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Gamehelplegendsofthearena
Legends of the Arena is an intense brawling game inspired by Super Smash Bros., published by Toth Games. On Board Game Arena it plays 2 to 4 players (the printed game plays 2 to 6, and 1 with the Solo expansion). Each player takes on the role of a unique Legend with their own deck of action cards and a game-changing Ultimate. Every sequence, everyone secretly picks three action cards. The cards are revealed one exchange at a time and resolve from the fastest Speed down. Every hit adds Fatigue, and the more Fatigue a Legend carries, the farther the next blow sends them flying. Shove your opponents off the edge to knock them out of the Arena!
This page is a quick reference for the BGA adaptation. The full rulebook is at tothgames.com/LotA_Rulebook.pdf and the official rulings at tothgames.com/games/loa/faq/.
Game modes on BGA
- Teams (2 or 4 players, so 1v1 or 2v2): two teams that share Stocks, one Stock per team in 1v1 and two in 2v2. Each Knock Out costs the victim's team a Stock, and a team with no Stock left loses. Teammates can see each other's hands.
- Free-for-All (3 or 4 players): every Legend fights alone, and the first player to score two Knock Outs wins. Nobody is eliminated: a knocked-out Legend comes straight back.
- The printed game also offers 3v3, 2v2v2, the Chaotic Colosseum variants and solo play against CPU Legends. Those are not on BGA yet, and neither are the Legends Olivia and Orion.
The Arena
The Arena is a line of seven spaces: an Edge at each end and five playable spaces between them. In Teams each team starts on its own portal space facing the center; in Free-for-All everyone starts on the center space. Several Legends can share a space, and Legends in the same space always face each other.
- Ending a move exactly on an Edge triggers Edge Recovery: the Legend turns to face the center and moves one space back in.
- Being pushed (or moving) past an Edge is a Knock Out.
Your deck
Every Legend has their own deck:
- Basic cards (black border), about six per Legend. Step, Dive and Defensive Pivot are in every deck, and most Legends also carry Back and a ranged Shot or a close-range Smash or Punch, but the rest is the Legend's own: Lord Grym's Zombie-raising calls, Zephyr's Build Momentum, Sabo's Over Here, Tikkit's Better With Time. Basics start in your hand and return to it after every sequence.
- Special cards (silver border), three per Legend, shuffled face down into your Meter (draw pile). Once played they go to your discard pile.
- Ultimate card (colored border), one per Legend, at the bottom of the Meter (Lucius has one per form, stacked). Once played it is removed from the game.
A sequence
- Draw. Draw the top card of your Meter. If the Meter is empty you may first shuffle the Specials from your hand and discard pile into a new Meter (the game asks you).
- Choose three actions. Pick three cards from your hand, in the order you want them to resolve, and confirm. Everyone chooses at the same time. Tikkit also adds an Edit on top of his stack (see his entry below).
- Three exchanges. In each exchange every player reveals their next card at once. The cards resolve from the highest Speed to the lowest; equal Speeds resolve in Initiative order, starting with the player who holds the Initiative token. Then all Push tokens are resolved (see below).
- Recovery. Basics return to your hand, Specials go to your discard pile and a played Ultimate leaves the game. A new sequence begins.
Strikes, Block and Fatigue
- Strike X at range R hits the nearest foe you are facing within range R. Foes in your own space can always be hit.
- Remaining Force = the Strike's Force (plus any bonus) minus the target's Block this exchange. Block lasts the whole exchange and is never used up. A Strike that is fully blocked still counts as a hit for card effects, but does nothing else.
- If any Force remains, the target takes 1 Fatigue (whatever the Force) and receives Push tokens: look up new Fatigue + remaining Force on the target's own Push track. Fatigue is capped at 10 and does not go away between sequences.
- Targeting tie-breaks when several foes are equally close: in Teams the foe with the lowest Speed this exchange is hit, then the one with the lowest Fatigue; in Free-for-All it is the lowest Fatigue first, then the lowest Speed. If they are still tied, the striker chooses. The same order picks the "furthest foe" for Dive.
Push and Knock Outs
Push tokens point in the direction the striker was facing. At the end of every exchange:
- Tokens pointing in opposite directions cancel each other in pairs.
- The Legend slides one space per remaining token.
- A Legend that lands on an Edge recovers (turns to the center, steps back in). A Legend pushed past an Edge is Knocked Out.
