown on the left. If playing with 2 players it is recommended that players use the 2 player Team Royale variant.
• Team Royale Play – with 2 characters on each team! It is recommended that this mode be played with 4 players, but it can be played by 2 players, each controlling 2 characters. Team Royale uses the Team Fame track shown on the right (1 Start piece, 4 middle pieces, 1 end piece). Throughout the rules, modifications or additions to the standard Battle Royale rules will be noted in green boxes like this.

Now to save a slab of text, I’m handing you have to the lovely & talented Meeple University for a How to Play Guide.

Game Play

Knowing this was going to be a Battle Royale game, I was a touch worried & thought it might be super gimmicky. The Battle Royale space is huge, fast-moving & kind of the in thing now. So, I’m not surprised someone tried to take advantage of it, if I was smart enough to make games, I’d have given it a go.

To play this game, I thought, why not tap into the same market? I had a few friends that are mad Apex Legends players & they’ve asked me about board games a number of times in the past. I thought perfect, if anyone would love this game, it was them.

Looking back on my choice, this was not the best of ideas. As at the time of making this choice, I had only barely scanned the rules, & just thought, “cool, combat & move. Easy for beginners” I couldn’t have been more wrong.

RELOAD is a game not for the faint-hearted & has a much steeper learning curve than I originally thought. My beginners were put through a baptism of fire for their first board game experience, it actually took about 4 or 5 games for all of us to get the basics down.

Please don’t let that turn you away, it is an awesome game.

Weirdly, exactly like a Battle Royale, RELOAD starts to get easier the more you play it. You start working out your play style & what works for you. You adapt your play style to those around you & really start to see the beauty of the game. And to watch this group of guys play this game, as the clogs start turning was a thing of beauty…. Especially someone that sucks at Battle Royales & cannot get my head around them!

Yet, they did love the theme of RELOAD. A dystopian cybernetically enhanced clone soldiers Battle Royale TV show. They wanted someone to make this as a video game or movie.  & I couldn’t agree with them more. then after they left I wanted Gamer, Lawnmower man & Death Racer and chuckled to myself.

After playing RELOAD with the Battle Boys (as they called themselves, I personally thought it was lame), I was invited to a game night & they want me to bring something different. I thought, this would be a much better-proving ground for RELOAD, as these were more seasoned gamers & I thought the learning curve would be much gentler on them. I sent them a PDF of the rules & the day before, found Meeple University’s video so sent that along too. ** On a side note, Stella & T make some of the best how-to-play videos & I can’t say how many times they have to help me out. I highly recommend giving them a sub**

Like the Battle Boys (Rolling my eyes while writing this), it took a few games to get into it. Even with them getting the rules & videos before we played.

And that is just something you have to be mindful when playing this game, you have to work for it, but dam does the work pay off. As once in & playing, you get an ever evolving game that makes you think, that makes you rethink & sometimes just hope your prays to the dice god get answered.

Art

I must take my hat off to the artists of RELOAD Chris Byer & Jacqui Davis, as I love it. From the miniatures, to the character design & even the very easy to read tiles. And that last one is very important when the game is more complicated or requires quick discussion making.

Dystopian is such a hard theme to make look good & interesting, as it has been done so many times before. It is normally, dark & gritty with very cliché designs. You won’t find that in RELOAD, as they have gone bright & vibrant with unique designs giving each fighter their own look while keeping it in the same universe. It real is exciting on the table

Final Thoughts

RELOAD is a complex game when learning that becomes a more light to medium game once learnt. It is a game that is tricky at the start but is a game that once you’ve gotten through those teething problem is game that is hard to put down.

It has the complexity that keeps this game exciting game after game. Not to mention, add in someone with a different skill set or play style & it turns the game on its head.

RELOAD really is the game that just keeps on changing & growing with you. It is fun, fast & a lot of fun. I was worried at first, but I shouldn’t have doubted Kolossal Games.