Most boxing games reward fast reflexes and quick button combinations. Turn Based Boxing: Tactics throws all that out and asks a different question: what if managing boxers was a strategic chess match where every punch matters and your fighters can actually die from injuries? Developer TheSlantedRoom built this Battle Brothers-inspired boxing simulation for people who love tactical depth over twitch skills, and the permadeath system means every decision carries real weight. Available now on Steam, iOS, Android, and playable in browser, this underground boxing management game offers something genuinely different in the sports simulation space.
The game launched in 2025 across multiple platforms with support for 11 languages including English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, and Hindi. What makes it particularly accessible is the generous demo that lets you complete the entire game for free. If you enjoy the experience, a single in-app purchase unlocks additional features, strategies, and equipment. No ads, no subscriptions, just one developer’s passion project about the brutal reality of professional boxing.
- Battle Brothers Meets Rocky Balboa
- Turn-Based Combat With Real Consequences
- Permadeath Makes Every Fight Matter
- Gym Management and Fighter Development
- Quest System Unlocks Strategies
- Climb Rankings Toward Lineal Championship
- Real Boxing Legends Make Cameos
- Auto-Battler Mode for Spectators
- Tournaments and Fighter Sharing
- Made by Boxers for Boxing Fans
- Cross-Platform With Generous Demo
- FAQs
- Strategic Brutality
Battle Brothers Meets Rocky Balboa
The Battle Brothers inspiration is immediately apparent to anyone who played that medieval mercenary tactics game. You manage a roster of fighters rather than controlling a single protagonist. Each boxer has unique stats, perks, strengths, weaknesses, and personalities. Combat is turn-based and strategic rather than action-focused. Permadeath means losing experienced champions hurts. The focus is on long-term management decisions and building an efficient organization rather than personal glory.
But where Battle Brothers sent you across medieval landscapes fighting bandits and monsters, Turn Based Boxing grounds you in the violent world of underground boxing. You’re building a gym from scratch, scouting talent worldwide, negotiating contracts, managing fighter relationships, and climbing rankings toward the lineal championship. The boxing theming isn’t superficial window dressing but deeply integrated into every system from training stats to combat mechanics to aging and injury management.
Turn-Based Combat With Real Consequences
Fights play out turn-by-turn with each boxer selecting actions from available moves based on their skills and energy reserves. Jabs, hooks, crosses, uppercuts, defensive maneuvers, counters, and special techniques all consume energy and carry risk-reward calculations. Position yourself for powerful combinations or conserve energy for later rounds. Set counter traps that trigger when opponents throw specific punches. The tactical depth rewards understanding boxing fundamentals rather than memorizing combo strings.
The counter-punching system particularly shines. Setting a counter is like laying a trap, predicting what your opponent will throw and preparing the perfect response. If they throw the anticipated punch, your counter triggers automatically, dealing damage and potentially causing injuries while the trap remains active. Skilled players can set multiple traps simultaneously, creating defensive webs that punish aggressive opponents. Practice through hot seat sparring matches where you control both fighters to understand the strategic depth.
Permadeath Makes Every Fight Matter
When boxers sustain severe injuries during matches, they risk death. This isn’t abstract game-over mechanics but permanent loss of fighters you’ve invested time and resources developing. At 60 years old, boxers become increasingly vulnerable to fatal injuries. At 100 years old, they die automatically regardless of health. These stakes transform routine matches into tense experiences where you’re constantly evaluating whether the risk justifies potential rewards.
The permadeath system echoes real boxing tragedies throughout history. Sugar Ray Robinson fought opponents who died from injuries sustained in the ring. Benny Paret’s death following a brutal beating by Emile Griffith changed boxing safety regulations. The manga Ashita no Joe featured the protagonist dying after his final fight. Turn Based Boxing doesn’t shy away from boxing’s dark side but confronts it directly, forcing players to grapple with the sport’s inherent dangers.
Gym Management and Fighter Development
Beyond individual fights, you’re managing an entire gym’s economy and roster. Each boxer generates cash through fights that you reinvest into training facilities and stat improvements. Recruit fighters globally, from seasoned veterans to promising prospects. Each fighter has unique attributes like power, speed, stamina, chin durability, elusiveness, and technical skills. Some stats have star ratings indicating natural talent that develops faster.
