Do you already know koala’s cousin, the wombat? The wombat is a marsupial from Oceania with a very strange characteristic. The wombat protects itself by waving its buttocks (literally and figuratively) and by marking its territory with poo. Not just any dung, because the excrement of a wombat takes the shape of a cube. The poop is shaped like this so it does not roll away easily and so the wombat can guard the territory easily. The wiggly buns of the wombat are also resistant to scratching and biting by predators or other natural enemies. These caca koala’s have a very aggressive ass apparently. Long story short: these cute and territorial creatures are combative and that’s exactly what players will be doing in Wombat Kombat. Fight and collect poo. Can you collect the most caca cubes and give your opponents a run for their money (and a run to the loo)?
Wombat Kombat is a simple card game where players collect sets of wombats, play action cards and attack each other to collect and steal poop. Each turn you receive new cards in hand and during a turn you can perform one action of your choice (if possible). Players can play cards as a set during their turn, play a food or predator (to improve sets of your own or weaken sets of opponents) or start a fight.
If a player wants to play a set, the cards in the intended set must have the same value/image. The value indicates how many cards of this wombat there are in the game and also how many points this set scores at the end of the game. To play a set, you must play more cards than another player who may already have this set (including yourself). You may not add cards to an existing set. If a set is played which is already on the table, the set must be discarded. Discarded cards result in minus points. Played sets may also trigger a special bonus action.
During a battle (players can only fight if their intended opponent has enough cards in hand) players choose three wombats from their hands. Players compare the value of the cards and roll the dice, adding the result to the value played. Players may still play action cards to influence the outcome of the fight. The winner places one of the used fighting wombats in the winner’s pile for extra points at the end of the game and also steals one of the losing wombats. The remaining wombats go back to their owner’s hand. The winner also gets poop (and this time it’s not negative!). After the fight, a die is thrown for an extra effect that affects the rules of the game and/or the scoring.
The game ends when there are enough sets of different wombats on the table. Players add up the points of their sets and poop and the most relieved player wins! Wombat Kombat is a simple card game for fans of take-that-like card games. Wombat Kombat combines take-that with set collection and hand management. Set collection is a simple and tactical game mechanism and the battles provide the necessary interaction. The game is therefore suitable for fans of, for example, Exploding Kittens. The game contains a large deck of cards including a lot of action cards. Because of this, the game is largely focused on luck. Despite the poop (and the level of my jokes), the (theme of) the game is not banal. It’s more suited to play in a light-hearted and casual setting where players don’t necessarily have to focus their full attention on the game. For the seasoned player or player looking for a quick game, Wombat Kombat can feel tedious due to the repetition of moves and the luck factor. Otherwise, the design is friendly and wombats are extremely cute despite their obsession with poo.
Wombat Kombat will launch on Kickstarter soon.
