Gen Con 2018: FIGHT CLUB Puts An Interesting Twist On Deckbuilders

Yesterday we told you that Mondo Games was making a tabletop game based off the world of Fight Club, and as fate would have it, we're at Gen Con 2018 this year and was able to get a hands-on experience with Fight Club: The Home Game. Check out the game's basic premise and a picture of its current state below, and then head down for what we thought about it:

Take on the role of either The Narrator or Tyler Durden as you play a game of tug of war with dual-use cards available in a shared draw row. The Narrator side feeds the need to collect, gather, and nest, while the Tyler side enables destruction, mayhem, and ultimately letting go by hitting bottom on a shared tracker both players struggle to dominate.

The game comes packed with over 140 cards (Basic, Sleep/Insomnia, Fight and Marla), a fold-out instruction poster, “Slide” tracker board and a Soap Tracker piece.

First off, I need to preface this by saying that not everything shown in this pictured is the final artwork for the game. For example, that pig miniature will be a bar of soap that Tyler and the Narrator will attempt to move to their side throughout the game. Each player does this by using their starting deck to acquire more powerful cards down the stretch. 

Those familiar with the concept of a deck builder game will understand this one easily enough. The big twist, however, is that the cards have different effects depending on who you choose to be. The red half of the card represents what Tyler can do with a card, while the blue has what the Narrator can do. The early game mainly involves acquiring Sleep/Insomnia cards to gain more powerful cards from the pool, as neither character can add too many substantial things to their deck in the first couple hands. 

Overall the premise of the game sounds interesting, but I'll concede I felt like I didn't get enough time with it during the playthrough to walk away with any need to purchase it. This may be due to the fact that some of the card art on the demo version was messed up (it'll be fixed by retail) which made things a bit confusing. Typically I like deck builders, and some of my favorite games throughout the years at Gen Con have been deck builders, so I had some high hopes for this one.

On a positive note, I do like the aesthetic of the game, and I do think if I had been able to do a full playthrough of it I would've walked away with a better grasp of where I stand with this game. At the present though, I'll say this wasn't the best deck builder I've ever played, and that a buyer should perhaps check out a few playthroughs before making up their mind on this one.

Be sure to keep it here all weekend for more Gen Con updates and games you should check out!