Bloody Breakers is a 2-player microgame from Japan, designed by Ryusei Nakata. It is a game with just 16 cards. This seems to be a common format in Japan.
Box back
You have four types of cards in the game. There are four copies of each card type. Each card has a scoring criteria on the left and also an ability at the top right.
During the game both players will play cards into a common play area, which will eventually grow to become a 3x3 grid. When you play a card into the grid, you apply the ability of the card. For example you may swap the newly played card with an adjacent card, or you may take a card from your opponent's hand then give him a card from your hand. The four card types score differently, and the points they earn depend on their positions in the grid and the position of other cards relative to them. For example a wizard scores more points if he has many different card types surrounding him.
Eventually there will be 9 cards in the grid, and 3 cards in each player's hand. The 3 cards you have will score points for you. Throughout the game you will be manipulating the grid and how much the four card types score. As you do that you have to decide which cards to keep in hand by game end. You need to think about what kind of cards your opponent might be holding. You want to reduce the points of those cards.
Bloody Breakers is smart and quick. It is short, but not simplistic at all. I was a little sceptical at first, because I have seen several games with 3x3 grids, and I have also seen many games that have cards which score points in a similar way. Now that I have played it, I find it enjoyable. I like that during play you have to decide which factions to invest in, and you have to guess which factions your opponent might be invested in. It is possible to switch factions you support. The grid manipulation is a short and tight fight. You only have a handful of moves, and every card play is important. This is a compact game which is short but packs plenty of meaningful decision making.
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