Townsfolk Tussle Review

Townsfolk Tussle is the Vagrantsong no one seems to talk about.

2-5 Players 40-200 Minutes Age 14+

Designers: Stephen Louis, Tony Mayer, Rachel Rusk

Artists: Stephen Louis, Tony Mayer, Rachel Rusk

Publisher: Panic Roll

Townsfolk Tussle is a game I wasn’t aware of until after it’s release. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy from someone who was selling theirs on and I was pleasantly surprised with the final experience. The game shares the same 1930’s inspired cartoon style that has enjoyed something of a renaissance thanks to games like Cuphead and the afore mentioned Vagrantsong, a board game that has more than just its art style in common.

Glorious artwork in a well produced package.

The game itself is a boss battler in which the sheriff of Eureka Springs has been mysteriously (and thoughoughly) murdered leaving the floodgates open for all manner of ragtag ruffians to march into town, stirring up trouble. But the residents of Eureka Springs aren’t having it, no sir! Players take on the roles of these eclectic residents to battle the baddies to their town and along the way, one of them may be “promoted” to the role of sheriff.

Townsfolk Tussle oozes with humour, softening an otherwise violent concept with lashings of charming artwork, kooky characters, tragic villains and eye-rolling puns. There are even a couple of ruffians I felt bad beating the tar out of, that didn't stop me from doing it of course, I’m just saying I felt bad, right up until their body exploded with loot like a juicy piñata!

The Bundits’ character board.

Speaking of loot, this is another point in Townsfolk Tussle’s favour, there are a lot of equipment cards in this game, and I do mean a lot! So much loot in fact that after spending ten minutes attempting to rage-shuffle a stack of cards so high that I couldn’t fit them in my hand, I ended up taking only a third of the deck for our entire play through, which incidentally, is way more than enough. The generous number of character options, equipment, town events and rare or unique items coupled with the random enemy roster increases replayability immensely. There are even secret unlock able items in a little mystery box!

The game is played over four rounds, with each round consisting of progressively challenging “boss fights” culminating in the big boss in the fourth round. Each round begins with a town phase where players can buy items from the peddler before heading to the fight. Then we move on to the fight phase where, you guessed it, a fight happens! The players work co-operatively to bring down each ruffian, often using the quirky terrain to their advantage. Which brings me to one of my favourite elements of Townsfolk Tussle. Each map is set up according to the individual ruffian’s character board. Terrain elements, such as a river, fences or a barn for example are positioned before play, each terrain piece has an associated terrain card which explains how it may be interacted with. For example, the barrel maybe searched for a useful item, the haystack can be used to hide while the wishing well allows a character to toss in coins in return for chance of gaming loot. Other terrain functions as obstacles, creating an arena where those who use the lay of the land wisely may gain a significant advantage. the first two fights were we largely ignored the terrain ended up badly for all players, it was only when we stopped running up to the ruffian and trying to go toe to toe opting instead to use the objects around us did we find the battle beginning to swing more in our favour.

Introducing Norman Fishboy. Guess what he’s into….

Each character has unique abilities that can often be terrain dependant as well, for example one character can throw a fish at the ruffian to deal damage providing he’s adjacent to a water source like the river or the pond. Each character has four stats that determine their play style, these being health, movement moxie and accuracy. The first two are pretty self-explanatory. Moxie functions as action points, allowing you to use various weapons or other equipment or to interact with terrain moxie reset each turn but if you only have three moxie to spend each turn it really makes you think how about your strategy. Accuracy determines your modifier to hit when attacking so investing in items that can increase this would be advantageous.

Defeating a ruffian results in the players gaining access to their unique loot that can be sold or equipped during the town phase between each battle. Some box items can even be acquired and equipped during a battle with the villain is dealt a suitably impressive blow. While the game doesn’t allow for trading items between characters as part of the core experience, there is an optional rule that allows players to trade freely during the town phase. I highly recommend playing with this rule as it not only makes sense thematically, but optimising your character allows for more meaningful decision making and allows players to feel more invested in their characters. Optimising their equipment to function as a more efficient team can be half the fun at times.

The game comes with beautifully detailed minis as well as double sided full colour standees of all the heroes and ruffians if you prefer a more 2D cartoon experience or if you simply want to add more colour to your game without the hassle of painting minis. The inclusion of the Gametrayz storage system makes set up and break down a breeze and the card box includes art-filled dividers to sort everything, though if you plan to sleeve your cards I recommend removing the plastic insert from the box as you’ll need the additional space.

Yes, one of these is actually a hero.

The rulebook is well designed and easy to use. Finding a desired rule is effortless and the layout makes sense, adding to the ease of setup and allowing you to get straight to the fight with a minimum of fuss. As is standard these days, there is a handy one sheet reference guide on the back cover of the rulebook as well as individual double-sided player reference cards to further facilitate gameplay.

Final Thoughts

Townsfolk Tussle is a ton of fun in a big box worthy of the love and care that has gone into its development. While it offers a similar gameplay experience both thematically and artistically to Vagrantsong, the two games differ enough that I wouldn’t have any problem keeping both games in my collection. Though I do feel that the terrain elements add a greater level of depth to the gameplay here. When is is said and done, Townsfolk Tussle delivers exactly what I was looking for in this game, over the top boss battles, awesome loot, memorable characters and most of all, that element of carefree where-did-the-time-go fun that always brings a game back to the table for me!

A typical day in Eureka Springs.

Have you played either Townsfolk Tussle or Vagrantsong? What did you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below, and as always, if you have any recommendations for future content you’d like to see featured on Above Board, feel free to email me at aboveboardnz@gmail.com.

Take care!

Brian