HomeTabletop/Card Games"Slash" Plays Matchmaker With Heart and Funny Bone In Tact

"Slash" Plays Matchmaker With Heart and Funny Bone In Tact

"Slash" Plays Matchmaker With Heart and Funny Bone In Tact

Everyone fantasizes about hooking up characters from one world with people from another. The realm of fan fiction is filled to the brim with these what-if scenarios, with millions of people reading them on a daily basis. Leave it to the guys over at Games By Play Date to create a card game surrounding itself with this kind of storytelling.

At the Boston Festival of Indie Games last week myself, Pandalicious, and the Fleming brothers of Wicked Anime stumbled upon Slash: Romance Without Boundaries. We sat down to give it a go, thinking we'd only play it for just a few moments before moving onto the next tabletop game. Those few moments turned into a 70-minute play through that left us with sore bellies, big smiles, and $25 less than we had before our hands were dealt.

Slash card game 2

Slash: Romance Without Boundaries can have three or more players going head-to-head with seven to ten cards dealt to each of them, using the power of their imaginations to their advantage. The first to ten points wins the game, or you could just play until everyone passes out from laughing (whichever works for you). As there are many characters in the starter pack you'll probably come across some that you've never heard of, in which case you can just toss them aside for new cards. There's no penalty for doing so, so no worries if you find yourself stuck with a bad hand.

The game has two different ways to play. The first, or the easiest way, is for one player to throw down one character, with the others trying to find the perfect date for them. For example, I threw down The Last Unicorn, and the rest of the players tried their best to win the heart of the cult animated favorite. With all the choices laid out, I made my pick: the Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. My reason was simple: not only could the Scarecrow be loving and supporting, but in those dire times he would be able to feed the Last Unicorn with the straw he was made of.

The second way of playing Slash is indeed the most fun. A player will create a scenario with their chosen character, and the rest have to come up with a story with their pick that best fits with said scenario. In one round Andrew Fleming threw down Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and simply asked who would be best to eat pizza with them. My pick was Godzilla, because not only does he like eating pizza, but also pizza restaurants. One other player, who took the round, went with She-Hulk, going into a very elaborate story as to how their pizza-hood led them towards the path of love.

Slash: Romance Without Boundaries is a real winner in the card game realm. With a huge foray of characters to play and nearly 80,000 pairings to create Games By Play Date's title is certainly going to be a huge hit at parties, social gatherings, and even cool-down times at business meetings. In short: either buy this game or download the free PDF without hesitation, and prepare yourself for the liveliest, most imaginative get-together you can fathom.

4.5 star rating

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The J-POP king of America, Evan has been bringing the hottest sounds of the Land of the Rising Sun to the English-speaking public since his college radio days. He's also an expert in the gaming, anime, & manga realms, never afraid to get critical when the times call for it. Born & bred in Boston, he achieved his biggest dream yet by making the big move to Tokyo, Japan in Summer 2023! For personal inquiries, contact Evan at evan@b3crew.com. For press/band inquiries, write to us at thebastards@bostonbastardbrigade.com. (Drawing by AFLM of Wicked Anime)