Daniel (@dungeondive) reviews Wastelandia, a solo and co-op boss battler from designer Drew Williams with art by Re Bermudez — a dice-pool brawler set in a “kids on bikes” post-robot-apocalypse where teenage friends defend their neighbourhood with pogo sticks, lawn darts, and rocket skates. Drew happened to live a couple of miles away and handed off the review copy over coffee.
A full game is four battles drawn from a battle book, with a survival rate printed at the top of each that drops alarmingly fast: 98% at battle one, around 30% by battle three. In between, a loot phase pairs an item or weapon with a reward and dictates turn order for the next fight. Players roll five D6 (up to seven) and assign them to character powers, weapons, items, and the three universal abilities — heal, courage, and power-cube replenishment. A shared track of twelve power cubes funds rerolls, and a junk-pile expansion catches stray sixes.
The standout mechanism is fear: a cumulative dial on every hero and baddie that adds to damage dealt or taken. Stacking fear on a Clank Bot turns a one-damage stick into an eleven-damage swing. Daniel praises the comical theming, the tight four-battle arc, and the combinatorial depth of character/item/weapon ordering — though he warns that battle three really does try to kill you.
How important is theme to you in a dice-pool boss battler — would Wastelandia’s “kids on bikes” framing pull you in, or do you prefer your dice rituals dressed in cloak and dagger?