- BGG rank
- BGG #29,878
- BGG rating
- 5.1
Simpsons Trading Card Game
- 2–5 players
- 20 min
- Complexity 1.4/5
- 2003
- BGG rank
- BGG #18,172
- BGG rating
- 5.9
Fightball
2002
Rules assistance for Fightball
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 20 min
- 12+
- Complexity 2.1/5
Rules assistant for Fightball
For 2 players
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Fightball is a board game released in 2002 for 2 players, 20 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by James Ernest and Mike Selinker and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers and Pattern Building.
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About the game
In the all-too-distant future, a bunch of people play a dangerous sport called Fightball, and James Ernest wrote a game about it. The setting is the streets of the future — not the real future, but the crazy apocalyptic future we all know and love. In this particular future, gangs of street thugs have (again) become enamored of the world of modern professional sports. Unfortunately, they have no real idea of how these modern sports were played, besides what they can guess from old photographs and what they know about the sports of their day. If all future sports use multiple balls, surely so did the sports of the twentieth century, right? And even if they didn't, they should have. Thus was born Fightball, a weird version of basketball with at least three balls — maybe more, we're not sure — two goals, and extremely violent gameplay. The sport is played on the streets and overseen by flying robot referees, and it's played by the weirdest assortment of folks you're likely to see in a game. Basically, Fightball is like basketball. Players build a "court" out of 24 cards and play four rounds. The play is fast and furious, with each player playing as fast as he can. When one player reaches the "BUZZ" card (at the bottom of the deck) the round is over. Now, players score each location on the court, looking for a sequence of cards starting with a player, then a ball, then a shot. Other cards, like blockers, can affect the quality of the shot. Some shots succeed, and are worth points. Others fail, and are worth nothing. The highest score at the end of four rounds wins the game! Fightball was released as three sets of double decks, and any two decks can be played against one another.
Designers
Publishers
- Cheapass Games
Questions and answers
Fightball supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Fightball is 20 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Fightball for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Fightball has a complexity rating of 2.1 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Fightball belongs to these categories: Card Game, Fantasy, and Real-time. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers and Pattern Building. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Fightball are: James Ernest and Mike Selinker. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Fightball as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.