The training system lets you allocate resources toward specific stat improvements. Focus on building a power puncher with devastating knockout ability or develop a defensive specialist who wins on points through superior technique. Every fighter can pursue different builds based on their natural talents and your strategic vision. The dozens of available perks enable endless specialization, from increased stamina and power to improved defensive maneuvers or tactical advantages.
Perks Define Fighter Identity
Perks are special abilities enhancing various performance aspects. These range from passive bonuses like increased stamina recovery to active abilities that unlock new tactical options. As manager, you carefully choose which perks to invest in, ensuring they synergize with each boxer’s characteristics, fighting style, and the gym’s overall strategy. A counter-puncher might prioritize perks that enhance trap-setting efficiency while a brawler focuses on damage output and chin durability.
The perk system creates meaningful long-term progression where fighters improve beyond simple stat increases. Unlocking powerful perk combinations becomes a meta-game of its own as you theory-craft optimal builds. Veterans with well-developed perk trees become irreplaceable assets, making their potential deaths even more devastating. The attachment you develop to successful fighters mirrors the emotional investment in Battle Brothers’ veteran mercenaries.
Quest System Unlocks Strategies
Beyond fights and training, completing quests unlocks new strategies that any boxer in your gym can utilize. These strategies are combat approaches or tactical frameworks that fighters can switch between rounds. Maybe you unlock an aggressive rushing strategy after winning ten fights by knockout, or a defensive rope-a-dope approach after surviving particularly brutal beatings. The quest system provides structured goals beyond simply winning matches.
Strategies can be changed before each round, adding another tactical layer to fights. Read your opponent’s approach in round one, then adjust your strategy for round two to counter their tendencies. This adaptive gameplay rewards observation and flexibility rather than committing to a single approach throughout entire fights. The interplay between fighter builds, selected strategies, and in-fight decisions creates compelling strategic depth.
Climb Rankings Toward Lineal Championship
The ultimate goal is establishing your gym’s legacy by producing lineal champions. The ranking system provides clear progression milestones as your fighters climb from local prospects to regional contenders to national stars to world championship challengers. Each tier brings tougher competition, better payouts, and more prestige. Reaching the top requires patience, smart matchmaking, careful fighter development, and luck avoiding catastrophic injuries.
The lineal championship specifically refers to the “man who beat the man” lineage rather than sanctioning body belts. It’s the purist’s definition of championship status, traced through an unbroken line of victories connecting back to the original titleholder. Capturing lineal status represents the pinnacle achievement, proving your fighter is the legitimate best in their division. The historical authenticity shows TheSlantedRoom’s deep respect for boxing tradition.
Real Boxing Legends Make Cameos
Throughout your career, you’ll encounter fighters inspired by real-life boxing legends both past and present. Face opponents clearly modeled after Canelo Alvarez, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Tyson Fury among others. These cameos provide fan service for boxing enthusiasts who appreciate the nods to legendary fighters while testing your strategic skills against opponents designed around their historical counterparts’ styles.
The cameo system also adds educational value for players less familiar with boxing history. Facing an Ali-inspired fighter teaches you about his unique combination of speed, footwork, and ring generalship. Fighting a Tyson analog demonstrates the terrifying power of peak-era Mike. These encounters become interactive boxing history lessons wrapped in competitive challenges, potentially sparking interest in learning more about the real fighters who inspired them.
Auto-Battler Mode for Spectators
Not everyone wants to micromanage every punch. The auto-battler mode enables “Free Will” where fighters make their own decisions based on their stats, perks, and strategies. This transforms the experience into a pure management sim where you focus on recruitment, training, and preparation while letting fighters execute game plans independently. Watch matches unfold automatically, observe how your training decisions translate to performance, and adjust between fights.
The auto-battler option accommodates different play preferences without forcing everyone into identical experiences. Some players love tactical combat depth and manually control every action. Others prefer high-level management and strategic planning over granular fight control. Including both modes respects that sports management games attract diverse audiences with different priorities and engagement styles.
Tournaments and Fighter Sharing
The community features extend the game beyond single-player campaigns. Developer-hosted tournaments pit players’ fighters against each other in organized competitions. The in-game tournament creation tools let you organize your own events with custom rules and brackets. Fighter import-export functionality means you can share your carefully crafted boxers with friends or download community creations to test against your roster.
