Shadow Rivals

Like I was saying before: I see Moideas, I buy without much thought, and then I sit down to discover what I actually got. Shadow Rivals is exactly that kind of case, with a theme so strange that it is hard to ignore.

Here, “gifted”—yes, busty—female thieves break into houses for loot and roses. I am not even going to try to make sense of that theme: it is pure roflcopter. The art also goes hard for an xx-kawaii aesthetic, so the game has a very specific, almost outrageous presence on the table.

At its core, though, Shadow Rivals felt to me like Smash Up, but with more room for strategy and counting. Its basic logic is familiar: I use the options available to me to build up my side and go after whatever is worth taking from the houses.

The difference, for me, is that it is not enough to simply throw things onto the table. You need to count your moves and the value of the loot and roses more carefully, while contact with the other players comes through that shared contest. I did not see it as random silliness; it has more deliberate decisions than I expected.

I liked it quite a lot, despite the theme that kept making me raise an eyebrow and the excessively kawaii art. I definitely want a few more plays before giving a complete opinion, but so far it is an enjoyable, more strategic variation on a familiar formula.