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?
Contra: The Board Game is a 1-4 player card and dice driven strategy/action board game based on the classic video game and designed by Adam and Brady Sadler.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Action Points
Spend a limited allowance of points across several possible actions each turn.
Deck / Bag Building
Add new pieces during play to improve the cards, tokens, or dice drawn later.
Cooperative Game
Players coordinate their actions toward a shared objective and win or lose together.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Modular Board
Build the play area from interchangeable sections that vary between games.
Read the full game description
Contra: The Board Game is a 1-4 player card and dice driven strategy/action board game based on the classic video game and designed by Adam and Brady Sadler. Inspired by the classic Contra video game, players take on the role of iconic commandos that must survive dangerous stages and face off against huge bosses as they strive to take down the mysterious Red Falcon organization. Focusing on quick, modular gameplay, Contra lets players choose which commando decks they want to pit against which boss decks, all within a tactical stage map driven by a stage deck. Gameplay involves hand management, dice mitigation, and an elegant control point system that lets players gain the advantage over their foes. Gameplay utilizes the highly acclaimed MDS (modular deck system) from Street Masters, Brook City, and Altar Quest, by Blacklist Games, LLC. This allows a player to pick a commando’s unique deck, select a stage, then select an enemy to create a unique scenario that gives players a multitude of combinations and re-playability. —description from the publisher