This year’s GeekDad Game of the Year involved some wrangling over schedules, but last weekend, we finally got together to play through our nominees. This year it took place at my home in Sacramento, California, where I was joined by Jonathan Liu, Paul Benson, and Michael Knight. We played through all ten of the finalists in record time, and I came away pretty pleased about this year’s batch of finalists. As always, we try to have a breadth of games so there is quite a mix: a couple of fun party games, an app-based game, a few gambling games, and several heavier titles.
While all 10 games were very strong nominees, and while we all enjoyed playing all of them, the biggest stand-out for us this year was Light Speed: Arena, designed by Tom Jolly and James Ernest and published by Tablescope, with illustrations by Marco Salogni.
We’ll share our thoughts below on what we love about Light Speed Arena. You can also read Jonathan’s review here for a more detailed look at the game.
Jonathan H. Liu
As I mentioned in my review, Light Speed: Arena is based on an old favorite of mine (Light Speed), but with revamped components, mechanics, and artwork. The biggest difference, though, is the introduction of the app. Now, instead of spending ten to fifteen minutes carefully extending the lasers to see what ships they hit, realizing that you left out an earlier ship and have to redo some shots, and accidentally bumping a card so that suddenly a laser is no longer aligned, you just hold up your camera, take a photo, and—zap!—the app calculates all the angles and firing order for you, and you get to sit back and watch the laser battle play out.
I’m not always a fan of games that use apps—depending on how they’re integrated into the game, they might replace parts of the game that I’d prefer to be analog (who wants to roll dice by swiping a screen?) or they may have things that feel redundant, like a copy of the game board. What I’m looking for in an app is one that handles things that humans can easily mess up or that are tedious and not actually an important piece of the gameplay itself—so the scoring in Light Speed: Arena is a perfect fit for that. And for those who simply prefer to do things old-school, you’re in luck: the optional Analog Downgrade Kit gives you some elastic bands and damage tokens so you can still score it yourself the original way.
App aside, what I always loved about this game is its pace, which requires a tricky balance between speed and accuracy. You don’t have time to optimize every shot, to make sure that every laser from each ship is hitting the best target. Sure, it’s a waste of a 3-point laser to shoot at a base that only has one health left, but the alternative might be that nobody gets around to finishing it off. Do you play offensively, trying to blow up as many ships as you can? Or do you try to play a little defense, placing your ships so that their shields absorb some damage and perhaps keep your base alive a little bit longer?
The revamp also included all of the faction powers and special asteroids, and I love the amount of variety included even just in the base game. The fact that you can just let the app figure out all the scoring variations is the icing on the cake.
Light Speed: Arena is for the little kid in you who loves “pew pew” laser battles, and the little kids (and big kids!) that maybe you’ve got running around in your house as well.
Paul Benson
As anyone who has played board games with me already knows, I’m not a big fan of real-time games. Cuphead, a real-time game, was a finalist a couple of years ago for our GOTY, and Jonathan and Rob still tease me about the groans that playing that game elicited from me. I generally find real-time games just too frantic for my tastes, and more frustrating than fun so I stay away from them.
Having a real-time game in our finalists this year with Light Speed: Arena brought out its share of PTSD from Cuphead, and I admit I wasn’t looking forward to seeing this one hit the table for our playthrough. But Light Speed: Arena was just so darned fun, it swiftly became the exception to my “no real-time games” rule.
One of the things that I enjoyed about Light Speed: Arena was that gameplay was brisk, but not frantic. Yes, there’s an element of chaos in there as everyone is trying to position their ships at the same time, each with only 10 seconds to do so. You’re trying to line up shots to hit enemy ships or bases, and hopefully avoid accidentally shooting your own ships. Guess what: you’re probably going to shoot at least one of your ships at some point!
At its heart, the game is simple to teach and play, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t strategy. Even at its most basic mode, you have three different-powered weapons, distinguishable by color. Your ships each have a different initiative, and knowing which round they shoot in can also be important when placing them, as you’ll want to try and make sure a ship that goes in one of the later rounds will survive long enough to activate. And you can even choose to play with asymmetric player powers to add more variety.
I’m a fan of app-assisted board games when they truly enhance the game, and aren’t just a gimmick. With Light Speed: Arena, the app works almost like magic: you take a photo of the play space after everyone has placed all their ships, and then the app is able to determine which ships shoot each other each round, and in what order. It even led to a discussion about the possibility of casting the screen from the tablet to a big television, to really make the battle with its visual and audio effects even more entertaining.
Light Speed: Arena is a fast, fun game that’s sure to please even a curmudgeonly hater of real-time board games like me, and I’m happy it’s our choice for Game of the Year.
