Cry Havoc Board Game

Cry Havoc is a card-driven, asymmetric, area control war game set in a brutal, science fiction setting. Each player commands one of four unique factions with varying abilities and units. The game includes 54 custom miniatures, a large format board, and over one hundred unique cards, all with stunning new artwork.

Cry Havoc, the latest from Portal Games, is a tabletop standout defined by savagery. A tight sequence of battles set on a cramped map, the game sees aliens fighting over resources a la James Cameron, but the plotting here is more satisfied than anything Avatar could offer. Plenty of games force little plastic figurines to duke it out within constricted cardboard arenas, but this game feels different.

Each of Cry Havocs four groups humans, machines, psychic slugs, and trolls in space brings strange and powerful abilities to the table. But, again, plenty of games have distinct factions and asymmetrical warfare. Still, the game feels different.

Why is that? Because Cry Havoc earns its Shakespearean invocation of a title by making war into more than a series of odds-driven clashes. The combat mechanic is odd but bold, a grand melee defined more by depth and tension than by chaos.