Yes, I think it's pretty much the same, although perhaps slightly more abstracted in Unmatched. I never had a chance to play Tannhauser, but if I recall there were some issues with some people not being able to clearly see the zones, and I think the graphic designer for Unmatched has tried as much as possible to make it totally clear.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring You are correct, the colors used were quite drab and too similar which resulted in some being frustrated by the difficult discerning between colors. Live and learn! ; )
It really is. There are loads of different sets, so if you like mythological creatures, characters from famous literature, characters from movies, or even Marvel superheroes, all of those options are available. Obviously, I can't say if all the sets are as good as this one, but if this one is anything to go by, it should be fine!
Well I'm pleased to be able to make you aware of it! The miniatures are neat, and it's nice to have a game once in a while where I don't feel any need to paint it.
The 'paths' system for movement/LOS reminds me of that old Tannhauser game. Ive always thought it was a pretty ingenious way to model terrain for a board-based skirmish game.
Yah it’s basically the same system. Apparently the later Unmatched sets have two versions of the same map, one like this and then one with coloured edges to the rings like Tannhauser so more of the map art is visible.
Don't worry about being late, I only discovered this game existed a few months back and I keep meaning to pick up the JP sets. I'd definitely have to paint the models just to make them stand out that little bit more. Great review and has inspired me to find a set and do one myself later on.
I never worry about being late to review something. It's a running joke because I very rarely cover anything on it's launch. I think the wash on the miniatures looks really good, and they made the effort to give them coloured rings so definitely not going on my already overstuffed list.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Yeah I'm not exactly a chaser of releases, just trying to bring good wholesome entertainment. I'm currently dedicating January to clearing my overstuffed list.
I'm not sure at the moment. I tend to run my playthroughs solo, and this isn't an easy game to play that way because of the card interplay. Nothing is ever ruled out on the channel though.
The artwork for this game is so lovely, it makes me wonder if there wasn't a more elegant way for the to lay out the circular spaces on the board so that they didn't overwhelm the rest design to the point where it's hard to make out the map.
The boards do take some getting used to, but I think it's for the best in the end. As someone who is colour blind, I do appreciate the large areas with the different textures and colours. It makes playing much easier. I was chatting in the comments here about the game Tannhauser, which used a similar system, but they only coloured the outer ring of the circles so as not to distract from the art too much. The result is very difficult to see.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring The later Unmatched sets have the same map on both sides of the board with the Tannhauser style on one side and the regular version on the other so you can choose.
Unmatched is a ton of fun and a really good game to help novice gamers get interested in the hobby. As you stated, it's very easy to learn but has a deep level of strategy. The Jurassic Park expansions got me into this series, and now I have a couple of the 4-player boxes on the shelf waiting to be played. I love that each of the expansions can be treated as its own game, or mixed in with the other boxed sets. This allows folks to pick their entry point into the series and doesn't penalize them for skipping the sets they're not interested in.
Yeah, I think it's a great that I was able to see a set in a sale, and buy it on a whim, and not think "Oh, I really need this," or "I should have got the King Arthur set first." The Jurassic Park sets look really fun.
I’ve got Cobble & Fog, it’s a great set. My daughter and I have really enjoyed it. I’ve picked up the Robin Hood/Bigfoot set at my local store numerous times, but have yet to purchase it. You may have pushed me over the edge. I remember reading complaints (I think on BGG) that the sets aren’t balanced very well against each other and one of the designers chimed in that their play testing was primarily focused on the characters in a set being balanced within the set itself but not necessarily across the range. So be aware that some sets are going to dominate others. P.S. you may want to double-check the pronunciation of, “minutiae.”
My videos are created from scripts. As I'm reading and recording, occasionally I will stumble over a word. This is because I am not a natural orator. I don't generally go back and re-record those mistakes if I pick them up in the edit. I learned to do this because my anxiety dictates that I am never happy with my work and if I didn't force myself to press the submit button at some point there would be no content on the channel as I picked apart and edited everything to death.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring absolutely understandable. It’s not something I’d have expected you to fix, that’s for sure. I just thought I’d give you a head’s up for future use. Imho, you regularly produce very high quality videos… and at your kitchen table, no less! I’m still impressed at the audio quality you get in that environment. It’s excellent stuff, it surprises me to see you say you get anxious about releasing your videos. Your stuff is great; that’s why you have all us loyal subscribers. ;-)
You've missed my point. I wrote the script - I know all the words in the script and how they should be said - however, that doesn't preclude me stumbling over the pronunciation while I'm recording because I am not a natural speaker and my brain is already concentrating on a lot of other things related to speech (often I will write words phonetically to minimise mistakes if I predict in advance a word that might trip me up). But if I don't notice until editing, I just let it slide. I appreciate you are trying to be helpful (I don't normally take the time to respond to people who point out a mistake, but I know you are a long-time follower of the channel), however pointing out a mistake like this doesn't actually help, and won't necessarily prevent me from misspeaking the next time I use this word (or any other word that I have used hundreds of times before). Thank you for the support.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring got it. I hope I didn’t upset/annoy you, as that was not my intention. Posting dubiously helpful corrections publicly also isn’t necessarily appreciated so double-apologies for that. I’ll refrain from making such comments in the future. Thank you for all the effort you put into your work; you are one of my favorite TH-camrs so I definitely appreciate what you do here. :-)
@@danroberts007 Don't worry about it. I realise you were trying to be helpful, which is why I bothered to say anything at all. You have to be think-skinned putting content online but it can bother me when the only thing someone contributes to a discussion is pointing out a mistake. I tend not to respond then, because we're no longer talking about the games. Even here, I just realised I ended up not addressing the main point of your comment, which I'm sure is what we both would rather have been discussing! Thanks for the input on Cobble and Fog. It's definitely the next thing on my shopping list for this game as it's right up my street. I have heard that some of the balancing of characters is wonky across the range, but I'm not sure it matters all that much. The fun is in the crazy matchups, and I think if you want a serious contest you just have to play "within" a set, or pick two characters where the consensus is they are evenly matched.
