Blog Archives
Unwitched
As much as I would prefer to cast off all longing and become immune to nostalgia, I will confess a squishy soft spot for The Witcher. No joke, my adventures with Geralt of Rivia helped me come to terms with becoming a father to a tiny screamy baby. And while parenthood hasn’t contained quite as much monster-slaying as promised, I still sometimes find myself asking how the White Wolf would handle daily indignities like PTA meetings and where this grocery store has hidden the chicken stock. (It’s a fetch quest, I tell myself. Just a fetch quest.)
Which is why, even though I had determined to pass on any additional sets until the next Unmatched Adventures showed up, I discovered that I was still helpless in the face of this tie-in. Please note that these two sets, Steel & Silver and Realms Fall, are not parenting guides.
Annie Christmas vs. Motthew
I have such a soft spot for Rob Daviau and Justin Jacobson’s Unmatched series. That goes double when they’re producing sets like Cobble & Fog, adaptations that faithfully translate works of literature to the gaming table and let the Invisible Man slug Sherlock Holmes in his upturned snoot.
Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze takes the series in a new direction. Designed by Jason Hager and Darren Reckner, this set is transformative in the literal sense, reworking those staple clashes into cooperative boss battles. In comic book terms, it’s the crossover event that sees all those ruffians and louts teaming up to topple an even nastier baddie. It’s such a shift of perspective that it would be a minor wonder if it worked at all. Instead, it comes off so perfectly that I’m tempted to drag my older sets out of storage.
Pavement & Haze
I love the gentle irony of Unmatched becoming the flagship property of Restoration Games. You know, the company dedicated to remaking older titles. Yes, yes, I’m aware that Unmatched is a quasi-remake of Star Wars: Epic Duels, but come on — that “quasi” is doing some world championship lifting.
Lest you assume I’m being sarcastic, I can assure you that my affection is genuine. The initiatory set, Unmatched: Battle of Legends, was one of the best games of 2019. My only complaint was that it was a mite too basic. With so many titles passing through every month, I wanted to see Daviau & Co. put their best foot forward. Show us the weird stuff! Go crazy with your characters! There’s no guarantee of any property surviving even a few weeks, let alone long enough to justify additional releases.
Well, I’m happy to eat my fedora, because Unmatched is still kicking. Better yet, Cobble & Fog is easily the most confident set in the series thus far.
(Un)Match This
Being in high school during the Prequel Trilogy didn’t remedy my absent appreciation for Star Wars. Nor did it improve my chances of playing that Epic Duels game the other nerds set up in the journalism room. Don’t get me wrong, the problem wasn’t the game. It was my total lack of interest in seeing who would win between Hayden Christensen and that jetpack-wearing space praetorian who defeated himself by flying into a pit. So hip. I can totally see it. No, please don’t explain it to me.
The motto for Restoration Games is “Every Game Deserves Another Turn.” A lovely sentiment! Especially in an age where far too many releases are forgotten within a month. But what I appreciate most about their work is how they’ve given me a first turn at a handful of games I otherwise missed. Unmatched: Battle of Legends is their latest. And although I never got around to playing Epic Duels, it’s already obvious that this is the superior version. No space wizards, for one.
SPACE-BIFF! 