Folklore-themed boss battler with deck-decreasing mechanic
1–2 players * 45–90 min. * 10+ years
(Note: Some of the content shown in this video has since been updated.)
Game material
- 4x 30 hero cards
- 4 player boards
- 12 boss overviews
- approx. 15–25 action cards per boss
- 1d6 die
- 1 coin of destiny
- 6 health markers, 4 armor markers, 4 special ability markers
- 16 check marker tiles
Game idea
“Sacrifight” is set in the world of German folklore and is a solo/cooperative, quickly set-up boss battler with a novel card-sacrifice mechanic – a “deck decreaser”: In each run, the players fight three bosses with one of 4 unique heroes, including terrifying figures such as the Tatzelwurm, Rübezahl, or the Headless Horseman. During a game, your deck containing 30 cards shrinks both through sacrificing your own cards (in order to play more powerful cards) and through attacks by the bosses.
Only through skillful card management do the players keep enough cards to win in the final boss fight. Tactical finesse, cooperative planning, and mutual support are required. “Sacrifight” is “easy to learn, hard to master”.
Unique and important features and mechanics:
- New card-sacrifice mechanic: Players must play weaker cards and then sacrifice them in order to be able to play stronger cards. In this form, sacrificing cards has not yet appeared in the board game world.
- Deck decreasing: Deck-building was yesterday! Players must get through 3 fights with a deck of 30 cards – and continuously lose cards during the 3 acts. A completely new game experience that requires tactical approaches.
- Quick set up: In contrast to other boss battlers, “Sacrifight” is ready to play after 3 minutes.
- Limited card spaces: Slots for playing cards are located on four sides around the boss – and are limited. So players must pay close attention to how many cards they play – and above all, where! Because the bosses can attack cards on the board and in your hand (!) and send them to the graveyard forever.
- German folklore: Fantasy, pirates, aliens – it has all been done before. German folklore does not yet appear like this in other board games. To be continued? Why not! For example, with Asian or South American folklore.
- Exciting boss fights: Both the card decks and the abilities of the bosses are very strongly based on the background story of the respective folklore figure. This means every boss fight requires its own tactic. And there is a rage mode. Roar!
- High motivation: The variety in the mechanics of the numerous bosses, the rogue-like learning effect the more often you play against the bosses, as well as the many hero combinations ensure high replay value.
Game setup:
The game starts after a minimal setup phase: Each player receives their hero’s 30-card deck and player board. Three bosses are selected for the run and the first boss character card with the corresponding deck is placed in the middle of the table. The heroes’ life points start at 15, and the bosses’ are adjusted to the number of players. The players sort their deck into bronze, silver, and gold cards and shuffle the respective piles. Once the order has been determined, each player draws 5 starting cards.
The fight begins – game flow (short version):
The active player has 2 actions. Valid actions are:
- Play a card into a slot (for silver and gold, a card already in play must be sacrificed).
- Draw a card from a pile (bronze, silver, gold).
- Rescue a card in play into the backpack.
After the players, the boss acts by resolving its boss ability and revealing a card from its deck. If the boss is defeated, the heroes receive loot cards, which are added to the deck. Cards that were not rescued pause for the next round in the backpack. The life points are set to 15, a new boss is selected, and the next act begins.
End of the game:
In Sacrifight there is only victory or defeat: As soon as the 3rd boss has been defeated, the players win the game together. As soon as one hero dies, the players lose the game.
Download rules here: