I’m a huge fan. If you’re planning on playing with adults, Cobble & Fog is a great place to start, with some specific effects that are very enjoyable and somewhat subtler strategy. That said, the Buffy set comes out any day now, and might be a good alternative. Happy to answer questions!
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The replay value good? The boards are just a series of linked spaces, right, there’s no terrain differences or advantage? I thought it looked a bit thin, gameplay-wise, at first.
Basically, yes. InGen vs. Raptors introduced one-way links, and Cobble & Fog has some secret passages, but the positional play has more to do with distance and escape routes than traditional wargamey considerations. Some characters, like Dracula and the Raptors, want to engage in areas in which they can surround the enemy, but mostly map interaction is about being close enough to attack when your hand makes it advantageous, while being able to run away and refill your hand when conflict is bad for you.
My experience, when learning a particular matchup, usually follows something like this pattern: simply from reading the rules and glancing through the cards, I get a sense of the identity of the character and the basic play they’re looking to encourage. Over the first few games, subtler ways that might be different from others gradually reveal themselves, and then there’s kind of a long tail in which the even less obvious or rarer elements which make small but crucial differences in certain matchups come out. So I think the skill ceiling is not nearly as low as it at first appears, but it’s not sky-high, either. Cobble & Fog seems to be the deepest of them, but part of what gives the game legs is that each matchup plays differently, so an expansion gives you new things to learn about not only the new characters, but to some extent all of your old characters, as well.
It’s definitely a shorter, easier game than most that appeal to me. Ideal if you’re looking for something well-presented and quick to teach for people who aren’t into the heavy stuff, or for when one player is mentally exhausted and just wants bright colors and simple rules, but the other wants something to think about. A lot of my gaming is that way, so, while Unmatched isn’t going to be an apex gaming experience for me, it plays an important role in my gaming life.
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Ahh I’m sold.
I’ve been picking up some board gaming extras recently. @Neumannium is to blame, as he alerted me, or I alerted him, to the canvas map options for Hollandspiele games, so I’ve been picking those up, plus I got the 40x20 inch playmat for Lifeform, which is a minor work of art.
I’m still debating metal cubes for Terraforming Mars. So expensive, yet so blingy.
Speaking of Hollandspiele, anyone here have any experience playing Table Battles against yourself? Seems like it shouldn’t be too bad, and I’m finding the idea of sort of appealing, but fear it might be one of those ideas that’s more fun to think about than actually do.
A “New to Me” games post for October!
Granted it was only one expansion, but it was still nice to do one.
Should work well with the dice allocation!
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Res Arcana is good. Pleased with that one, and found the complaints about the take-that to be overblown.
Combat Commander is a classic and it’s probably the best squad level game, all round.
Paths of Glory is amazing, and it’s even more tortuous than Twilight Struggle. Constantly faces you with decisions that just tear you up inside.
I picked up Muse, which I’d been meaning to find for a while, as it’s better than Dixit. It’s not something I’m going to get to play any time soon, but nevertheless. In a similar vein, I got I Am The Fourth Wall, which has a few different modes, but is at its best with 5/6/7 players. While the 2P game is decent, I bought it because I could always use some more higher player count games, and asymmetric 1 vs all games are my glowing weak spot.
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I really like trick taking games. Unfortunately, I’ve not been able to get 4 (or even 3) people to play Spades in forever. I saw Fox in the Forest a few years ago (thanks to the review on Stately Play), but was sure my wife would not be interested. Fast forward a few years and on to a new wife. Just played Fox in the Forest a few times. Great, great game.
Since I have played many trick taking games I naturally won the first game quite handily. My wife jokingly threatened that she wouldn’t play this again if I crushed her. Well, she won the next game (and I didn’t go easy on her). Then she won again. And again. And again. Hmmmm… Well, I’m happy to say I did finally win another game. Looks like we will be playing this for a while.
I like the simplicity of the components: a deck of cards. We use the Carbon app to keep track of the score instead of the chits. (I do wish this had a box for just the cards; a small box is good.) With the odd cards having different “abilities” it makes this game go from a simple trick taking game to something more. In addition, not all the cards are dealt so you cannot count the cards effectively. Finally, there is the scoring. Winning too much makes you a loser. Great way to change things up.
This will be in our regularly played game collection, like dominos and cribbage. It is fast, easy, fun, and requires a little more thinking than the other two.
Highly recommended for a short easy, but thoughtful game.
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I agree this is a fantastic game. I even did a review of it a couple of years ago.
I haven’t tried the cooperative version of the game, Fox in the Forest Duet (I think), but I’ve heard some good things about it.
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I also agree with Fox in the Forest but for some reason my wife, who is a trick taking fan, doesn’t like it much. I think she doesn’t like the powers and how swingy they can make the game. Ah well, you win some, you lose some.
Do any of you have any advice for other great trick takers, especially if they play with 2?
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Also, any really interesting themed trick takers that can be played by 3 people, one of them being 8yo? (although she can usually handle things a few years beyond her age range)
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Another trick taking game is The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine. I bought it but haven’t played it yet. It is cooperative and looks interesting; you have to complete “missions” by taking tricks a certain way. My impression is that it requires some feel for trick taking to really “get” the game. I don’t know how “themed” it is. There is supposed to be no table talk, but instead a mechanism for limited communication. There is a two person variation (normally 2-5 players). I don’t know about playing with an 8 year old, it says 10 and up.
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Yeah, I wrote about it a couple weeks ago. Amazing game. Trick taking IQ probably helps but the early missions are easy enough for anyone.
As for theme, it is about non-existent, but there is a book with little blurbs for each missions and some of the mission goals or restrictions match the “story.”
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Ummm… Yea. It was you that inspired me to buy it. 
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Try Chimera!
There’s also Fox in the Forest Duet and my recent favourite, Gang of Four.
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Just came back from my annual board gaming retreat, with a bunch of new titles having been played. Some old favourites too.
I got to play:
Forbidden stars
Wingspan
Pendragon
Jaipur
Galaxy trucker
Ride the rails
1846
1835
Dune + expansion
Eclipse 2nd edition (I got 3 plays of this!)
Innovation
Barrage
Imperial struggle
XCOM
Barenpark
Clearly I got my long, heavy game fix! I think I need another holiday just to recover though
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Wow, that’s amazing!
I am so jealous.
Edit: except for the 18XX. 