Set in a fantasy world where warfare has been replaced by combat between champions, Arena: The Contest pits Heroes in face-to-face battle. The game can be played in the arena in player-versus-player mode, with players competing in tactical, turn-based combat, or it can be played cooperatively, with players guiding their band of Heroes through the world of Tanares on a quest to uncover an ancient mystery.
Arena: The Contest combines dice and card play to resolve battles fought using miniatures on the game board. Each Hero uses their own set of attack cards and fills a certain combat role through their basic attacks and special abilities. In PvP mode, each player selects a team of Heroes, they construct the arena, and battle it out between them. The cooperative mode challenges a small band of Heroes with a quest from the game’s Quest Guide and pits them against a variety of villains with their own abilities and combat roles. Cooperative games can be a single quest, or a series of quests can be linked together in a campaign during which Heroes can improve their abilities and acquire valuable magical items. The campaign features a branched storyline and multiple endings for greater replayability.
The game comes with a double-sided game board that can be customized using 60 terrain tiles, 32 miniatures, 10 colored rings, 20 character sheets, 295 cards, 84 tokens, 2 player aids, 2 20-sided dice, 3 game books, and a quickstart pamphlet. It is intended for 1 to 8 players, ages 14 and up. Individual games take 45 to 90 minutes to play, and the included campaign can last 20 hours or more.