In Lazarus Rising Games' modern revival of the classic card game, OverPower sees players assembling a team of 4 characters and building a custom deck containing associated Special cards for their team, numerical Power cards, and other tactical actions.
Each character possesses a "power grid" which defines their proficiency in the areas of Energy, Combat, Brute Force, and Intelligence -- represented by a numerical value from 1 - 8. Characters also have a Threat value which determines how many points they count towards for assembling a legal team less than or equal to the maximum point threshold. Some characters may also have Inherent Ability text which affords the character an additional, ongoing effect.
The game is played across shared rounds, where players draw 8 cards, encounter various Events which change the landscape of the impending battle, and can strategize by "placing" a number of cards to each of their characters as a way to save them for future battles and build card advantage. Battles consist of alternating actions between players, where the active player makes an attack from one of their characters to an opponent's character, using either cards from hand or placed cards. Attacks then open a response window for the opponent who can choose whether or not to defend the attack. Then, priority is passed to the next player who can make an attack or even concede the battle. A character can be knocked out of the game should they receive 20 or more points of damage, or hits with 3 or more of the 4 power types (Energy, Combat, Brute Force, Intelligence). At the end of the battle, the total value of successful attacks is calculated to determine the victor of the match.
A unique aspect of OverPower is the Venture system. Each round prior to the battle, players must wager a number of their 7 Mission cards, which function similar to poker chips, based on how confident they are that they'll win the upcoming battle. The winner of each battle, determined by how many successful points were scored by their team, then wins the number of Mission cards they wagered at the start of the round. Players can win the game either by knocking out all of their opponent's characters, or by successfully advancing all 7 of their Mission cards.
—description from the publisher
Bluffing, Card Game, Comic Book / Strip, Fantasy, Mythology, Science Fiction · Betting and Bluffing, Once-Per-Game Abilities, Push Your Luck
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