Michael Knight
The weekend we played all of the finalist games was the first time I played Light Speed: Arena. Like most real-time games, at first it seemed somewhat chaotic. Like Paul, I usually like taking my time to strategize a game. With only a few seconds to place each of your ships, I had to forgo careful aiming and just try to place my ships so that my lasers could hit something. What really amazed me about this game was the app. It takes a photo and then does all of the calculations for hits and scoring. I don’t know how many times I have had to use a straight edge, string, or even laser to check line of sight and line of fire in other games. That can take a lot of time and it really slows down a game. The app does it all incredibly fast and I like how it lets you see and click on all of your hits. After the scores from our first game were revealed, I immediately wanted to play another game.
I have played other games that use an app and some work well while others are just a gimmick. However, the app for Light Speed: Arena truly improves the game and makes it much more accessible. In fact, it takes a good game and makes it into a great game. This game is easy to teach to new players and is probably best taught by playing a first game. When I think of a game worthy of GOTY, I want to pick a game that makes me happy while I am playing it. That may sound corny, but I want a game that is fun to play. Light Speed: Arena meets that criteria. As we played, I was laughing and smiling whether I won or lost. In fact, I put it into my phone to order it when I got home. Not only do I want to share it with my family, but I know the tabletop game club at the school where I teach will love this game and I can’t wait to play it with them as well as use it as an example for my video game design class.
Alex Hart
For someone like me who is constantly lamenting the board game industry’s insatiable appetite for sameness, Light Speed: Arena feels like a breath of fresh air. It has a novelty that pushes the boundaries of what a board game can be while never losing sight of its ultimate goal: pure, unadulterated fun. And not just fun for your typical game night crew either! I’ve played Light Speed: Arena with my five-year-old son before bedtime, with newbies at my community game day, and with hardcore gamers (for cash!) at a friend’s Casino Night and it has been a hit every single time. It’s hard to find a game these days with that level of versatility, but Light Speed: Arena has that in spades.
One of my favorite parts of introducing Light Speed: Arena to new folks is the different phases of realization that players inevitably go through as they discover what this game has to offer. During the teach, I often have a lot of raised-eyebrow skeptics—folks who have been burned by real-time games before or that are having a hard time visualizing what’s about to happen. I always assure them that if they don’t like it, the game will be over in 80 seconds anyways!
Then once the countdown begins, I see the panic set in. What were the rules again? Where am I supposed to put my ship tiles? And how do I win? But as the starting chime sounds, all thoughts immediately vanish from behind their eyes. The players revert to their baser instincts, grunting, groaning, and jockeying for position, as their brains race to simulate infinite scenarios in 10-second increments.
And then just as soon as it started, the game’s over. Relief washes over their faces as they try to process what just happened. But wait – there’s more! Someone brings out their phone or tablet and starts to scan the playing field and suddenly, the frenetic energy of the game is replaced with curiosity and awe as the Light Speed: Arena app expertly recreates the drama of an epic space battle in the span of just a few minutes. The players watch with wide eyes as lasers blast through hulls and laugh when both the lasers and the hulls inevitably belong to the same player. And the whole table cheers as the fireworks go off to celebrate the winner! And then—and this is how you know this game is good—you hear the player who was most hesitant to jump in at first say, “Can we try this one again?”
Light Speed: Arena is a special game. It’s the perfect mix of strategy and chaos, of physical and digital, and in my opinion, it stands in a league of its own. So if you’re looking for a game that’s fast-paced, tons of fun, and versatile enough to get to the table no matter what situation a GeekDad might find themselves in, then might I suggest: Light Speed: Arena!
Rob Huddleston
Jonathan first introduced me to Light Speed: Arena on the first evening of OrcaCon back in January, and I was in love with in before I even finished the first game. I had the chance to play it again a few more times that weekend, and ordered my own copy as soon as I could. Since then, I’ve brought it out at every game night (and even a few other gatherings) and I have yet to encounter anyone who didn’t also love it.
From the simplicity–it takes just minutes to teach–to the fast-paced game play, the game itself is a sure-fire crowd pleaser.
But then, the app. I’ve always been a bit hesitate to embrace app-based games. A few timer apps out there add a bit of atmosphere with songs or music, but Light Speed: Arena is one that truly stands out. Watching the app scan the table, and then work through the scoring of each game in just a few seconds, is everything a companion app should be. It takes what’s already a great game and makes it ever greater.
A well deserved win for a truly great game, and I can’t wait to continue introducing more people to it.
Once again, congrats to the Light Speed: Arena team for creating our Game of the Year, and a round of applause for all of our other finalists for some excellent competition for the crown!
