All Time Wrestling: All or Nothing Board Game Review

Anyone who grew up in the ‘90s like I did knows the WWF (as it was called back then, before the World Wildlife Fund won the trademark dispute) was all the rage among kids. So, while I opted to get my spandex fix with Power Rangers, I still had enough folks in my circle to know who the Macho Man and the British Bulldog were. While ATW’s subject matter may not be a big selling point for me, its balancing act of managing your resources and knowing when to push your luck kept me coming back round after round.

In ATW, much like in actual wrestling, players attempt to exhaust and weaken each other, with the end goal being to pin their opponent and take home the win. Each selectable wrestler – including legends like Macho Man Randy Savage and the British Bulldog, alongside ATW original characters – features unique abilities and varying levels of health and stamina, which adds some lovely variety to the game and helps keep matches exciting from one to the next.

Combat plays out with the player holding “initiative” playing cards from their hand and rolling dice to deal damage. Successful hits push the Momentum Track in that player’s favor, replicating the crowd hyping up the wrestler. The higher the momentum, the easier it becomes to land hits and gain other bonuses, which incentivizes continued aggression. Initiative only switches when an attack misses, the defender blocks, the defender uses their once-per-game “Reversal” ability (which instantly stops the combat), or the attacker voluntarily passes to regain some stamina and cards.

Between the different attack bonuses and the ability to combo cards together, there is a pleasant amount of depth and strategy in ATW without being overly complex. What I found most interesting, though, is how initiative is handled – it’s done in a way I haven’t encountered in other games before. I really enjoyed this “press your luck” approach, and it made managing my hand of cards, stamina, and momentum more exciting. It often left me with a tough choice: do I push hard and risk leaving myself in rough shape for a chance to cinch a pin, or do I pass and forfeit the attack to try and weather the next assault, hoping I’ll be in a better position to strike back?

On the topic of cards, this is perhaps where my biggest issue with ATW lies. Instead of relying on text, the game heavily uses symbols and icons to denote things like damage, stamina requirements, special attributes, and other modifiers. As a general rule of thumb, if a game can employ icons, it should – so long as they are both readable and not overwhelming. Luckily, I never found there to be too many icons to decode in ATW, but the readability leaves a lot to be desired.

The action cards, which you use the most, feature colorful artwork of various wrestlers performing everything from jabs and punches to German suplexes and signature moves. However, this can make picking up on all the symbols more of a hassle than it should be – especially if you’re on the receiving end and viewing them upside down or from a distance. More than a few times I encountered situations where finishers or dice modifiers were missed, or cards were mistaken for others, due to duplicate artwork being used for attacks with different stats. Perhaps it’s because of my long history with games like Magic: The Gathering, but I wish the information was presented atop a slightly opaque background, rather than directly over the art. It’s not a finisher on the game, but it’s certainly a bit of a jab to the chin.

The core game box offers players plenty of value and flexibility, providing not only standard 1v1 matches but also a tag-team-based 2v2 mode, a cage match variant with new rules, and a solo campaign mode that lets you improve your wrestler as you progress. The automated systems in solo mode are fine, but admittedly, as someone who has never quite gotten into solo board games, I spent far more time playing against others than diving into ATW’s campaign.

As for tag mode, the inclusion of specialty partner abilities and the ability to tag in my friend to continue combos added an extra layer of choice and strategy. Still, it didn’t quite hit as hard as the core 1v1 mode. Even with the new tag mechanic, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this mode simply adds more players at the expense of having more downtime, since only one attacker and one defender are active at any given time, with partners outside the ring. It’s still fun and led to some awesome team-up moments with friends, but I personally prefer the more intense, head-to-head two-player experience.

For those wanting to dive even deeper into the All Time Wrestling universe, the creators continue to release new expansions – fully compatible with existing content – that add legends like Sgt. Slaughter and the Junkyard Dog, alongside new game modes like four-player free-for-alls and three-player-specific Triple Threat matches.

All Time Wrestling is one of those games worth checking out even if the wrestling theme doesn’t grab you. With games clocking in at under 30 minutes for two players and around 45 minutes for tag teams, it’s a great filler during game nights or something compact enough to take to a bar. I’d love to see this system adapted for other themes – like a shonen anime (think Dragon Ball Z) or something Power Rangers-inspired. There’s a surprising amount of depth here, while still being approachable for players of varying board game experience – even those coming to it purely for a love of wrestling.

With All Time Wrestling, Cation Arts delivers a dramatic and faithful representation of the wild history of wrestling in a package that will delight fans of head-to-head games, regardless of whether you know what a DDT stands for or not.

Where to Buy

• Get it at Amazon
• Get it at Cation Arts
• Get it at The Wrestling Collection