A Knocked Out Legend returns to its portal (its team's starting space, or the center in Free-for-All) facing the way it was facing when it went out, and may then Turn. In Teams its Fatigue resets to 0 and the Knock Out costs its team a Stock. In Free-for-All it comes back with 2 Fatigue, the Knock Out is scored by the last foe who put a Push token on it, and a Legend that walks off an Edge on its own simply returns to the center, keeping its Fatigue, with no Knock Out scored.
If both sides are knocked out in the same exchange, the side with fewer Knock Outs that exchange wins; if that is equal, the side that pushed a foe furthest past the Edge wins.
Initiative
One player holds the Initiative token. When Speeds are tied, the holder resolves first and the others follow in Initiative order. Dive and some Specials take the Initiative.
Common Basic actions
| Card | Speed | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Step | 95 | Block 1 against foes you face. If next to an Edge, turn to face the center. Move 1 forward. |
| Dive | 90 | Turn to face the furthest foe. Move to that foe's space. Take the Initiative. |
| Defensive Pivot | 80 | Block 2. You may turn. |
| Back | 65 | If next to an Edge, turn to face it. Move 1 backward. You may turn. |
| Shot | 50 | You may turn. Strike 1 at range 1 or more. |
| Smash | 50 | Strike 3 at range 0. |
| Punch | 50 | Strike 2 at range 0. |
Each Legend's own cards are listed with their full text in the card gallery at tothgames.com/games/loa/cards/, and in the game every card has a tooltip.
The Legends
- Alysia, Unrelenting Warrior (low complexity): a swift brawler who charges into the fray and demolishes her opponents with a flurry of blows; the best defense is a good offense. Specials Wind Up, Whirling Leap and Relentless Cleave; Ultimate Carve a Path.
- Fitz, Culinary Crusher (low complexity): a heavy brawler who is difficult to push and challenging to escape. He may not land the first hit, but he often hits back harder. Specials Link Up, Tenderize and Gluttony; Ultimate Big Feast.
- Hilda, Prima Donna (low complexity): the operatic star dominates from a distance, lining up devastating attacks like her crushing chandelier drop, repositioning at just the right moment or freezing her foes in place. Specials Spotlight, Enter Stage Left and Shattering Soprano; Ultimate Chandelier.
- Lucius, Duel Nature (low complexity): a monster hunter who became the thing he hunted. As a human he is a patient sharpshooter; when the wolf takes over he closes the distance in a flash and tears through foes in melee. His cards have a side for each form (Draw/Claw, Aim/Maim, Fight/Bite) and he carries two Ultimates, Sharpshooter and Bloodrage.
- Zephyr, Dune Dancer (medium complexity): the sandboarding champion propels herself with dazzling speed, dodging attacks and frustrating her foes at every turn. Specials Ride the Barrel, Frontside 180 and Crash In; Ultimate Send It.
- Sabo, Ninja Grappler (medium complexity): wielding a chain, he pulls foes into his grasp and sets up precise melee attacks, while his Spike Trap fatigues any foe who moves onto it. Specials Spike Trap, Flying Punch and Tether; Ultimate The Dragon Unchained.
- Lord Grym, Regal Necromancer (high complexity): he rarely engages directly and instead summons waves of disposable Zombies. Zombies are ally fighters with Speed 6 that share his facing; a Zombie that takes Fatigue flips to a Coffin, and he raises them again just as fast, wearing opponents down through relentless pressure. Specials Arise, My Champions!, Bury Them! and I'll Do It Myself!; Ultimate Coffin Flop.
- Tikkit, Temporal Agent (high complexity): a time-traveling agent stranded in the present. Besides his three actions, every sequence Tikkit adds one Edit card on top of his stack. Edits have no Speed: in the first exchange the Edit is revealed together with the card beneath it and resolves before anything else, rewriting how the sequence plays. Double Time makes his Step and Back move an extra space all sequence; Perfect Timing collapses all three of his actions into the exchange of his fastest card; Quick Fix (his Special) has him draw after the first exchange and then every player adds a fourth card to their stack; Let's Do That Again (his Ultimate) replays the whole sequence in reverse with everyone else only blocking. His other Specials are Bullet Time and Right About Now.
On Board Game Arena
- Your hand is at the bottom of the screen. Click three cards in the order you want them to resolve, then confirm; Tikkit picks his Edit first. Teammates see each other's hands.
- The resolution of an exchange can be stepped through card by card, or left to run.
- "You may" choices, the facing after a Knock Out and Quick Fix picks are asked as they come up.
- Hover a card or a token for its full text. Each player panel shows the Legend's Fatigue and Push tokens, so you can read what the next hit will do.
- Tie-breaker for the final ranking: fewer Knock Outs received, then having pushed a foe furthest from the Edge.