Toy Battle
A compact two-player duel where connected toy armies race for headquarters and permanent medals across eight battlefields.
Draw troops or place one onto a connected base. Capture an enemy headquarters, meet the terrain’s medal target, or have more medals when an opponent cannot act.
The 2025 Repos Production game has four double-sided boards with eight terrains. Different troop powers and special bases make a short ruleset into a tense map puzzle.
Why it stands out
A route is only as durable as its weakest connecting base. One takeover can interrupt an opponent’s attack while completing a medal region for you. Matches are short enough to try a new board immediately.
Game at a Glance
Build a Route
Expand from your H.Q. through occupied bases.
Cover a Base
Take over with greater troop strength or a printed exception.
Bank Medals
Complete a region and keep its medals permanently.
Finish Fast
Capture the rival H.Q. or reach your medal target.
What is Toy Battle?
Toy Battle is a two-player tactical game published by Repos Production in May 2025. It won the 2026 As d’Or Game of the Year at the Cannes International Games Festival. Each side commands a set of toy troop tiles on a small network of bases. The box includes 48 troop tiles, four double-sided boards, 16 medals, two racks and a player aid. The publisher describes 10–15 minute games.
Its accessibility comes from just two standard turn choices: draw up to two troops or place one. The depth comes from deciding where you can legally connect, which troops you can cover and whether to pursue a medal region or the enemy H.Q.
How Toy Battle works
Begin with a rack of three troops for the starting player and four for the second. On a placement, normally trace an unbroken route from your H.Q. through bases whose visible top troop is yours. An empty or enemy-held base breaks the path. You may place at a reachable empty base, cover one of your own troops, cover an enemy of strictly lower strength, or enter the enemy H.Q. Apply the troop power and then the special base effect, if any.
Claim a region’s medals as soon as you occupy all its surrounding bases. Those medals stay with you after control changes. The full how-to guide explains setup, stacks, powers and the turn sequence.
The decisions that define it
Before a move, ask which route will remain if the opponent covers your connector. Check whether one placement both blocks their H.Q. approach and closes a region. Drawing two troops is useful, but it gives up a placement at a moment when the opponent may be one turn from a medal target.
The strategy guide covers opening routes, tempo, troop abilities and the endgame checklist.
Who should try it?
Choose Toy Battle for a quick head-to-head game with visible board tactics, simple actions and multiple maps. It rewards people who enjoy replaying a short duel and learning how each terrain changes its key chokepoints. If your group wants a cooperative card challenge for three or more people, see The Gang.
Complete Toy Battle guide
- How to play Toy Battle: setup, actions, legal placement and powers.
- Toy Battle strategy and tips: routes, troop timing and pressure.
- Victory and medal rules: H.Q. capture, region control and ties.
- La Croisette and medals-track promos: what each adds.
Publisher sources and scope
Checked September 2026. Follow the publisher’s specific terrain and troop text for a particular play.