Hours at the arcade can now become hours on the table top with Way of The Fighter, a new game from Ninja Division Publishing and designer Ben Yamada. This product is rich with artwork evocative of arcade fighting games, designed with a strategic, deck-building engine combined with dynamic dice rolling for an experience that will take you back to the world of button-mashing, martial arts action! This two-player, expandable game pits an exciting cadre of fighters against one another in an arena where good strategy and lucky rolls can help one follow the Way of The Fighter.

Expandable in multiple ways, Way of The Fighter offers players a choice of characters to take to the arena and what techniques and skills they’ll cultivate. Released as separate collections of fighters, Way of The Fighter: Super and Way of The Fighter: Turbo both give players five characters for battling action. Players can also choose to combine Super and Turbo for a four-player, 10-character, tag-team rumble! More expansions will be released offering players even more variety and options when choosing characters for the battle.

Characters have diverse backgrounds and styles of fighting that impact not only the strategy of how the game is played, but the gameplay itself. Players can choose the brutal and straight-forward style of Alberdus, bringing the hard style of Pankration from ancient Greece to fight in the Five Winds Tournament. Or, perhaps, a softer style, like that of the petite Lumi, imbued with the Yin and Yang forces of spiritual might, will be more to a player’s liking. All of the characters of Way of The Fighter Super and Turbo, and those of the expansion decks, come with a rich background and a variety of deck building that will only continue to grow and evolve as players explore the abilities of each fighter.

Building decks for attack, defense, and special abilities lies at the core of Way of The Fighter. A fighter’s deck contains 46 cards in all, including a character card, one fighter pack consisting of one block and two copies of six fighter actions, and four different style packs, each with two copies of four technique actions. Way of The Fighter Super and Turbo provide ready-made fighter decks primed for new players to leap straight into the arena. More experienced players will enjoy the customization that’s possible by switching up style cards with other fighters of similar styles. This allows for a vast customization experience for deck builders who want to perfect each of the individual characters. New characters will only add to the fun as they’re introduced in expansion decks in the wake of the release of Super and Turbo.

Each character will bring unique storylines and styles to the action of Way of The Fighter. Whether players prefer the hard-luck story of Faris who escaped a tragically broken home in France to find a mentor for fighting and parkour in his Uncle, the voodoo priestess of Jamaica who wields the darkest of magics seeking vengeance for her sister, or the mysterious and most likely inhuman origins of the childlike Lumi, every match will bring unique challenges, powers, and skills to the battle. The cards reflect the experiences and training that characters received before arriving to the Five Winds Tournament.

The characters, cards, and arena itself are all done in a style reminiscent of the classic arcade fighting games of the past. It will seem as if an arcade game of old has been brought to life before a player’s eyes as they choose a character, build the deck, and then prepare to face off against their opponent. The card standees, or the highly-detailed resin miniatures available soon, come to life as players become fighters seeking ultimate victory.

But, it’s not just the strategy of the cards that impact the outcome in these combats. You can dish it out, but can you take it? Way of The Fighter incorporates a dice-rolling engine using two sets of dice — Core Dice and colored Power Dice — which are rolled for speed of attack, damage, and to track the players’ health and vitality. If the fighter is knocked unconscious and loses the bout, they can come back to fight another day, and, hopefully, learn from the experience to improve the strategy of the cards and hope for more favorable dice rolls.

Again and again players will build decks, choose attacks, customize their style of fighting, and go to battle in the Five Winds Tournament. If they train hard and prepare themselves to throw down with the best of them, they can begin to travel the Way of The Fighter.

Lawrence Jones is the Marketing Manager for Ninja Division Publishing, LLC. An avid fan of martial arts and gaming, he is right at home with the Ninjas.