BRAWL Variant: Beat

The way it works is simple; someone plays a song on the nearest musical device, and the game starts at the same time as the tune begins.

The trick to 'Beat Brawl' is to follow the beat of the tune; the game is played at a midpoint between Training and Tournament modes. Players take turn playing cards, but each play must be exactly on the beat with the song's tempo (this is often identified with the bass drum or other repeating, constant percussion in the current piece of music). This makes for a wildly accelerated Training mode, as one card is played per beat of the music -- each player has to draw his card, plan it out, and lay it down in the span of two beats.

Should a player miss the beat, however, he must stop playing and get back into the groove for at least one beat (thus letting his opponent get a couple free shots in) before resuming playing cards himself. Someone misses the beat if a card does not touch the table in sync with the song's beat -- it's possible to simply pick up a card off the discard pile and put it down again simply to keep the beat while pondering the next move.

Depending on the tune, it can make for very interesting games. 'Da Da Da' sets the mood for a more ponderous game, whereas any recent techno/dance tune (our group favors mixes and originals by Super Eurobeat) makes for a fast and furious game.

For the 'Beat Beat Revolution' double variant, have the players synchronize and play their cards simultaneously, each playing one card per beat (instead of alternating beats). If this variant- on-top-of-a-variant is used, however, we recommend either a very wide table or else card-catcher bins under each side as playing a Clear card in such a short amount of time results in card-shaped projectiles flying about.

Have fun! We'll do the same. :)

Sincerely,
Alexandre van Chestein