Yu-Gi-Oh! RUSH DUEL: Dawn of the Battle Royale!! is a Card Battle Game in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise developed by Konami and released for the Nintendo Switch on August 12th, 2021 in Japan, and December 7th, 2021 internationally. It is the first video game based on the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS and features the Yu-Gi-Oh! Rush Duel card game, a spinoff of the Yu-Gi-Oh! TCG/OCG, making it the first official way to play Rush Duels outside of Japan or Korea. The game loosely adapts episodes 24 and 25 of Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS while introducing original plot elements and characters.
Set in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS, you take on the role of a New Transfer Student who enters Goha #7 Elementary School as a 5th grader and quickly befriends SEVENS protagonist Yuga Ohdo and his friend circle, who introduce you to the world of Duel Monsters and Yuga's latest creation, the "Rush Duel". Not long after, the group receives a message from Goha Corp announcing a Rush Duel tournament, with the prize being a "Dreammaker Ticket" that is said to be able to grant anything you want. Spurred on by the thrill of a Rush Duel competition but suspicious of Goha Corp's motives, the protagonist, Yuga, and friends move to take on Goha's challenge and claim the Dreammaker Ticket for themselves.
The game features over 350 cards from the Rush Duel game and SEVENS anime (up to "Deck Modification Pack - Destined Power Destruction!!") and local and online multiplayer features. Unlike other standalone Yu-Gi-Oh! video games, the game receives post-launch updates to add cards from the latest sets to help the game function as more of a proper simulator. The English version also features an English dub for all of the SEVENS cast.
A sequel, Yu-Gi-Oh! RUSH DUEL: Dawn of the Battle Royale!! Let's Go! GO RUSH!! was released for the Nintendo Switch on December 1, 2022 in Japan. The sequel focuses on Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!!, with a brand-new campaign and an updated card roster to reflect new pack releases. The game comes in free-to-play and paid edition variants; the free-to-play variant only gives you a Starter Deck and places a cap on the number of online multiplayer matches you can play per day, while the paid version grants 1 copy of almost every card in the game and removes the cap. Save data from the first Dawn of the Battle Royale!! can also be transferred, bringing over cards, built decks, and cosmetics that have been previously earned.
This game provides examples of:
- Achievement System: There is a Title system that allows you to earn rewards for completing challenges. Unlocked Titles can also be equipped to your License Card to show off to other players in multiplayer.
- Added Alliterative Appeal: The flavor text for the card "Little D".Yo, this tyrannosaurus tot's got a terrible temper.
- And Your Reward Is Clothes: You can acquire Custom Parts, cosmetics that alter the look of various elements such as your deck, deck box, and field, through the course of gameplay or buying them with GP.
- Anti-Frustration Features: In the event that you acquire 99 copies of a card, any additional copies will automatically be vendored for GP.
- Awesome, but Temporary: To combat Nail's Maximum Monster, Romin, Gavin, and Luke give up their License Cards (thus forfeiting their place in the Battle Royale and ability to Duel) so Yuga can turn the cards into Supreme Machine Magnum Overlord, which is then given to the player with a deck built around it. Once Nail is defeated, he restores the License Cards, thus removing Magnum Overlord from the player's possession, and the rest of the deck is then returned to Yuga.
- Breaking Old Trends: This is the first Yu-Gi-Oh! media based on an anime to debut a dub cast and Dub Name Changes before its respective anime's English dub.
- The Cavalry: After Seatbastion is defeated, it goes haywire and declares that the heroes must defeat 6666 Goha Corp. duelists to reach Nail, which not only constitutes an illegal rule change but would also be physically impossible. Luckily, all of the duelists that the protagonist befriended over the course of the story show up at the nick of time, keeping the extra troops occupied and clearing the way for the heroes to get to Nail.
- Classic Cheat Code:
- The ability to create custom decks is normally locked until you beat the main campaign, but once you beat Number 6, you can go to the Goha #7 Student Council Room and stand in front of the Luke Club door; if you're in the right spot, the UI will disappear. If you input the Konami Code, a jingle will play and the Create Custom Deck feature will unlock immediately without having to finish the game.
- You can also use the Konami Code behind the altar that Otes stands in front of to get a free prize once a day.
- Defeat Means Friendship: The protagonist has a unique power called Spirit, which allows them to connect with other duelists by beating them in a Rush Duel (for some reason).
- Fixing the Game: To no one's surprise, the whole Dreammaker Ticket contest turns out to be another plot by Goha Corp. to claim ownership of Rush Duels so they can destroy it. It was initially advertised that the contestant with the most points will win the Ticket, but it turns out that the contestant with the most points wins the right to challenge Nail Saionji — a Goha Corp. subordinate — for the Dreammaker Ticket. Unfortunately, Nail is considered by the general populace to be impossible to beat since he wields a Maximum Monster, Yggdrago the Sky Emperor, and Yuga lost access to his own Maximum Monster that he previously used against Nail.
- Guide Dang It!: To progress the post-game content and unlock the final two packs, you need to Duel certain generic NPCs in order, some of which were not present in the main story. There are no explicit pointers on how to do this; you have to figure it out yourself with the aid of a few easily-missed one-time clues, or consult a guide.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Just like in the anime, Gavin, Romin and Luke give up their License Cards so Yuga can create the Maximum Monster Supreme Machine Magnum Overlord at the cost of knocking themselves out of contention for the Dreammaker Ticket. Yuga gets to keep his License Card, but at the very end of the game he is forced to give his up to use Real Time Rush Duel Programming in order to stop a berserk Seatbastion from hacking the Rush Duel system.
- Interface Spoiler: Even if you don't know about Fusion Monsters in Rush Duels, the fact that there's even an Extra Deck slot at all makes it pretty obvious that something's supposed to go in it. However, the international version never ended up getting them.
- Mythology Gag: The GO RUSH!! sequel has summon animations for cards as seen on the game's official website
, the stylization of which are very clearly inspired by those of Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel. - Punny Name: The day before the Battle Royale, Yuga and the protagonist go looking for the rumored "Tune Up Your Duel" Ramen, which is supposed to improve your dueling prowess, and wind up having to defeat multiple duelists, including Saburamen, to earn the right to eat it. Turns out that the secret ingredient in the special ramen is tuna, hence "tune up".
- Victor Gains Loser's Powers: Defeating an opponent unlocks a Deck Recipe based on the deck that you defeated. If you own the right cards, you can use said deck as your own. You can also obtain rare cards used by each character the first time you beat each of their decks.
- Wake-Up Call Boss: Good Yosh the Overcrusher introduces Field Spells to the player and runs a deck whose Field Spell debuffs Spellcasters and Dragons, which just so happen to be the Types your starter decks use, giving him a significant home field advantage on top of him being one of the first opponents with decently-statted monsters.
- Warm-Up Boss: You get to duel Romin (using Luke's deck) right after the tutorial, who is designed to give you enough of a challenge to attempt playing seriously but limits itself to only using mechanics introduced in the tutorial to lead the player into a proper Rush Duel.
