War Chest
- Players
- 2-4
- Best withThe player count this game plays best at.
- 2 players
- Play timeHow long a full game runs once everyone knows the rules.
- 30 min
- AgeThe minimum age printed by the publisher.
- 14+
- ComplexityHow demanding the rules are, from 1 (very light) to 5 (very heavy).
- 2.3 / 5
- Year
- 2018
About the game
War Chest is a bag-building abstract wargame where you draft a roster of unit coins, then draw them from a bag to command troops across a grid battlefield. Managing which units are in your bag versus deployed on the board is as crucial as the battles themselves, since exhausted units must cycle back before you can use them again. Playable as a tense 1v1 duel or a team battle up to four, the goal is to plant all your control markers on key points before your opponent does. Its clean abstract presentation hides real tactical depth in troop and resource management.
Hobbli's Notes
War Chest impresses with how much tactical texture it wrangles out of an abstract, minimal-component design: the bag-building mechanism forces genuinely tough decisions about resource cycling versus board presence. It plays quickly for a strategy title and scales well to a team format for four. Because it's abstract, players wanting strong theme or narrative may find it a bit dry, and the variable player powers mean some banner combinations feel stronger than others.
What we like
- Bag-building mechanism creates meaningful resource management tension.
- Scales well between two-player duels and four-player team play.
- Quick 30-minute playtime for a strategy-heavy game.
- Clean, easy-to-transport components.
- High replayability from drafting different unit combinations each game.
Keep in mind
- Abstract presentation may feel thematically dry for some players.
- Some unit combinations can feel stronger than others.
- Requires careful attention to bag contents, which can slow new players down.
Who it's for
Best for strategy-minded players ages 14 and up who enjoy tight abstract wargames, playing as a head-to-head duel or 2v2 team battle.
