Heroclix Game Review: It’s Like Chess With Superpowers

Heroclix Game Review

If you’ve ever come into the shop on a Saturday afternoon, you know the lounge area gets taken over by a bunch of guys playing a game with little plastic figurines of Spider-Man, Batman, and a whole slew of other comic book characters. The scene can look intimidating to approach, and when you asked what was going on, you found out it was a weekly tournament for this game called Heroclix. It looks cool, but it’s not something that you would be into. Well now’s your chance to learn all about this game that brings us together every week with our Heroclix game review.

Heroclix is a tabletop strategy miniatures game. That’s a fancy way of saying, it’s a game you play with physical pieces on a table, like any other board game you’re familiar with. Unlike other board games though, all the pieces to the game do not come in one standard box. You collect the different figures of your favorite characters by buying packs or trading with other players. Another difference is, when you do play the game, you don’t use all of the figures you own. Instead you tailor the team you want by picking specific figures to use. One game can be all X-Men, the next can be all DC villains, or just make a team using your personal favorites. This customization means no two games of Heroclix will be alike.

Heroclix is played with 2-4 players. The majority of the games you play are one-on-one matches, but you can also have multiplayer games with every player battling against each other. Heroclix is a turn based game, with each player taking a complete turn, then the next player taking his complete turn, and so forth. During your turn, you move your figures around the map, attack your opponent, and use the super powers of your figures to trigger various game effects. The game ends when one player has Knocked Out all of his opponent’s figures.

The unique aspect of Heroclix is the Figure Dial. The dial is made up of two parts: The Base, which contains all the game information of the figure, and The Combat Dial, which contains all the combat values of the figure. As a figure takes damage throughout the course of the game, you “click” the dial (see what the game creator did there) to represent the character getting injured. The figure now has new combat values and powers to represent his current state of health.

In addition to the dial, each figure also has a corresponding Character Card. The Character Card adds game information to the figure that is not found on the Base. This includes descriptions of super powers the figure possesses, team affiliations, a character bio, and more.

With Heroclix being a collectable game (aka collectables miniatures game or CMG), there are several ways for you to collect the figures to play the game. The most common is by buying Booster Packs. These packs contain five random figures, meaning you don’t know what figures the pack contains until you open it. Think of them like baseball card or Magic: the Gathering packs. Figures are released in sets that focus on a central theme. Each set contains between 50-70 figures and you can only pull figures of that set from its corresponding booster pack.

The second type of pack is a Fast Forces Pack. These are packs that contain 5-8 figures that are a comic thematic team. A team of Avengers, Thunderbolts, or Rogues. Unlike booster packs, each pack contains the same set of figures. They are premade teams ready to go right out of the pack. Maps are also included in the Fast Forces packs.

Starter Packs are deluxe versions of Fast Forces packs. They contain all the materials needed to play the game. A rulebook, Powers & Abilities Card, games tokens, & dice along with the figures and maps. For anyone getting into the game I highly recommend getting a Starter Pack. As the name implies, it’s how you get started into Heroclix.

Heroclix is a fun, fast-paced game that is easy to get into. The player community at Cosmic Comics is always welcoming to new players learning the game. For more information about Heroclix, or gaming in general at Cosmic Cosmics, reach out to our Store Manager Roland. He’s always up for talking about games. In the meantime, check him out playing a game of Heroclix at the Majestix ROC Super Q.

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to visit us soon to #getyourfix of all things Heroclix!