Review: SHATTERED GRID is the new gold standard for POWER RANGERS DECK-BUILDING GAME expansions

In the last half of 2023, Renegade Game Studios launched the Shattered grill expansion for the Power Rangers deck building game. Like the other expansions, this expansion brings new characters, new Zords, new Masters, new main deck cards, and new mechanics. Renegade was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the expansion to review, but all thoughts below are my own. You can grab your copy now from Renegade or your favorite local game store for around $30.

Go beyond the grid!

A Power Rangers crossover event!

Lord Drakkon is on the loose and seeks to destroy the Power Rangers, no matter where they exist in the multiverse! Rangers from all eras will have to team up to stop him.

This expansion explores the Shattered Grid storyline involving alternate universes, strange visitors, and time travel. Now is your chance to use all your Power Rangers sets and expansions in an all-inclusive battle for the ages!

I really enjoyed it Shattered grill. It’s not a perfect expansion, but it might be my new favorite. Let’s start with some of the aspects that seem weakest and then conclude with the highlights. Unfortunately, one of the main game’s biggest problems persists and is amplified Shattered grill. Depending on the layout of the grid, it is very easy for one of the players to be overwhelmed by Opponent cards that reduce their HP every turn. This can be very frustrating, especially since there is no mechanism for a full grid update that can help alleviate this problem, and Shattered grill introduces the mechanic of a Secondary Grid which can quickly increase the pressure creating a rather fast one-sided game. When I played with my wife, this made the game pretty fast as opponents dealt probably 75% of all damage to her during the game. The expansion has Resistance Hideout which can help reduce this problem, but there is only one copy and so you have to get lucky and see it flipped.

Another weakness is that some characters, Zords, signature items, etc. they can only be used with specific cards or mechanics Shattered grill expansion. I will say this is a minor issue because it’s mostly limited to items related to Finster-5 (only useful with “Sentinel” cards), Doctor K (part of his Scientist and Zord ability require the Secondary Grid mechanic), and Lord Drakkon (his signature item and enhanced abilities require the sub-grid mechanic). However, this brings us to our first takeaway.

Most characters and cards can be used even if you decide to play without the Secondary Grid mechanic Shattered grill. Many of the cards that interact with the Secondary Grid say “any Grid”, “some Grid”, etc. meaning you can technically only use one Grid and still use most cards. This puts it Shattered grill leagues ahead Fly higher in my opinion because most of the cards in that set require the use of the alternative victory condition mechanic. If you want to play Shattered grill without the sub-grid, you basically just have to recognize that Lord Drakkon and Doctor K aren’t viable choices. Heck, you can even play Ranger Slayer, Time Force Pink Ranger, Black Dragon, Super Samurai Red Ranger, and Dragon Armor Trini without using any of the other cards Shattered grill. This is a fantastic design for an expansion in my opinion. It lends itself much better to the mix-and-match style of play that Power Rangers deck building game aims to have.

Now let’s talk more about the mechanics of the Secondary Grid from Shattered grill. I really like it. You start the game with just the main grid, but once a player drops to 25 HP (or lower) secondary grids are introduced into the game. Secondary Grids fill only with card effects, but once the six cards are gone, the Secondary Grid is removed and replaced with a new Secondary Grid. Additionally, each Sub Grid has a Continuous effect which can be really useful. For example, the Core Set allows you to immediately attach cards obtained from its Grid to your character instead of waiting for them to pass through your Deck.

Another strong point in my opinion is that when you play with the Secondary Grid mechanics, you don’t mix them up Shattered grill cards inserted with the Fundamental set OR Zeo: stronger than before decks. This means that your main deck consists of only 38 cards, making it more likely that you will come across the cards you want and need. Then, the secondary grid gives you additional options for when the main grid seems lackluster.

Shattered grill is a brilliant example of how expansions for Power Rangers deck building game it should be. Introduce optional mechanics with minimal components that require those new mechanics so you can mix and match your sets more easily. It’s definitely one of the first expansions I’d recommend, although it works better the more sets you have for the game.