Boss Battle Games

A boss is a powerful enemy that guards the end of a level, a chapter or the whole game. Boss battle games are built around those showdowns. Regular enemies teach you the basics, then a boss shows up with more health, bigger attacks and patterns you need to learn before you can win. The best bosses change tactics halfway through, so you have to adapt on the fly.

Boss fights are where games test everything you have learned. They are hard, sometimes really hard, which is exactly why beating one feels so good. A boss also gives a game a clear goal to work toward, and the rewards for winning are often big: new weapons, permanent upgrades or the next chapter of the story. Even losing to a boss is useful, because each attempt shows you a little more of its pattern and brings you closer to the win.

Spend your first attempt watching instead of attacking. Most bosses repeat a set of moves, and each one has a moment afterward where they are open. Dodge first, hit second. Save your strongest attacks, bombs or supers for those openings. If a boss has phases, expect the pattern to change once its health drops, and stay cautious until you have seen the new moves.

Ironwake: Tank Combat ends with a three-phase Dreadnought that tests every tank skill you have. Hellforge: Demon Protocol packs ten animated bosses into its 20 missions. Halloween Fighters builds up to three giant bosses: Witchpump, Hexwrap and the Iron Revenant. In Zombie Siege, towering zombie kings guard the way and leave permanent upgrades when they fall, while Ninja's Blade sends Ryu through epic duels on the road to the demon Tengu.