Let’s put all the cards on the table here. Nano Battle is one of my most anticipated projects of the year. Period. I’m of a certain age where I collected M.U.S.C.L.E. figures as a toy, rather than as any sort of actual collectable. I suspect that somewhere in an old box I might still have one or two of them. (But only one or two, sadly.) Why does that matter? Nanoids were inspired by those same M.U.S.C.L.E. figures I remember from my youth. Somewhere I even saw that there is going to be a generic Nanoid ID (Character) Card that lets you use whatever figure you want in the game.
Nano Battles is a close-quarters arena battle that ensues on seven randomly placed Hex Tiles. The base Rumble Pack comes with seven Hex Tiles but certain gameplay modes may require more than that so there are definitely opportunities to expand how those tiles work in the future.
Each Operator (Player) chooses one of their six Command Cards (identical in the Rumble Pack, but customizable later) and both Operators reveal their card simultaneously, then resolve them in the order of the initiative number on their card. When all the cards have been played, the last card is discarded and the remaining cards are picked back up. This works out to 21 head-to-head rounds, after which there will only be one Nanoid still standing, or both Operators lose control and the Nanoids “go rogue”. “Rogue” Nanoids use the same AI process as the Solo Mode does to finish a battle that has otherwise ended in a stalemate.
Pledge levels start at $30(USD) for the Hexagon Rumble Pack, Alpha Nanoid Pack, and the Faction Surge (card) Pack. At $45 the first Story Mode pack is added, and at $85 you add a cool Alpha T-Shirt. There are also 2x and 4x the $45 level pledges that don’t save money but save on red tape.
Absolutely everything is available as an Add-On So if you only want the base Rumble Pack you can use the Pledge Without A Reward feature and just add stuff. The exception to that is the Kickstarter Exclusive glow-in-the-dark versions of Nanoid figures. The Stretch Goals that have been announced have so far been new character sets, and I very much want to see them happen.
I received a preview set of the game, but sadly it came just as I was leaving for six weeks on the road. So I left my set with another reviewer who have been loving it, and I’ll get it sent back to me after the campaign so that I can do a proper CrowdFUNding Preview in time for late pledges.
You can back Nano Battle on Kickstarter until November 30, 2022.
You can find Nano Battle by Rad Plastic Studio online at nanobattle.com or on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/867469847977467.