You mentioned the looseness of the dials, did you fasten them enough? I find you need to press down with a hard, flat object on the connectors until they click.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I used a hammer after being annoyed by that issue for a while. They are perfectly tight now, it's just impossible to press down hard enough with thumbs.
Even with just the one two-player pack I keep going back to it. I don't have much on my "want" list for 2023, but more Unmatched is definitely making the list.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Yup. I've fallen down the slope. I got everything except the Deadpool expansion. (And that's onlt because my flg couldn't get a hold of it.) There's something cool about Bruce Lee fighting against a pack of raptors.
Do you have a preference for combat systems in board games? Do you like matching tables like Warhammer Quest 1995 (check WS vs Toughness), simple dice rolls like Heroquest (skull is a hit, shield is a block), deck management combat (like this game or Gloomhammer), action based dice combat (new Warhammer Quests)?
I do love dice. I did a video quite some time ago about three interesting dice combat systems I really like, but I am an omnivorous gamer and my favourite combat systems are the ones that fit the game. Dice would ruin Unmatched. If you look at my top 10 games video, my favourite game is DungeobQuest which has rock-paper-scissors combat. Second is Space Crusade which has custom dice rolling (either opposed or against a fixed defence number). Third is Horrified which doesn’t really have combat but uses custom dice. Fourth is Advanced Heroquest which uses D12s. And fifth is HeroQuest. So really, anything goes.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring - I’ve found my kids (still my kids even at 17 & 19) prefer to play the smaller games than the more involved games. So Blitz Bowl rather than Blood Bowl. Bladeborn instead of Warcry. Heroquest rather than Cursed City. We’re just about to open a still shrink wrapped Space Crusade this weekend. I think often less ‘game’ can actually equal more fun. Can’t wait to see how we go with this and if we like it, grab a few more of the sets to try out.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I've always thought about grabbing that WoW game. Probably best not to as it's got loads of spendy character packs. The jackalope is funny with Bigfoot. That's the official Wyoming state mythological creature. Never understood why they have deer horns and not antelope horns though.
I'd heard of the jackalope but didn't know too much about it, so looked it up after seeing it in this game. I am certain of two things: Shope Papilloma is horrifying, and the jackalope is a brutal sidekick.
I love how simple, yet deep this system is. I wish warhammer underworlds was like this, although enjoyable, it feels incredibly clunky compared to unmatched.
When Underworlds came out, I loved it. I bought all of the first season, and the first core set from season 2. By that point they started introducing magic, and I felt the game was becoming unwieldy, and shortly after I sort of lost my desire to play any of it. Unmatched is definitely much cleaner and feels like it has more finesse. They are both good games, but Unmatched would be my pick.
Ha. They do work that hide and seek element into his play style. He benefits from being out of sight and has lots of ways to get away from enemies. It’s very neat.
There is a very good Steam version of this game. Both solo against AI and online multiplayer are available. Right now it is just Vol 1 but more will come.
The colored zones in the board reminds me of the colored zones used in Tannhauser that also denotes line of sight using the colored zones.
Yes, I think it's pretty much the same, although perhaps slightly more abstracted in Unmatched. I never had a chance to play Tannhauser, but if I recall there were some issues with some people not being able to clearly see the zones, and I think the graphic designer for Unmatched has tried as much as possible to make it totally clear.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring You are correct, the colors used were quite drab and too similar which resulted in some being frustrated by the difficult discerning between colors. Live and learn! ; )
It's a very neat idea. Well-implemented, it's fantastic. I would still like to try Tannhauser one day.
Tannhauser that's a game you don't hear much about.it always interested men but never mang to get it as It was out of print
Nice. Looks like a fun, quick duel type of game. I am going to check it out. Thanks
It really is. There are loads of different sets, so if you like mythological creatures, characters from famous literature, characters from movies, or even Marvel superheroes, all of those options are available. Obviously, I can't say if all the sets are as good as this one, but if this one is anything to go by, it should be fine!
Fascinating..! I like the miniatures, though I have not seen this game ...at all!
Well I'm pleased to be able to make you aware of it! The miniatures are neat, and it's nice to have a game once in a while where I don't feel any need to paint it.
Great review, I want a copy of that Gothic one you described.
