Re;Act – The Arts of War Review: Strategic Depth Meets Fighting Game Energy | The Gamerheads Podcast

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One of the things I love about PAX is that it doesn't just spotlight the latest in video games—it also highlights new and innovative board games. At PAX East, I had the chance to try Re;Act – The Arts of War, a strategy board game heavily inspired by modern video games. I also received a review copy to take home, and I’ve been playing it with my family. We’ve been having a blast, even if I haven’t managed to win many matches.

One of the things I really love about Re;Act—there’s much more depth here than it first lets on.

Re;Act is a one-versus-one game where each player chooses from seven unique characters (with an eighth available through an expansion). Each character plays so differently that the strategy for winning a match depends heavily on both your choice and your opponent’s. This adds a ton of replayability—no two games ever felt the same. Even when I stuck with the same character (I kept gravitating toward the Dancer), I kept discovering new strategies and ways to improve. That’s one of the things I really love about Re;Act—there’s much more depth here than it first lets on.

The gameplay in Re;Act feels pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it, but I’ll admit, during my first match, I was a bit lost. The goal is simple: deal three damage to your opponent. On my turn, I draw a card and then play an Intention card—the move I want my character to perform. My opponent can then respond with a Reaction card (hence the name Re;Act), and I can respond to that reaction, and so on, until there are five actions stacked in a queue. Once the chain is set, we resolve the actions in reverse order—starting with the last card played and working back to the original Intention.

This reversal often changes everything. In most of my matches, my original plan didn’t play out the way I intended because of all the counteractions along the way. Each character I control on the field can also perform an Intention move during my turn. Once I’m out of Intentions—or decide not to play one—the turn passes to my opponent. Even card management becomes strategic, as holding onto the right Reaction cards can make or break your response on their turn.

Once I complete my Masterpiece, my character Ascends, flipping over their character sheet to reveal powerful new abilities. It’s essentially an overdrive mode that can deal serious damage.

The other main aspect of the game is completing my Masterpiece—a set of three cards that I can play either at the start of my turn or as a character’s Intention. Both players have three Masterpiece cards, but with only five available slots on the board, there’s strategy involved in deciding when—and where—to play them. Once I complete my Masterpiece, my character Ascends, flipping over their character sheet to reveal powerful new abilities. It’s essentially an overdrive mode that can deal serious damage. After a short burst of enhanced power, the character Descends back to their normal state..

Games move along pretty quickly—I didn’t play a single match that lasted more than thirty minutes. At the start of some games, I expected them to drag out, especially when playing against my daughter. We’d often spend the early turns dodging each other across the board, trying to stay just out of range. But even with that back-and-forth, matches stayed fast-paced and engaging.

Everything from the thick, sturdy board to the individual character boxes, which neatly hold each character’s unique cards and tokens, feels well-crafted.

The other thing I want to mention is the quality of the game. The game pieces are top-notch—everything from the thick, sturdy board to the individual character boxes, which neatly hold each character’s unique cards and tokens, feels well-crafted. But the real standout is the art. It’s heavily anime-inspired and absolutely pops, even in the basic set I received. The Deluxe edition goes a step further with plastic stand-up character pieces that look fantastic on the board.

Final Grade: B+

Fans of strategy and fighting games will find a lot to love in Re;Act – The Arts of War. The gameplay does take some getting used to, and I’ll admit it felt a bit overwhelming at first—especially with how different each character plays. Fortunately, the game includes a complexity rating for each fighter, and I found that starting with a lower-complexity character was the best way to ease in. After a few sessions, I felt more confident experimenting with the more challenging ones. If you’re a fan of one-on-one games like chess but want something with more flair and variety, Re;Act – The Arts of War is definitely worth checking out.

Review copy provided by Brother Ming Games