With Warhammer Quest and Talisman having recently transitioned from tabletop to tablet, it was only a matter of time before Blood Bowl followed suit. Aside from being one of Games Workshop’s better-known exports, Blood Bowl has recently been adapted for the PC and Xbox 360, making it the perfect candidate for an iOS port.
With the game also available on DS and PSP, this isn’t Blood Bowl’s first portable outing, yet these versions pale in comparison to Focus Home Interactive’s tablet revamp. Expect a full suite of menus and interface options, coupled with enhanced graphics that really help to bring the game to life.
For who are still completely clueless, Blood Bowl originates from a board/collectible miniatures game created in 1995 by Games Workshop. It’s a literal take on the words “fantasy football” with orcs, dwarfs, elves, and human fighting it out on the pitch as they attempt to break the enemy line and run for a touchdown.
Focus Home Interactive has done a fine job in recreating the game but one thing I will say is that it’s hardly accessible to newcomers. With so many rules, player-specific traits, and systems to keep in mind, it definitely seems like a game that is targeted more towards existing Blood Bowl fans. Though there is a tutorial, it’s presented as a single slab of signposted gameplay, laden with too much fluff and jargon to get newcomers efficiently up and running. Trying to cram so many concepts into five minutes just doesn’t work and leaves players ill-prepared for their debut match.
With that said, the core concepts are easy enough to grasp. The board is laid out much like an american football field, with a touchdown zone at either end. Carry the ball into your opponents zone and you’ll score. Sounds simple although getting there can be a tough, frustrating mishmash of rules and dice throws.
Blood Bowl is turn based though follows the unconventional “turnover” rule, ending a player’s turn if one of their actions fail. This can range from fumbling the ball as you pick it up to making a dodgy throw or failing to dodge an opponent’s block as you run past them. It certainly adds an element of unpredictability though can also serve as a source of frustration, forcing you to save more risky actions for later in your turn.
Whether or not an action succeeds depends on an invisible dice throw which is then modified, taking into account player abilities and where they are positioned on the field. This is all done behind closed doors, giving you very little insight into what numbers are being processed as a player performs an action. Even when cycling through menus and the game’s interface, information was either sparse or completely meaningless. The solution, as Blood Bowl likes to point out several times, is to grab yourself a copy of the official rulebook. I’m not joking.
Now, I don’t know about you but when playing a game I actually like to have some context as well as a firm understanding of the rules in play. You can imagine my frustration, then, to find that Blood Bowl hides much of this within the pages of a book I’m never likely to buy, mainly because it’s out of print. Though we often moan at paywalls, in-app purchases, and downloadable content, this really takes the biscuit. Another part of the game players may find hard to overlook is the lack of content on offer. Though there’s an extensive campaign mode – complete with player transfers – Blood Bowl only offers two playable races and a single stadium, asking players to shell out £1.99 for each of the four additional factions.
If you have always wanted to try Blood Bowl, it’s hard to recommend the video game (or at least this particular iteration) as a friendly and efficient starting point. Though it looks greats and plays well, there’s just not enough here to cater for newcomers. Unless they are prepared to go away and do some additional reading, that is.