Understandably, most new games seem focused on balance and indirect competition. It’s surprisingly hard to find light-to-medium weight games that pit you against each other in a combat free-for-all in an hour or less, where every game is different enough to be replayable. King of Tokyo is my only game like this. I never got a copy of Wiz-war but it seemed similar, though reportedly not as well implemented.
I suspect the secret ingredient in these games is the smorgasbord of variable powers that come out in different combinations every game. I have Cosmic Encounter and it almost fits the bill but it’s more of a social-engineering game IMO due to the negotiating.
Any titles come to mind? Or am I about 15 years too late?
Adrenaline is pretty good game for running about and hitting people with a wide variety of weapons and effects. But it does have mechanisms to balance it and discourage ganging up on one player.
That said, the expansion has a team mode that has you play all 6 characters, split into two teams. There are rules for a team being controlled by 1-3 players, so a 2 or 3 vs 1 game is easy enough to set up.
Cutthroat Caverns is a game where screwing each other over is the entire point. There’s a recent anniversary edition that has improved rules and better art, etc.
If you mean a game where they can delight in ganging up on you to take you out, there is Survive: Escape from Atlantis where they can move whales, sharks, and sea monsters around to gobble up your meeples. Wonderfully fun take-that style game.
Unmatched may be another good fit, as there are free-for-all rules, so your kids could go after you before turning on each other. Card based duels between legendary characters, and a variety of IP’s. Would recommend starting with Battle of Legends Vol. 1 if you go this route, as the characters are pretty easy to grasp and if you get more sets later, you can appreciate the increase in complexity. Also, don’t play as Medusa yourself. She’s one of the strongest characters (well, in 1-on-1 matches anyway).
I’d like to suggest Starcadia Quest. It’s faster than Arcadia Quest to set up and play. There’s monsters on the board to fight as well as each other so it avoids the classic 3 player issue. Characters respawn so no need to get too salty and so everyone gets to play all the game and exploding 6s is a fun swingy mechanic in this context. The main issue is post kickstarter getting the extra campaign stuff is expensive but the core campaign is nicely replayable as you can mix up characters and equipment each time.
My favourite “Punch Your Friends and Family In Their Big Stupid Faces” games are, in no particular order:
Tsuro (quick, elegant, and bloodthirsty… but also critically, fast. A full round can take as little as five minutes and seldom more than ten. Vitally important for any game with player elimination)
King of Toyko (you already have it, 'nuff said)
Disney Villainous (solid, albeit a little too complicated for my personal tastes, but great asymmetry between the options for players and fantastic artwork)
Boss Monster (my “favourite” of the Take That!-genre, although that’s not saying much. The best thing about it, compared to other “classics” like Exploding Kittens, Killer Bunnies, Munchkin, or Fluxx, is the consistency in length… most games of Boss Monster take 30-40 minutes and rarely more, whereas games of those others can last anywhere from 5 minutes to 2 hours)
Flick 'Em Up! (dexterity based, and I would never recommend it for more than 4 players and it is definitely best at 2, but very satisfying… could try Catapult Feud for something newer, but I’ve never tried it)
Star Wars X-Wing or Star Wars Armada (massively expensive, moreso for Armada, but gosh are they fun… and almost all prepainted too! X-Wing may be the best “Open Box, Start Playing” miniatures game ever made, honestly, and the 2nd edition that’s out now is really pretty solid… I still like Armada better, but that’s just style)
If you’re looking for more strategic options, I would suggest Dune (with 4 or more players, no good with fewer), Cry Havoc (my 2nd favourite knife-fight-in-a-phonebooth, and the only one currently in production… get Forbidden Stars if you can find a copy, it’s sublime), Unmatched (not super strategic, but really beautiful and lots of back and forth), Summoner Wars (imagine Magic the Gathering… but well-designed and fun), Ashes Rise of the Phoenixborne (ibid, but with dice so a bit more chaotic and random), or Dice Thrones (honestly, I was whelmed by it… not underwhelmed, not overwhelmed, just whelmed… but customers keep asking for it, so maybe I just missed some of the magic in it).
WIldlands or the 2000AD variant Judge Dredd: Helter Skelter might be worth a look. They’re dudes-on-a-map skirmishing games, driven by card-play and hand-management. They support up to 4 players; and while it’s “every player for themselves” there’s no reason why multiple people couldn’t cooperate in the interests of taking down Dad as a first point of order : )
I can’t really tell whether these would be a good fit or not (for starters they’re not pure slug-fests – you can get points from non-combat actions too; and there’s no “smorgasbord of variable powers”… player factions differ, but in the same ways every game), but I’ll throw it into the mix as something else to investigate.
