80 February 2019
PLAYED
much better. Every turn in Colt Express,
whether things went according to plan
or not, something exciting or hilarious
happens. Volt, while aiming to be more
strategy-heavy, occasionally forgets
it also needs to be fun; a mishap in
your planning can easily lead to a turn
ending anti-climactically with nothing
happening. is problem is particularly
prevalent in a two-player game, where
the players can easily spend several
turns dodging each other and not
progressing the game.
From its original release, Volt’s artwork
and component quality has seen a
massive improvement. e dreadful
greyness of Robot Battle Arena (the
name change is also for the better) has
given way to colours and beautifully
detailed minis showcasing the robot
designs. In its attempt to look better, Volt
may have even gone slightly over the
top – the practical purpose of the arena
pillars is questionable, but they do look
impressive when the whole game is
set up. It is the box insert that confuses
the most. It is nicely detailed and has a
variety of compartments of all shapes
and sizes, except very few of them seem
to actually t the game components,
which end up piled on top, the lid
unable to close properly.
Volt is impressive and disappointing
at the same time. It is loaded with
fascinating ideas and mechanics but
locks gears when it comes to their
execution. If you’re already a fan,
though, this revamped release has
done wonders to improve the look and
feel of the game.
ALEX SONECHKINAF
irst released with the subtitle
Robot Battle Arena in 2014, Volt
is Robot Wars in a board game
form. is new edition – now with just
the one-word title – has been tuned up
inside and out, with a shinier look and
updated mechanics.
If you missed Volt's rst outing, it
is an arena combat game. At the heart
of the action sits a programmable
movement mechanic; every turn,
players assign dice to control panels
hidden behind individual screens
before proceeding to execute all their
selected actions simultaneously.
e control panel is quite ingenious
in its simplicity and e ectiveness.
It allows for a variety of player
choices, governed both by strategy
and guesswork. e simple rules –
movement comes before shooting,
lower dice results activate rst – give a
structure to the game and make your
sequence of actions critical to get right.
Players earn victory points by, of
course, destroying opponents’ robots,
but also by occupying special areas
on the board. is means players will
spend the majority of the game trying to
anticipate each other’s movements and
sync their move-shoot actions to catch
opponents in just the right spot. is,
while not easy, is possible to do because
only a few victory point-giving tokensspawn each round, encouraging all the
players to head to the same place.
While programmable movement is a
very neat idea, what truly lifts the game
is the inclusion of modules. Essentially,
these are special powers that players
can attach to their robots to add a bit
of variety to how they move or shoot.
For example, one might turn their
lasers into a grenade launcher a ecting
not just one square on the board but
an entire area. Another might shunt
opponents o their square as your robot
moves past them. Modules bring some
much-needed chaos into Volt – there is
really no point playing without them.
Volt may con dently turn some of
its familiar opponents, like Robo Rally,
into a pile of cogs and screws, but its
electrical machines face sti competition
from a steam-powered predecessor.
Although complete opposites in terms
of theme and setting, Volt and Wild
West train-robbing game Colt Express are
actually very similar. In both, players plan
their actions to be performed at the same
time, causing a general chaos of hits
and misses. e glitch in the system is
that Colt Express handles its bedlamChaotic robot wars that are a bit hit and miss
VOLT
30-45m 2-4 10+ £44WHAT’S IN
THE BOX?
◗ Two double-
sided boards
◗ Four control panels
◗ Four robot
miniatures
◗ Four arena pillars
◗ Four monitors
◗ 16 dice
◗ Four screens
◗ 36 module cards
◗ Six AI cards
◗ Four championship cards
◗ Four robot cards
◗ 20 damage tokens
◗ 24 victory
point tokens
◗ 16 other tokensTRY THIS IF YOU LIKED... COLT EXPRESS
A lot can go wrong during a train robbery in the Wild West, but it is exactly that
chaotic gameplay that makes Colt Express so enjoyable. Volt’s offerings, despite
a different theme, are very similar but steer more towards strategy than fun.(^) PLAY IT? MAYBE
Very much like its own gameplay, Volt is
hit and miss. Its gameplay could do with
more explosions and less tinkering.
However, those who liked the original
Robot Battle Arena will find its latest
release much improved for the better.