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?
TV Wars is a game of television network battles for ratings. Each player plays one of four semi-fictional TV networks, and the goal is to end up with the most money when the game ends (which is either when only one network is left on the air, or when certain tiles run out).
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Auction/Bidding
Bid against other players to determine who receives an item, action, or priority.
Simultaneous Action Selection
Choose actions secretly or concurrently before revealing them together.
Tile Placement
Place tiles to build a shared or personal spatial arrangement.
Secret Unit Deployment
Place or assign units secretly before their positions are revealed.
Read the full game description
TV Wars is a game of television network battles for ratings. Each player plays one of four semi-fictional TV networks, and the goal is to end up with the most money when the game ends (which is either when only one network is left on the air, or when certain tiles run out). Players move pawns around a standard square-track board, with spaces that trigger various events -- drawing an event card, auctioning off a new TV show or star or academy award movie, or triggering a ratings war. During a ratings war, players lay out the tiles representing their prime-time line-up of shows and movies, along with bonuses for stars and reviews. Shows with the lowest ratings in their time slot are cancelled, and when a network has no shows left, it goes off the air and the player is out of the game.