Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is a tactical strategy game in which Mario teams up with his friends; Luigi, Princess Peach, and Yoshi, along with four Rabbids dressed up like them with exaggerated personalities, to battle against enemy Rabbids that hinder their progress.[2] The main single-player campaign has players control a robot named "Beep-0" and lead a team of three heroes, including Mario, through four worlds split into multiple chapters, each composed of one or more battles. Along the way, the player can find alternate paths and solve puzzles on the game's overworld to locate hidden chests containing new weapons or bonus material such as 3D model figurines. As the player progresses through the game, Beep-0 can learn new abilities, such as pushing or breaking blocks, to access previously inaccessible areas. Should a magnifying glass appear above Beep-0, the player can examine nearby objects or Rabbids.
Battles take place when the player reaches an enemy-inhabited territory. While most battles typically require the player to eliminate all or a certain number of enemies, some missions feature other objectives such as reaching a specific area or escorting another character to safety. In these turn-based battles, control alternates between the player's team of three heroes and the enemy team. During each turn, players can perform up to three actions with each of their available heroes; Movement, Attack, and Ability. In the movement phase, players move a cursor to direct a character to a place on the field within their movement range. Characters can dash into enemies to deal extra damage, enter white pipes to reach other parts of the map, and leap off of each other to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Each hero can attack with their main weapon, which range from simple blasters to wide-spreading shotguns, or secondary weapons such as hammers or grenades. Certain weapons may trigger status effects, such as pushing enemies back with a Push effect or inhibiting certain actions with Freeze or Honey attacks. The effectiveness of an attack varies depending on whether the target is shielded by the environment or other ways to take cover, leading to a 100, 50, or 0 percent chance at hitting the target. In addition, Abilities are unique support effects, ranging from barriers that can lessen damage to overwatch attacks that can be triggered outside of an Attack command. Certain weapons and abilities have cooldowns, requiring players to wait a certain number of turns before they can be used again. Additionally, certain characters possess passive abilities that are unique to them. For example, Peach can recover health upon landing from a team jump while Rabbid Luigi can absorb health from dashing into opponents.
Players lose a battle when all of their heroes run out of health and are knocked out, or fail a level-specific objective. When the player clears a chapter, they receive coins and "Skill Orbs", which can also be found by exploring the overworld, with greater rewards earned clearing battles within a certain number of turns with all characters intact. Coins can be spent on new weapons for each character, with more options becoming available as the player finds Weapon Chests. Skill Orbs can be used on each character's Skill Tree, granting them new unique abilities or increases to stats such as health and movement range. After clearing a world, players can revisit them to take on additional challenge-based missions. Players can also unlock co-operative challenges, in which two players, each with a team of two heroes, must work together to clear objectives.[3] Additional weapons can be unlocked by scanning compatible Amiibo figures.[4]