These social features build lasting engagement beyond completing the base game. Competitive players can test their management and tactical skills against human opponents. Creative players can design unique fighters and share them for others to experience. The tournament system provides ongoing content that evolves based on community participation rather than requiring constant developer updates.
Made by Boxers for Boxing Fans
TheSlantedRoom describes themselves as a boxer and boxing enthusiast creating this game specifically for fellow boxers and fans. That authentic passion shows throughout every system. The combat mechanics reflect real boxing strategy. The cameo fighters demonstrate deep historical knowledge. The brutal injury and death systems acknowledge the sport’s dark realities. The quest system teaches boxing trivia. This isn’t a generic sports game with boxing theming but a love letter to the sweet science from someone who truly understands it.
The developer’s boxing background informs design decisions that ring true to people familiar with the sport. Counter-punching mechanics that reward prediction and timing. Stamina management that mirrors real cardio considerations. Fighter aging that reflects how skills decline over time. The attention to authentic detail creates credibility that pure simulation stats can’t replicate. Players notice when developers genuinely understand their subject matter versus researching it superficially.
Cross-Platform With Generous Demo
The game’s availability across Steam, iOS, Android, and web browser removes platform barriers. Play on your preferred device without missing features or content. The cross-platform approach reflects modern indie development realities where reaching maximum audiences requires supporting multiple ecosystems. The free demo policy is particularly generous, letting you complete the entire game before deciding whether to purchase additional content.
The single IAP model feels fair compared to aggressive monetization plaguing mobile games. No ads interrupt gameplay. No energy systems throttle progression. No loot boxes exploit gambling psychology. Just optional premium content for players who want expanded features after thoroughly evaluating the base experience. This player-friendly approach builds goodwill and trust that aggressive monetization destroys.
FAQs
What is Turn Based Boxing: Tactics?
Turn Based Boxing: Tactics is a Battle Brothers-inspired boxing management simulation where you build a gym, recruit fighters, train champions, and compete strategically in turn-based matches. Developed by TheSlantedRoom, it features permadeath mechanics where fighters can die from injuries sustained during fights.
What platforms is it available on?
The game is available on Steam for PC, iOS through the App Store, Android via Google Play, and playable directly in web browsers. It supports 11 languages including English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, and Hindi.
Is there really permadeath?
Yes, boxers who sustain severe injuries during matches risk permanent death. Fighters become increasingly vulnerable to fatal injuries after age 60 and automatically die at age 100 regardless of health. This creates high-stakes decision-making where every fight carries real consequences.
How does the free demo work?
The extensive demo lets you complete the entire game without paying. If you enjoy the experience, a single in-app purchase unlocks additional features, strategies, and equipment. There are no ads, subscriptions, or energy systems, just optional premium content for dedicated players.
What makes it like Battle Brothers?
Both games feature roster management rather than single protagonist focus, turn-based tactical combat, permadeath mechanics, unique character builds through perks and stats, and emphasis on long-term strategic planning over reflexes. Turn Based Boxing applies these systems to boxing management instead of medieval mercenaries.
Can I play without controlling fights?
Yes, the auto-battler mode enables “Free Will” where fighters make their own decisions during matches. This transforms the experience into pure management simulation focused on recruitment, training, and preparation while fighters execute independently during fights.
Are there real boxers in the game?
The game features cameo appearances of fighters inspired by real-life legends including Canelo Alvarez, George Foreman, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali, and Tyson Fury among others. These encounters test your strategic skills against opponents designed around their historical counterparts’ styles.
Strategic Brutality
Turn Based Boxing: Tactics proves that sports simulations don’t need flashy graphics or reflex-based gameplay to create compelling experiences. By embracing turn-based tactics, permadeath consequences, and authentic boxing knowledge, TheSlantedRoom built something that respects both the sport’s strategic depth and brutal realities. Whether you’re a boxing enthusiast craving authentic simulation or a Battle Brothers fan seeking new tactical challenges, this underground gym management game delivers unique experiences impossible in traditional boxing games. Download the free demo and discover whether you have what it takes to build a championship stable without losing your best fighters to the sport’s inherent dangers. Sometimes the hardest punch to dodge is the one that ends a career permanently.