Tabletop Game Review: Love Battle High School

Love Battle High School

Japanime Games

Playtime: 40-60 Minutes

2-4 Players

In just about every anime, one question usually reigns supreme within the fandom: Who is the best girl?  Why not take that question, do a little shipping with the protagonist of a harem, and then apply it to a board game instead? If you do that, you’ll get Love Battle High School, a harem dating simulator that can be played by 2-4 players on the tabletop.

In Love Battle High School, players act as matchmakers, working to get the protagonist of the game with their favorite girl. After a brief set up period, players will use a vote token to secretly choose between five suitors for the protagonist. Throughout the game, the girls gain love on their respective love tracks, and players will get ki (victory points) at the end of the game as a bonus for choosing the girl with the most love. Whoever has the most ki at the end of the game wins. Of course, choosing the right girl isn’t the only way to gain ki. There are achievements throughout the game that players can acquire on their respective turns. Players will gain ki throughout the game when they reach these achievements.

Throughout the game, players will get two phases on each of their turns. There is a hero phase, where players will move Hiroshi, the protagonist, around the high school. They may also take actions during the phase. These actions include location-specific events, drawing girl cards for the next phase, and kicking girls out of the room Hiroshi is in. There is also the girl phase, where players move the girls and play the girl cards they acquire during the hero phase. The girl cards have various effects, like increasing love, moving the girls, and even giving players ki.

After every player has done their turn, the game will proceed to the next phase. A few other mechanics then go into the game, like meddling characters and character conditions. These affect the protagonist and the girls in various ways, altering how players will approach their turns. The random-effects add some variety to games, ensuring that players can’t stick to a single strategy to win.

It shouldn’t be surprising that anime fans are the target audience for Love Battle High School. Everything about the game has that aesthetic that anime fans will instantly recognize. From the art to the tropes, Love Battle High School fully embraces its theme. This is a great thing, especially if the entire group of players is familiar with harem anime. My group found ourselves laughing at the various scenarios and characters throughout our playthroughs. It’s all very referential, and I love that this game wears its inspirations on its sleeves.

Of course, if you aren’t an anime fan, you won’t get nearly as much out of Love Battle High School. It’s a fine game with some enjoyable mechanics, but it doesn’t do anything extraordinarily well. Players who don’t know about the various tropes and references could still certainly have fun, but just know that a lot of the game’s value will be lost to them.

One thing that Love Battle High School does exceedingly well is making a game about deception fun and accessible. Usually, these kinds of games are tense, high stakes affairs with high skill levels needed. This game feels accessible to all skill levels, but still awards those who are great at bluffing. Players will need to hide who they chose as best girl, because failure to do so will result in other players easily sinking her relationship with the protagonist. Players will need to work in favor of their chosen girl without being too obvious. It’s thrilling and finding a balance is incredibly satisfying.

The game also contains quite a bit of mature content, so that should be kept in mind. Overall everything is probably suitable for mature teenagers and older. The girls are highly sexualized, with tons of curves, panty shots, and innuendos. This game isn’t for children or those who aren’t a fan of oversexualized anime girls. Most of the game’s target audience won’t mind the fanservice, but it’s worth warning about.

The components of Love Battle High School are solid. The best-looking part of the game is the fantastic board that looks like a high school. There are various references to school supplies throughout the board and cards, which absolutely helps to immerse the player. The cards are of fine quality, and so are the cardboard cutouts of the characters. Overall the package is huge, with a massive box, board, and rulebook. The components are certainly worth the price of admission.

Love Battle High School is a solid game full of fanservice, deception, and great moments. It likely won’t be loved by those who don’t care for anime, but everyone else should at least enjoy the novelty of the game. Harem fans will have a ball with this one, so be sure to check it out.

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