Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
Rome, 1253 AUC: The Republic and the Empire thrive. Arenas dot the landscape.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Read the full game description
Rome, 1253 AUC: The Republic and the Empire thrive. Arenas dot the landscape. Warriors from lands both known and unknown perform upon the sands for the chance at freedom, riches, and eternal glory. Many choose this life, some are condemned to it -- they will face men, beasts, and creatures of myth, all for the favor of the crowd. Arena Rex is a table-top miniatures game of gladiatorial combat. Battles of 3 to 8 combatants per side are recommended, and take approximately 30 to 40 minutes to play. Simple, intuitive rules offer myriad tactical possibilities. Maneuver and arena terrain play key roles in the game along with a fatigue-based activation system that twists a traditional round structure in new and exciting ways. Arena Rex is a world inspired by the most exciting eras of antiquity. The myth, hearsay, and superstition that riddles accounts of these periods is pervasive, and key historical changes lead to a setting that is both familiar and incredible. The Roman Republic endures, as does the Gallo-Roman Empire. The kingdom of Aegyptus is a tributary of the Roman Republic and ruled directly by an Antonian king and Ptolemaic queen. The Atlantic is not the barrier it once was, and men from the twilight lands of the north and natives of the far west join in commerce and warfare. The year is 1253 AUC and this is not the world you know.