The Best Anime Board Games Are Made For Fun — And Strategy
There are two elements that make an excellent board game: fun and strategy. Anime board games have both of these elements in spades, making them some of the best multiplayer games available on the market today.
Those looking for a fun way to spend time with family and friends will find no shortage of anime-themed options to choose from.
If you want something truly unique, keep reading to see our top three anime board games — and how you can win against your competition!
How To Win at Tanto Cuore
Tanto Cuore is a competitive 2-4 player deck-building game that is sure to be a hit at your next gaming night!
As a player, you act as the Lord of a Mansion and hire different maids to fill your house, trying to become the best Master of the House. The goal of the game is simple: acquire more Victory Points than your competitors.
So how do you do it?
Avoid Cluttering Your Deck
Tanto Cuore follows the tried-and-true method of many deck-building games: using the cards in your hand to buy better and better cards. Eventually, you’ll be able to buy cards that will actually earn you points. In this game, the cards you’re buying are maids and the resource you’re using to buy them is called Love.
Throughout the game, you’ll employ a range of maid cards. These cards give you different strategies when you play them together. At every turn, you can hire more unique and gifted maids, and use their powers against your opponents.
However, only certain combinations of maid cards will work effectively — so you’ll need to be mindful of the cards taking up space in your hand. If you keep drawing cards you don’t want, you’ll clutter up your deck. The only way to fix this is by getting the correct combination of cards that work with the ones you currently have.
Implement Strategies Effectively
As you can probably tell, deck clutter will slow you down — and avoiding it will require a certain degree of strategy. You’ll have to think about what kind of cards you’ll need in order for you to earn as many Victory Points as you can, as quickly as you can.
Many beginner players get overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available, so your best bet is to start by finding a card that interests you. From there, you can devise a method that incorporates that card into your strategy — by acquiring cards that work well with it.
Don’t Get Distracted
That said, you’ll need to keep an eye on your competitors as you play — they can use their own cards to give your maids bad habits or make them sick. This will lower your Victory Points and hurt your chances of winning the game.
At the same time, try not to get distracted by other players’ actions or what you think they’re going to do next. This is one of the most common mistakes made by new Tanto Cuore players: they make decisions based on what others might do rather than making choices based on what they themselves need to do to win.
How To Win at Heart of Crown
Heart of Crown is another exciting deck-building game designed for 2-4 players. In this game, you take on the role of an influential figure in an empire rife with conflict. Your goal is to claim the throne as quickly as possible to unify the kingdom and bring peace to the realm.
There are several steps that go into accomplishing such a feat. You must nominate a princess for the title, garner support from the community, clash with rival candidates for the throne, and use your skills to get your princess her rightful place as ruler of the kingdom.
The game goes as follows: each player starts with the same deck of cards. You build your personal deck by adding and playing cards according to your own strategy. Throughout the game, players take turns to earn Succession Points. These points represent the support of your subjects and other influential figures in the kingdom. The first player to acquire 20 Succession Points wins the game.
It’s a lot, we know. So here are some strategies to get you started!
Beginner Strategy
Throughout the game, you will use Coins from your Farming Village to buy cards from the market and add others to your discard pile, thereby building a strong deck to support your princess on her path to coronation. There are seven main types of cards you can pull: Action, Attack, Curse, Defense, Princess, Succession, and Territory.
The fastest way to gain 20 succession points is to buy only Cities until you reach 6 coins. From there, stick to buying only the most expensive Succession cards. Once you have 20 Succession Points in your hand, you can start putting them in your domain. By following this strategy, you should win the game in about 17 or 18 turns.
If you’re new to Heart of Crown, this basic strategy is an excellent starting point— it’ll lay the foundation for future gameplay.
Advanced Strategy
This strategy is for advanced players who are familiar with how Heart of Crown works. As many experienced game players will know, crafting a strategy begins before the first turn takes place.
You can start by assessing the supply set you’ll be using throughout the game. This will help you figure out which princess you should support, how to support her, and what cards you should aim for to accomplish your goal.
That said, it’s important that you stay open and adaptable as you play the game. For instance, one of your competitors might buy the card you want before you have the opportunity to buy it yourself. Or, you may have poor luck on the draw and won’t be able to access specific cards. As such, it’s crucial that you know how to adapt your plan and strategy as the game progresses.
If you’re ever in doubt, fall back on the Beginner Strategy to get you through!
How To Win at Love Battle! High School
Last but not least is Love Battle! High School. This tabletop game is a dating simulator designed for 2-4 players.
As a player, you act as a matchmaker trying to get the protagonist of the game with your favorite girl. Following the initial game setup, you and your competitors will use a vote token to secretly choose between five female suitors for the protagonist.
As the game progresses, the girls gain Love on their Love Tracks, and players earn Victory Points. Whoever has the most Victory Points at the end of the game, wins!
Phase One: The Hero Phase
Throughout the game, you will get two phases on each of your turns. During the first phase — the Hero phase — you will move Hiroshi, the protagonist of the game, around the high school.
You’ll also have the chance to take action during this phase. The actions you can take include things like drawing girl cards for the next phase and kicking your competitors out of whatever room Hiroshi is in.
Phase Two: The Girl Phase
The second phase is the girl phase, where you’ll move the girls and play the girl cards you obtained in the Hero Phase. The girl cards all have different effects on the game, such as increasing Love, moving the girls around, and giving Victory Points.
There are a few other random effects that add variety to every game. This means that you won’t be able to follow a single strategy to win the game — so you’ll have to be creative with your strategy, without tipping off your competitors.
Time to practice your bluffing skills!
Closing Considerations
We hope that you’ve enjoyed our list of the best anime board games!
We know there are so many more out there, and we want to help you find them. So if you have any suggestions for other great anime board games for us to try, please let us know.
We’d love to hear from all of our readers about which ones they think are worth playing — and how to beat them, too!
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