Hopefully, you’ve heard of Dreadball – the Futuristic Sports Game. Last year it had a reasonably successful Kickstarter campaign end at $728,985 (and that’s not including independent pledges made over PayPal, or the people who signed up to pledge at Mantic’s Open Day, nor does it include the money that undoubtedly topped up existing pledges once the questionnaire went out).
On one hand, there’s nothing wrong with Dreadball. It has a fast-paced mechanic that should see exciting high-scoring games, the teams are nice and distinct, and it has a cool 80’s sci-fi vibe to it that is oddly missing amongst popular wargames.
But, there’s another hand. And on this other hand, there is something most seriously wrong with Dreadball. An opinion from some corners of the internet that Dreadball is nothing more than a rip-off. A copy. A pale imitation of one of Games Workshop’s flagship brands: Blood Bowl. After all, both games are board games that simulate sports, with a twist of sometimes fatal violence. And Games Workshop had the idea first. So Dreadball must be a shameless rip-off, right? Right?
Well, no. First of all, sport A does not necessarily equal sport B. Blood Bowl is very much a simulation of American football (or, if you’re American, American football). I don’t know what Dreadball is trying to simulate, but it seems like a hybrid mix of ice hockey & lacrosse, with small teams of players running around tossing the ball to and from their ‘energy mitts’.
Second, Blood Bowl is really showing its age. It is very much rooted in the ‘I go, U go’ style GW mentality, wherein whole teams get to move, pass, block, and try to score before their opponents get a look in (in theory. The turnover rule is a masterstroke of games design). It is also a highly regimented game, broken down into a series of drives. Once a team scores, the game is essentially reset back to starting positions (minus any unfortunate players on the injury bench). This throws a strategic layer over the tactical one (the one where you work out how to score). The strategic layer is decisions such as when to score, whether to take the first kick off or the second, so on.
Blood Bowl can therefore seem like you’re playing the same game over and over. Dwarf, Chaos and other ‘bashy’ teams will usually allow an opponent to score early, then cage up and time their drives to score right at the end of the half, known as ‘grinding to a 2-1 win’. The more agile teams will get into a scoring position and try to run the clock down as far as possible, giving their opponents little to-no time to equalise. Sure, not all games will pan out this way, but two experienced players in a competitive game will be trying to play to these strategies. It’s old, and it’s tired. It’s had years of evolution to get it to the point it’s at today, and it shows.
Dreadball varies from the formula in a number of ways. It has smaller teams, but even so, not every player on a team will be able to activate (unless cards are used). Usually certain players on a team will be activating multiple times. Players are not repositioned after a team scores, the game carries on immediately. Players don’t have to run all the way to the other end of the pitch to score; it can be done a mere 3 hexes away from the centreline. The scoring zones are worth differing amounts, so decisions have to be made whether to make numerous plays for ‘easy’ scores, knowing that your opponent can at any time hit a big score that could make all your work count for nothing.
Sure, Dreadball has flaws. Common criticisms include forced auto-fail catch attempts (that can end your rush immediately) and the Jack position, which has not yet really found its niche; but I believe these issues will be ironed out now that the game is out there and being played. Ever-increasing player feedback to Mantic and Jake Thornton will help refine the system, just like Blood Bowl has been refined over the decades. After all, the money pledged through the Kickstarter guarantees at least 2 expansions (known as seasons 2 and 3) and Mantic have made public what season 4 will be about.
So if you’re considering giving Dreadball a wide berth on account of Mantic copying Blood Bowl, then it might be worth your time reconsidering and at least giving it a go.