Titan: The Arena
Theme: 8 Creatures battle it out while players bet on the winner.
Company: Avalon Hill
Type: Card
# of Players: 2 - 5 (Best at 4)
Grade: 
 

Ken says: Well, what can I say about a game I've played over 50 times. For ease of learning, player interaction, as well as a big "sweat factor", Titan: The Arena has it all.
   Each game begins with eight creatures. Each creature has it's own power which may be used by players who have bet the most on it. Players begin the game with eight cards, most of which are creature cards of varying strength (0 - 10). You can only play a Hydra card on the Hydra creature for example. There are also Spectators cards (again, 0-10) which may be played on any creature, but you cannot use it's power.
   There are also two referee cards, which allow you to pick up any strength card of a creature. And a Head Referee card which can be used to guess the Secret Bet of any creature picked. Anyone with a Secret Bet on the chosen beast must reveal it and place it above that creature's card.
   There are five rounds of combat. Each round ends when one creature has the lowest strength card on it. When that happens, it is eliminated and the next round begins. When three creatures are left the game is over and the number of bets placed on the survivors is tallied up. Whoever has the most points wins.

Pros:  This is simply the best card game I have ever played (Wrasslin' is a close second). The secret is to play three games in a campaign. This evens out the luck factor as it allows players who scored poorly in the first game to come back and win.

Cons:  None really, a truly remarkable game.

   We like to keep records here in Indian Territory.  So here is our stats.  Each campaign is three games with the totals added.  Inactive players are those who no longer live within our township.
 

Players	Wins	Losses	Avg. Points/Game	Total Points
Ken	26	39	27.73	1803
Rex	11	31	26.61	1118
Robert	2	24	21.57	561
Ross	13	36	24.93	1222
Mike L.	7	31	24.97	949

Inactive Players	Wins	Losses	Avg. Points/Game	Total Points
Mandy	0	17	18.82	320
Michelle	2	15	21.52	366
Mike H.	2	8	25.40	254
Ozzy	6	12	27.94	503

Head to Head:

Players:	Ken	Michelle	Mike	Ross	Mike H.	Ozzy	Mandy	Rex	Bob	Overall
Ken	-	13-1-1	19-13-3	24-20-1	5-2-2	5-9-1	10-4	22-16-1	19-5-1	117-70-10
Ross	20-24-1	7-5	15-7	-	2-1	5-8-1	10-2	14-14-3	15-4-1	88-65-6
Rex	16-22-1	2-1	9-4-2	14-14-1	-	6-8-2	10-2-1	-	14-8-1	71-59-8
Robert	5-19-1	0-2	2-4	4-15-1	1-0	0-9-2	3-1	8-14-1	-	23-64-5
Mike	13-19-3	9-4-1	-	7-15	6-4	2-4	6-3	4-9-2	4-2	51-60-6

  Inactive Players

Players	Ken	Michelle	Mike	Ross	Mike H.	Ozzy	Mandy	Rex	Bob	Overall
Mandy	4-10	0-2	3-6	2-10	0-1	1-1	-	2-10-1	1-3	13-43-1
Michelle	1-13-1	-	4-9-1	5-7	0-2-1	2-1	2-0	1-2	2-0	17-33-3
Mike H.	2-5-2	2-0-1	4-6	1-2	-	-	1-0	1-1	0-1	11-15-3
Ozzy	9-5-1	1-2	4-2	8-5-1	-	-	1-1	8-6-2	9-0-2	40-21-6

 

  Titan:The Arena Records
  Highest Score:                                 40 Tie: Ken & Ross
  Lowest Score:                                    4 Ross
  Most Consecutive Victories:           4 Ken (thrice)
  Most Consecutive Scores:              4 Ross (27)
  Fewest Losses Until Victory:          0 Robert*
  * (minimum number of games to count: 3)