How many wrestling board games are there in the world? Honestly, I can think of none, but if there are any, I guarantee you two things. First, you can count the number of them on one hand. Second, “Submission” leaves them all in a humongous trial of dust. Now, obviously you can tell I have never played a wrestling board game before due to my comments above, so how can I make the claim that “Submission” leaves them in the dust? Well, when you play the game, you will understand too.
So what is “Submission?” Well, it is the first of hopefully many games by long-time wrestling fan Chris Holley and is basically as advertised: a “beat the clock wrestling trivia game.” Sounds simple enough. Upon receiving the game, I immediately went to the instruction booklet, as most normal people do. Unlike other games (major games I might add), “Submission” leaves no question unanswered. This is undoubtedly the most detailed, thorough, and ultimately best instruction booklet for any game I have ever played in my life. That’s impressive, and it really set the tone for the game I was so excited to begin playing. Even more, upon reading the booklet, I couldn’t help but notice just how much you can customize this game to suit your players, your mood, et cetera. Most games have complete set rules while this has only a few rules here and there. If you don’t like a category, take it out. If you’re playing with average wrestling fans, you can make an easier deck in under a minute. Sure, a lot of board games let you customize, but that requires you to change a lot of the rules and such. This game encourages you to customize and allows it in a way that doesn’t hinder the game in any way, shape, or form. That’s impressive and that’s enjoyable. For me, that’s an amazing feature.
Sitting down to actually play the game, I was pumped and not let down at all. I grabbed my girlfriend and played it with her while SmackDown! played in the background. We played the first mode we saw, which was also the easiest: Classic Mode. This mode is great for quick games. I mean great! If you wanted, you could take a deck, pen, paper, and the timer and just play in the doctor’s office with someone while you wait for your appointment. It’s literally that simple. Even more, because of how you customize the game, you can play this mode for however long you want to. Each round or “pinfall” is one minute. So if you’re waiting for dinner that is taking about 5 minutes, pull out this game and play a game of 5 pinfalls! The Classic Mode is great for just a quick game to pass the boredom. Hell, you could even play this during the commercials of a wrestling show! It was great.
