Command Board

The Command Board is the board game level-up system in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep. It can be used to power up your Deck Commands used in battle by gaining Command Panels and leveling them up. You toss the dice and move toward your goal, gaining Board Points (BP) along the way. The player also will have the chances to steal BP from their rivals and use certain panels and Command Cards to their advantage. When it is your turn you have the option to roll the die or use one of your Command Cards.

After you roll the die, you can go any direction on the board except from the direction you just came from. There is no specific path you have to take in order to win the game. There is a certain number of total BP that a player must have before winning the game. Once you've arrived back at the starting point and have the required number of total BP, you have finished the game. The winner can win new commands and medals to be used in the Moogle Shop. Even if you didn't win, your commands will still be leveled up.

Each world that appears in Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep will have its own corresponding board with its own tricks and mechanisms. They are available to play, once the adventures in that world are completed.

Character Pieces
You will control Terra, Aqua, or Ventus based upon whose storyline you are playing through.

World Characters
Besides your own character piece, you will play the game along with certain Disney characters. The Disney characters that appear on the board will only show up for the board for their respective worlds. You can play with two players or only one. You can choose from a set order of who will go first or you and the other characters will roll a die to see what the order will be. Below is a list of characters that have been confirmed so far.

BP Counter
The BP Counter is in the bottom right corner and keeps track of all the character's current and total BP. The above number is your current BP. You can spend this like cash and can use it to buy panels or to pay other character's panels when you are stopped on them. The bottom number is your total BP which is the total of your current BP and the points that you have used on panels of your own. The BP Counter also shows which character is which color and how many of the checkpoint panels the character's have passed through.

Map
At the top right corner, there is a map of the current game board. It shows you the character pieces' position, which command panels are claimed by certain characters, which white command panels are still available, where the four checkpoint panels are, and where the Keyhole starting panel is.

Command Cards
Command Cards are cards that represent Deck Commands or Action Commands that you have and have not been mastered yet. The cards are given to you at the start of the game. You can use them after you have purchased Command Panels to set a certain deck command or action command to level up. The different types of command cards are:


 * Keyblade: An attack command.
 * Mage hat: A magic command.
 * Crown: An action command.

You can also use them by themselves from their own menu to effect the gameplay. There are some command cards that can allow to roll two or three die instead of one and there are others that can protect you from Special Panels. There are command cards that can allow you to choose someone and make them skip their next turn. There are mystery command cards where it does not tell you what command the card is. If you use it to during your turn, the effect is random and there is a slot machine like that you start and stop that selects what effect is used.

If you run out of command cards you can no longer buy command panels. If you reach a Checkpoint Panel, you receive one command card and if you reach the Starting Panel after passing all checkpoint panels you will receive as many command cards as you can hold.

Panels
There are many different kinds of panels that are on the game board that each have their own purpose.

Starting Panel
The starting panel is a yellow panel with a Keyhole on it. You start the game here and once you make it back to this panel, the game will be over. If you simply pass over this panel after reaching all four Checkpoint Panels, you will be rewarded with BP from Lap Bonus, Panel Bonus and Card Bonus.

Checkpoint Panels
There are four checkpoint panels throughout the board. There is a blue one, a red one, a green one and a yellow one. Although you do not need to pass through all four panels to end the game, you will be rewarded with extra BP if you do.

Command Panels
There are white command panels that can become yours after landing on them, paying a certain amount of BP and selecting one of your Command Cards. After you purchase a command panel, it is colored to represent that you have bought it and it shows what level the command is at. If someone stops on one of your purchased command panels it takes BP from their current BP and their total BP, but if you land on a command panel of another character you will have to pay them BP. The number on the panel is the amount of BP you or someone else has to pay. You also have the choice of stealing the panel from the person but you have to pay a large amount of BP.

If you've stopped on your Command Panels you can spend your current BP to level up them. You can also level them up by landing on a Checkpoint Panel or the Starting Panel and selecting whatever Command Panel you want. If you level them up you can take more BP from other players when they land on your panel and your Deck Commands will receive more CP in normal battle. You can level up your commands all they way until they are mastered. The amount of how much BP you will get from the game is decided by various things like the position and value of the panel.

Trap Panels
There are blue panels that are not a cube shape like the other panels and are flat squares. If you land on one of these, you will lose the amount of BP from both your current and total BP that is displayed on the panel. There is one way to avoid these panels and that is a panel that looks like a present and can be rolled around to travel over the trap panels safely.

However, there is a limit to how many panels it can go and once the counter reaches zero, the panel disappears and leaves you stranded on the trap panels. Once this happens, the trap panel usually takes away BP from you but if you get the present panel to the end of its path and it collapses at the same time, the panel remains and instead gives you BP. You can also take over control of the present panel while someone else is on it and they will fall onto the trap panel and lose BP.

Special Panels
If you land on a special panel which are gold and purple in coloration, a unique event will occur. These events are carried out by other characters from the world which board you are playing or they can appear on the Mirage Arena board as well. These events may help and others may hinder your progress as well. Here are the known characters and their events:


 * Experiment 221: "Electric Spark" which can allow the player to steal BP from other characters.
 * Fairy Godmother: "Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo" which gives you an extra roll of the die.
 * Rabbit: "Honey Paradise" which places pots of Hunny over the game board that can either give you BP or pots of Hunny with Honey Bees that take away BP points.
 * Captain Justice: "Captain Justice" every turn he rewards you with BP but if you pass someone he follows and rewards them instead. This effect eventually wears off.
 * Captain Dark: "Captain Dark" every turn he steals some of your BP but if you pass someone he follows and steals BP from them instead. This effect eventually wears off.
 * Terra, Ven or Aqua (whoever you are playing as): "Keyblade Rider" allows the player to move to any spot on the game board.

BP Boost Panel
The BP Boost Panel is a black panel that increases the rate of BP you receive when people land on your panels, when you land on the checkpoint and starting panels and if you successfully use the present panel on the trap panels.

Wireless Gameplay
Like regular battle has Joint Struggle mulitplayer gameplay with the Mirage Arena world, the Command Board game has its own wireless multiplayer gameplay with a Mirage Arena game board. You can also play on different world game boards. You can play as either Terra, Aqua, and Ventus and they will appear as they do in their armor. The rules are the same as the single player Command Board and you can still gain BP to level up your Deck Commands.

Trivia

 * Tetsuya Nomura explains that he included a board-game element because he enjoyed board games as a child in elementary school, and even used to make his own.