Hello fellow gamers! This is the first of my series on two-player games. These are titles specifically designed for two players or multiplayer games that work best with two. Today we discuss Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One.
Medusa. Sinbad. King Arthur. Alice of Wonderland. Legends of print and film, thrown onto a battlefield. Sounds sorta crazy yet sorta awesome, too, amirite? Now you can choose your favorite character and duke it out until only one combatant remains, leaving their foe and their sidekick battered and defeated.
Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One is a miniatures dueling game that puts you in the center of the arena. Maneuver, scheme, and attack until you raise you hand in victory …. Or find yourself dragged off in defeat.
Unmatched: Get Your Battle On
Up to four can play Unmatched, but, like other fighting games, it’s best as a one-on-one battle. Each player chooses their preferred hero and sidekick: Alice of Wonderland (and the Jabberwock), King Arthur (and Merlin), Sinbad (and the Porter), or Medusa (and the Harpies). They receive their character’s health dial and deck of 30 action cards. Whoever reduces their opponent’s hero to zero health first is the winner.
You start with five random cards from your deck and you perform two actions on your turn. There are three main actions you can take. First, you can Maneuver, which allows you to draw a card and move your fighters. Second, you can Scheme, which provides various effects, from drawing extra cards to dealing damage to an enemy in your zone. Finally, you can Attack your opponent, whether it’s their main fighter or one of their sidekicks.
Combat is resolved simply and quickly: play a card face down to attack your opponent. They may accept the damage or they may play a card to defend. Tally up damage points (your card’s attack value minus their defense value) and adjust their health dial accordingly. Finally, resolve any additional text on the played cards.
Play continues until one player remains. They are the true legend of the battlefield!
One-On-One Excitement
Restoration Games continues to bring back classic games with improved mechanisms and better components that offer a fantastic gaming experience. With Unmatched, they’ve taken the old Star Wars: Epic Duels and streamlined the game into a 20-minute battle while also opening up the world to include characters from various universes.
Unmatched features easy-to-learn game play, from the two-action turns to the one-card combat system. Simple doesn’t mean easy, either; the tactical combat is made more difficult by the hand management. You never re-draw cards back up to your hand limit of seven; each time you play a card, it’s out of the game (unless specifically brought back into play by a card effect).
I never thought about who would win a fight between any of these legendary characters. With Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One, though, I’m fully invested in these battles and always look forward to a game to see who will vanquish whom. Each hero brings their own special ability and cards. King Arthur can Boost his attacks with another card. Medusa gets a free range attack at the start of her turn and can regenerate her sidekicks. All four heroes play differently and keep the game from getting stale.
Unmatched is a game that’s meant to hit the table quickly after minimal rules explanation. Game play is fast, furious, and fun. One play is all it took for me to start scoping out all of the cool expansions that will be coming soon to retail shelves: Bruce Lee, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jurassic Park, Robin Hood, Bigfoot, and more.
Thanks to Restoration Games for the review copy of Unmatched: Battle of Legends, Volume One.
Ruel Gaviola is a regular contributor to Geek & Sundry, The Five By, iSlaytheDragon, That Hashtag Show, and other sites. His name rhymes with Superman’s Kryptonian name. You can find him talking about board games on Twitter or Instagram.
