Back in 2020 I reviewed the newest edition of John Harper and Sean Nittner’s Agon. Agon is a fascinating game, taking the characters on an Odyssey-like journey of myth through a number of islands. Like Greek myth, though, the game has a strict structure and, barring a small chance of premature retirement, usually ends in the same way. It’s great for generating stories, but not what I’m typically looking for.

Deathmatch Island is based on Agon’s mechanics, but casts the strict structure differently. The structure of each island is because the characters are contestants in a game show, a twisted game show where physical challenges and loot boxes give way to a literal battle to the death. Survivors make their way from one island to another until they reach the end game with Production, the shadowy administrators of the whole thing, shaping the game based on how many social media followers each contestant gets. The last surviving contestant may win a big prize…or wake up on yet another island with a job offer they never could have imagined.