Champions! Review

Champions! from Repos Productions helps you settle the big questions. Who between Luke Skywalker and Captain Marvel uses extra soft toilet paper for comfort? Or who between Velma and Sherlock Holmes knows how to moonwalk perfectly? So pick 8 random people or characters and battle until only the champion remains.

What Is Champions!?

Champions! is a party game where players select characters or people and duel it out by voting on who is most likely in the randomly drawn situations until there's a winner. Players earn points for picking the winner of each round and their overall choice of champion.

How Do You Play Champions!?

A game of Champions! starts with players selecting 8 people or characters and then randomly pairing them up and placing duel cards between them, and then duel cards for the subsequent 2 rounds as well. Players then secretly select an overall winner.

Players then vote on each duel, earning points for picking the winner of each duel and then their overall choice of champion if they win.

How Many Players Does Champions! Support And How Long Does It Take To Play?

Champions! supports 3 to 8 players and games can be super rapid if you just blast through the duels and don't discuss the battles. But if you do that, it just ends up as some weird numbers game with you trying to predict other players' choices. The heart of Champions! is the discussion about each duel. King Kong blushes every time they lie? Get out of here. And those discussions, well, they can take some time, especially with 8 players.

What Are Our Final Thoughts On Champions!?

Is Champions! fun? Well that all depends on the group you play with. Do it by the numbers, and there are some amusing matchups, but unless the players really get behind the game, most of the fun will be lost if there's no discussion about the duels. I wish those discussions had been blended into part of the game, but as it stands it's not either a great party game or a competitive board game. It has some fun moments, but you would have more fun randomly drawing name cards and the duel text and having a debate with your friends, which would work equally well with the components, but if you want a competitive party game then there are some great ones out there.

Should I Buy Champions!?

If what you've read sounds like a blast for you and your group, then go all in because with the right mindset and group, Champions! is fun. If you want a super-scripted points-driven party game, then Champions! isn't that. 

The copy of Champions! used to produce this preview was provided by Asmodee UK. Photographs courtesy of the author.