Summons Board review: Chess and Dragons

GungHo Online Entertainment’s hit Puzzle and Dragons (Pazu Dora) is a hard game to follow. The puzzle game beautifully combines different gameplay mechanics from a multitude of genres in one well polished mobile game. It’s a combination that was hard to pull off in the first place. Yet Gungho is hoping to recreate the magic of Pazu Dora in its new title, Summons Board, for iOS and Android devices.

Summons Board, like Pazu Dora, has you collecting and battling monsters as you work your way through themed dungeons. This time around though, you work on a board and use your monsters like chess pieces rather than simply matching three colors like its predecessor. Just like a pawn has a set skill set, your monsters will have limited range of motion, and it is up to you to strategically place them on the board to better suit your battle needs.

The 4×4 board that you play on will host your four monsters, your opponents, and occasionally some obstacles as well as rewards to either work around or pick up. You can only position one monster at a time, so after you make a move, your opponent will then get a chance to reposition.

As you progress through the dungeons, the monsters you face get more and more difficult. It gets to the point where no amount of strategy will help you: you simply need stronger monsters. But have no fear. Like Pazu Dora, Summons Board also has a card collection and card-strengthening element. It allows you to strengthen your monsters by merging them with the weaker ones that you collect in dungeons. And if that’s not enough, you can also use Gatcha gems to summon up a new monster. What monster you get is completely random, but you do have the chance of getting some rare and powerful ones.

As expected of GungHo, the game looks incredible and has some really well designed monsters. Summons Board’s monsters have this interesting mix of cool and cute that make them all really memorable. On top of looking cool, they all their own little animations that make them almost come alive on the board, in contrast to the still images that Pazu Dora’s monsters had. This animation was a nice touch that I really enjoyed.

There is much to love about the game, but I’m not without my complaints. Summons Board is very simple. Yes, you have to think about how each monster can move, and yes, you need to worry about element advantages, but realistically you just have to move your monsters into an attack position and wait until the opponent falls. Sure, some monsters are tough, but then it is just a simple matter of leveling up before you can take them down. This is Summons Board’s biggest flaw. It’s just not challenging.

That doesn’t mean the game’s not fun though. The monsters are cute, the music is solid, and it has incredibly well polished gameplay. I may not be challenged while playing Summons Board, but I am being entertained.

You can pick up Summons Board for free at either the Japanese App Store or Google Play.