Kapow! Volume 2 review— More corny onomatopoeia!

Here it is, the long-awaited follow-up to my Kapow! Volume 1 review, the review for the aptly named standalone expansion Kapow! Volume 2. So what’s in a box? All the dice, faces, boards, and screens to play the game again, along with six new characters and components to play the 4-player team game. So let’s talk about the team game right quick before I get into the meat and potatoes of my review: each player picks their character, both teams add their characters’ health totals into one super dial for each team, and get 4 team-up cards apiece. Teammates sit next to each other and coordinate their planning phases which are mostly unchanged with the exception of the team-up cards, which function as extra places that require a die from each teammate. Players now also have to decide which of their two opponents they’re targeting with their attacks. Each player’s board, dice, and faces are all separate, but the health is fused, which feels strange to me. Yeah, it’s a duel game adapted to play four, but you’re not constantly reminded of it like in games like Rebellion or War of the Ring; it’s a quality game mode. The real killer here is that playing the four player game requires mixing the dice and faces from both boxes, and separating them both out again to play twos. I only played Kapow! At four players for review, so it’s just a matter of it not being worth the hassle for me, but hey, the guessing game of who’s attacking who is another layer of what I loved from my original review, so it may be for you.

As far as the characters go, there’s a clear reason why this is Volume 2; while 1’s characters were straightforward generalists, 2’s either require a bit more finesse or push you into a specific playstyle. Except for Crescendo, who does the whole whole “it’s okay that my stuff is pushed because I give my buffs to my opponent too” thing that is always actually overpowered, but I’m fine with that cause he’s a great character to toss to a new player as a handicap. Even a beginner can tell you use the ability to efficiently buff both sides’ defense when you only care about defending, and vice versa for attack. I’m not going to be too harsh though, ‘cause Volume 2 has some of my favorites as well.

See below for our list of partners and affiliates: