When the world hinges on balance, those who control Rook’s Point will gain the power to forge its future. Four factions have surfaced to lay claim to this ancient site and battle to see their vision come true. In Clash at Rook’s Point players take on the role of one of these factions in a 2 to 4 player gladiatorial, winner-takes-all, struggle for supremacy.

Clash at Rook’s Point was designed by Myke Greenlese and is being self-published via his company: Smog Games. At the time of this review, the game is currently live on Kickstarter with a relaunch campaign ending on May 4th, 2022. Art for the game was provided by a team of artists made up of Anatoliy Guligua, Rick Hertel, Nilanjan Malakar, Raphael Corizo, John Henry Esteban, Gaston Garcia, Joanna Grodecka, and Artur Vilela. Much of the art style follows a cyberpunk theme, similar to that of Shadowrun or the upcoming Tamashii: Chronicle of Ascend, and coming from so many artists gives the game a varied presentation that still manages to be fairly cohesive while showing off the world the game takes place within. With four factions (plus another as a stretch goal) there is a wide variety of personalities that make an appearance for players to choose from. Each box of Clash at Rook’s Point currently comes with The Wardens of the Light, Chaotic Lords, The Fallen, and Caldera’s Phalanx. A prototype copy of the game was lent to us for this review and had a few flaws, but rest assured the final product will differ from what we show in this review.

Before playing players will pick a faction and take the corresponding three Characters that represent it as well as an Enhancement deck. Each Enhancement deck is identical, and each box comes with two (you will need two boxes for a three or four-player game). The Character cards are placed in the player’s play area in the “Ready” position, their Enhancement deck shuffled, and their first hand of four cards drawn. The first player is chosen by whatever means deemed appropriate so long as all players agree, and that player will take their turn by choosing and performing two actions. They can choose to discard any number of cards (not as an action) at the beginning of their turn and redraw up to four, then either ready any characters that are exhausted. Action choices are: Attack, discard a card to draw one, use a character or card from their hand’s Ability text, or pass. Clash at Rook’s Point uses a quick and easy-to-understand set of combat rules that help keep the game flowing, and the last player with members of their faction on the table will be declared the winner. That’s easier said than done, however, since the cards in a player’s arsenal, as well as the characters under their command, create a very smash and dodge, back and forth, combat experience that can really be anyone’s guess as to how each conflict will resolve.

Personally, we would like to have more lore or at least some sort of context to go with this game to help draw us in. The art is solid and the gameplay holds up, but we still felt like something was missing. Who are these characters? Why are they fighting? Since each faction has an identical deck, what makes them different from one another other than character abilities? Is there even a question of team synergy or could any character technically be placed in any faction the players choose? We were left with a lot of questions after plaything this one and are hoping the Kickstarter provides us with the answers. More identity in the factions, either by more character options, better cohesive abilities to differentiate play styles or even unique Enhancement cards for each would really have helped solidify the immersion factor and create more meaningful choices as a player. At the end of the day, Clash at Rook’s Point is a quick-to-play game that doesn’t take up a lot of room or too much brainpower to play. The combat feels quick and, after a few games, small and identical decks mean you usually can anticipate what’s coming. If this appeals to your gaming style, check out the Kickstarter now!

All photos for this review were taken and edited by Krista unless otherwise specified: the featured image is via BGG.com; uploaded by Myke Greenlese.