Image Courtesy of <PERSON>
This review continues my series of detailed reviews that attempt to be part review, part resource for anyone not totally familiar with the game. For this reason I expect readers to skip to the sections that are of most interest.
If you liked the review please thumb the top of the article so others have a better chance of seeing it and I know you stopped by. Thanks for reading.
Summary
Game Type - Dice Game
Play Time: 5-20 minutes
Number of Players: 2 or 4
Mechanics - Dice Rolling, Push Your Luck
Difficulty - Pick-up & Play (Can be learned in under 10 minutes)
Components - Good
Release - 2013
Designer - <PERSON> -( Ace of Spies)
Overview and Theme
“In the blue corner, weighing in at 300 grams we have Luchador! Mexican Wrestling Dice! And in the blue corner weighing in at…considerably more… we have a bunch of gamers looking to have a good time!”
Welcome to the world of ‘Lucha Libre’ or Professional Mexican Wrestling. I know very little about the sport in general except that the combatants wear awesome masks, have names that sound about as cool as a name can get and they are as hard as nails. If the WWE of the USA is akin to Hollywood, then Lucha Libre is on a par with Fight Club. It’s gritty stuff but the theatre and entertainment go all the way to 11!
So enter the game of Luchador, which is a dice-filler game that aims to replicate the sport using a dice based system and in doing so allows its players to partake in the smack talk and high tempo moments of the real thing.
So what are you waiting for? Slip into some lycra, get your noggin' into a funky mask and step into the ring…it’s fight night!
The Components
Luchador comes in a small square box, which is great in terms of a smaller footprint. Anyone who owns an original copy of will know the exact box size that Luchador comes in.
For the record, this review is looking at the 1st edition release of Luchador as there has been a successful 2nd Edition Kickstarted in 2014 already and that will have some new additions that are not covered here.
The Ring (Board) - The board represents a wrestling ring and it fits nicely into the snug box thanks to a two-fold design. It is of a good thickness and feels nice as do all of the components.
Image Courtesy of ah45
Dice - In all the game comes with 14 dice. 470
Eight of them are identical except that they come in blue or red. These sets of dice are designated for each corner that the player's represent. Each of these dice have 5 unique faces...2 Hits and then one of Miss, Block, Counter and Pin.
Then there are the 3 Green Dice, which are the Damage Dice. These have 6 unique faces, 5 of which inflict damage and 1 that is a self-inflicted injury.
The 2 yellow dice are the Pin Dice and they feature 4 different faces. Finally there is the larger black Luchador! Dice and it is used for special moves...but more on that later.
All of the dice are nicely done but given that the game is a Dice Game, I think the standard of today is to etch the dice. Unfortunately here the dice icons are only printed and that will lead to fading at some point for sure.
I can't remember if the successful 2nd Edition Kickstarter Campaign offered etched dice or not.
Image Courtesy of DICE_COLLECTOR
Luchador Cards - The game comes with 6 large cards that feature a Luchador Wrestler. Each card contains an illustration, name and a fair degree of text on the right-hand side which outlines that wrestler's 3 special moves.
At the bottom a couple of icon effects are printed to remind players during the course of the game.
These cards are exactly that...about the thickness of a quality card but the use of a matte/linen finish is very nice.
Image Courtesy of mrivera
Strength Cards - Another set of cards (same size and quality) act as the Strength Cards used to keep track of each wrestler's remaining stamina as the bout unfolds. These cards are double sided, with one side featuring a track that starts at 18 (4-player) and the other that starts at 21 (two-player).
These tracks take up the left-hand side of the card and on the right are listed the 6 icons on the Green Damage Dice. This table is used to reference the outcome of damage rolls.
Image Courtesy of halfshaft2010
Rules Discs - The rulebook is a nice colourful affair and it is very well written and easy to follow. 872