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Necessary disclosure: I was a play-tester for this! I loved it then, and I love it now, and I want you to love it too.

One of the most exciting TTRPGs I've ever indulged in. Modular to a pillar, allowing no end of scenarios within and surrounding one very important core: two people need to fight, very badly, with so much emphasis on the need.

It's a creative wellspring, obviously - and the mechanics are interesting and cohesive towards the story-cause. Rock paper scissors type - feinting, dashing forward to blow, predicting and understanding your opponent further as your violence comes to a dramatic story crescendo and your conflict comes to a close.

I've tried my hand at two instances of this game, and I'll provide these as examples of how you can slice and dice this fun.

#1, THE LIGHT GAME
Suburban superpowers, two wives in unfulfilling relationships, recalling their happier times of long-ago and realizing how much they want to throw it all away and give reckless joy a shot - so they refuse the call, like all scared people do, and duck and weave and duel against one another through this supermarket, en route to buy cheap food items in enormous bulk to secure the most frequent flyer points so they can run away in either direction. Wanna know how their story ends up? Go play it, and go look up David Philips Chocolate Pudding.

#2, DEATH DUEL
A craggy outreach, an utterly soaked vista over infinity in rural Scotland - in a ravaged and wrecked world, where Death has taken material form to take people so much more directly and immediately.

So, obviously, a man with a found family to defend challenges Death himself to a chess game he intends to stall into endlessness. (You may have seen this movie!)

High Grounds leaves room for dialogue, quipping, flourishing and brandishing your Cape a people - a moment of deep and fully legitimate pride, characterization leaving you maximally vulnerable but leaving you, too, maximally distinct and vivid and wonderful.

Sometimes, in these outmatched and uberdesperate duels, being as much yourself as you can is the way to win.

I guess that's my ultimate and final thought. High Ground levels the playing field of fights in fiction to characters thoughtfully and wisely bashing up against each other, with so many modes for tonal direness, utter seriousness, or delightfully goofy levity for gay women bashing swords at each other.

It's an absolute treat. Call this review my 'thrust'!