The Modes of Mayhem: Different Ways to Play with the Mayhem System

In our last article, we discussed the Mayhem System and how it incorporates the unique settings of the Looney Tunes and Teen Titians GO! universes. Today, we look at the various modes of play within the Mayhem System and how players can utilize the diverse cast of characters for new play experiences each time a Mayhem game is brought to the table.

Each Mayhem game comes ready to play right out of the box – this is the Standard Mode. Pick a box, set up the tiles for your board, create your team using characters from that universe, draw your Mayhem cards based on your team’s maximum hand size, and start the Mayhem! This mode can be played with 2, 3, or 4 players.

– In a 2-player game each player controls a team with 2 characters.

– In a 3-player game 2 players play as single team, each controlling 1 character, against the 3rd player’s team, who controls 2 characters.

– In a 4-player game 2 teams are formed with 2 players, and each controls 1 character.

But, what about a cross-over episode with improbable teams? Or what if both players want to use the same character? What if I want to build… the MOST POWERFUL MAYHEM TEAM IN THE UNIVERSE?

The Mayhem Competitive rules are made for players who each have their own collection of Mayhem characters and want the ability to plan out their teams and strategies before coming to the table. In a competitive game, players can pick any 2 characters from their own collection to make up their Mayhem team. This means that both teams could enlist the very same character! However, a team cannot be formed by two copies of the same character.

They also can pick any Mayhem cards they want for the match. The only restriction is that the same team cannot have 2 of the same Mayhem cards in their hand. Other than that restriction, any character or card from that player’s collection can be used, and that means both teams could end up having the same Mayhem cards on their hands.

After players choose their team color (Black or White), they can take the counter-bases, dice, activated ability markers, Traps/Stun and tokens of their color directly from their box.

Any other token/element needed for play, like the board tiles, special tokens and special cards, must belong to one of the two players, so no mixing components!

Players can create the ultimate team-up they’ve always dreamed of right on their tabletop. Being allowed to pick their team and cards ahead of time, Competitive mode players can expect a much more fast-paced and ferocious game than normal. Given that competitive games play faster than normal, they are played as best of 3 matches with additional rules so players can swap out characters or Mayhem cards between games.

But what about the lone wolves out there? Those players who aren’t afraid to do it alone but still want to cause some Mayhem! Maybe a Battle Royale is more their style…

The Free-for-All Mayhem is a 3-player game alternative where players pit their favorite character against each other in an arena-style rumble as the stage collapses around them.

Each player controls a single character and battle it out against each other and the game itself until only 1 is left standing. With a limited number of Mayhem cards and no Victory Points given, chaos is the main goal. Oh, and watch out for the traps you place on the board, because no one (not even you!) is safe from them.

As characters battle it out in the Free-for-all area board, one additional special character (determined by the box/setting being played), that doesn’t belong to any of the players will spin around the board causing damage to characters. Each player may move the special character at the start of their turn. In addition, if they manage to damage the special character, activate him and deal damage to the players in locations around the character. Not enough Mayhem? Don’t worry: by the end of each Round, one tile is removed from the board, so there’s no way to avoid confrontation!

Savvy players will push this whirling engine of destruction away from themselves and towards their unfortunate opponents, but once let loose, these characters are out of control and will just as easily damage you as your opponents. Once a character is KO’ed, they are out, with the game ending when only one character (other than the special one) is left on the board.

You can join the mayhem now! The Animation Collection is up on Kickstarter now. Head on over and pledge to get some more mayhem in your life!