Arena of Blood

Initial Impression: This miniature-agnostic game is a simple-to-pick-up gladiatorial combat game. For some reason, it gave me vibes from my days of playing Steve Jackson Games' Man of War from back in the 80's. The game's mechanisms flow really well, making for some simple but bloody combat. With its odd movement system, distances and positioning are abstracted. It almost makes one wonder why bother even using miniatures to represent the fighters. Overall, I was impressed by the game's design but less so of the experience. There are other minis games that I would prefer over this one.

Simple, fast and fun gladiatorial combat game. Does not need hexes or measuring, and you can even play it without miniatures, just with the cards. The card activation allows to play solo, keep the non-player character's cards covered and reveal them one by one.

A clever system (very similar to the one presented in Reiner Knizia's Clash of the Gladiators) for abstractly simulating gladiatorial combat.

At its heart, Arena of Blood is a card and dice game, not a miniatures game. In fact, miniatures are superfluous.

The rules and gladiator cards are unfortunately riddled with misspellings and/or typographical errors, but the game itself is smart, engaging, and fun.