If you grew up watching Snake Eyes kick COBRA's teeth in, and you've ever stacked hex terrain on a kitchen table, your two worlds just collided. GI Joe Heroscape: Rumble at the Rift is now at retail, bringing eight iconic characters into the hex-based miniatures system that defined a generation of tabletop skirmishes.
For the uninitiated, Heroscape is a tactical miniatures game where you build 3D battlefields from interlocking hex tiles, then fight scenarios with squads of characters pulled from wildly different settings. The original, designed by Craig Van Ness, Rob Daviau, and Stephen Baker for Milton Bradley back in 2004, became a cult favourite before Hasbro discontinued it in 2010. A 2022 Hasbro crowdfunding revival flopped (it needed 8,000 backers and got about 4,300), but Renegade Game Studios took a smarter retail-first approach in 2024 with Age of Annihilation, which sits at 8.8 on BGG. The GI Joe crossover is the latest wave in that revival, and reviewers are calling it one of the best entry points yet.
The Rumble at the Rift Battle Box ($65 unpainted, $85 painted) includes Duke, Scarlett, Roadblock, Snake Eyes, COBRA Commander, Destro, Storm Shadow, and Doctor Mindbender, plus modular terrain, COBRA fortifications, dice, and everything you need to play. Three Army Expansions ($50/$70 each) add specialist units like the Baroness, Lady Jaye, the Crimson Twins, plus COBRA Troopers with Flight Pods and Greenshirts with Battle Copters.
TechRaptor calls it a triumph, praising the character sculpts and thematic abilities. Opinionated Gamers highlights the "really excellent scenarios," though they note the box is a little light on terrain. Early buyers get a free Serpentor promo figure with qualifying purchases.
Every figure is fully compatible with the wider Heroscape system, so Snake Eyes can throw down with dragons, samurai, and aliens from any other set. If you've been waiting for the right moment to try Heroscape, or if your old collection has been gathering dust for 15 years, this is a very good excuse. Find a game night near you and bring the battle.
Sources: Renegade Game Studios | Hasbro Newsroom | TechRaptor Review | Opinionated Gamers Review