Thanks. Cobble and Fog looks incredible.
The 'paths' system for movement/LOS reminds me of that old Tannhauser game. Ive always thought it was a pretty ingenious way to model terrain for a board-based skirmish game.
Yah it’s basically the same system. Apparently the later Unmatched sets have two versions of the same map, one like this and then one with coloured edges to the rings like Tannhauser so more of the map art is visible.
Don't worry about being late, I only discovered this game existed a few months back and I keep meaning to pick up the JP sets. I'd definitely have to paint the models just to make them stand out that little bit more.
Great review and has inspired me to find a set and do one myself later on.
I never worry about being late to review something. It's a running joke because I very rarely cover anything on it's launch. I think the wash on the miniatures looks really good, and they made the effort to give them coloured rings so definitely not going on my already overstuffed list.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Yeah I'm not exactly a chaser of releases, just trying to bring good wholesome entertainment.
I'm currently dedicating January to clearing my overstuffed list.
would you do a playthrough?
I'm not sure at the moment. I tend to run my playthroughs solo, and this isn't an easy game to play that way because of the card interplay. Nothing is ever ruled out on the channel though.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring That's a good point.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Btw thanks for reviewing this game, i didn't know of it, looks great.
@@shishiperalta Thanks for watching. I’m glad I was able to help you discover this game.
The artwork for this game is so lovely, it makes me wonder if there wasn't a more elegant way for the to lay out the circular spaces on the board so that they didn't overwhelm the rest design to the point where it's hard to make out the map.
The boards do take some getting used to, but I think it's for the best in the end. As someone who is colour blind, I do appreciate the large areas with the different textures and colours. It makes playing much easier. I was chatting in the comments here about the game Tannhauser, which used a similar system, but they only coloured the outer ring of the circles so as not to distract from the art too much. The result is very difficult to see.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring The later Unmatched sets have the same map on both sides of the board with the Tannhauser style on one side and the regular version on the other so you can choose.
That's interesting. Good to know.
Unmatched is a ton of fun and a really good game to help novice gamers get interested in the hobby. As you stated, it's very easy to learn but has a deep level of strategy. The Jurassic Park expansions got me into this series, and now I have a couple of the 4-player boxes on the shelf waiting to be played. I love that each of the expansions can be treated as its own game, or mixed in with the other boxed sets. This allows folks to pick their entry point into the series and doesn't penalize them for skipping the sets they're not interested in.
Yeah, I think it's a great that I was able to see a set in a sale, and buy it on a whim, and not think "Oh, I really need this," or "I should have got the King Arthur set first." The Jurassic Park sets look really fun.
I have the 1st and second core boxes, the Cobble and Fog box, Robin Hood vs Bigfoot and Red Riding Hood vs Beowulf. My son and I play it frequently.
I’ve got Cobble & Fog, it’s a great set. My daughter and I have really enjoyed it. I’ve picked up the Robin Hood/Bigfoot set at my local store numerous times, but have yet to purchase it. You may have pushed me over the edge. I remember reading complaints (I think on BGG) that the sets aren’t balanced very well against each other and one of the designers chimed in that their play testing was primarily focused on the characters in a set being balanced within the set itself but not necessarily across the range. So be aware that some sets are going to dominate others. P.S. you may want to double-check the pronunciation of, “minutiae.”
My videos are created from scripts. As I'm reading and recording, occasionally I will stumble over a word. This is because I am not a natural orator. I don't generally go back and re-record those mistakes if I pick them up in the edit. I learned to do this because my anxiety dictates that I am never happy with my work and if I didn't force myself to press the submit button at some point there would be no content on the channel as I picked apart and edited everything to death.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring absolutely understandable. It’s not something I’d have expected you to fix, that’s for sure. I just thought I’d give you a head’s up for future use. Imho, you regularly produce very high quality videos… and at your kitchen table, no less! I’m still impressed at the audio quality you get in that environment. It’s excellent stuff, it surprises me to see you say you get anxious about releasing your videos. Your stuff is great; that’s why you have all us loyal subscribers. ;-)
You've missed my point. I wrote the script - I know all the words in the script and how they should be said - however, that doesn't preclude me stumbling over the pronunciation while I'm recording because I am not a natural speaker and my brain is already concentrating on a lot of other things related to speech (often I will write words phonetically to minimise mistakes if I predict in advance a word that might trip me up). But if I don't notice until editing, I just let it slide. I appreciate you are trying to be helpful (I don't normally take the time to respond to people who point out a mistake, but I know you are a long-time follower of the channel), however pointing out a mistake like this doesn't actually help, and won't necessarily prevent me from misspeaking the next time I use this word (or any other word that I have used hundreds of times before). Thank you for the support.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring got it. I hope I didn’t upset/annoy you, as that was not my intention. Posting dubiously helpful corrections publicly also isn’t necessarily appreciated so double-apologies for that. I’ll refrain from making such comments in the future. Thank you for all the effort you put into your work; you are one of my favorite TH-camrs so I definitely appreciate what you do here. :-)
@@danroberts007 Don't worry about it. I realise you were trying to be helpful, which is why I bothered to say anything at all. You have to be think-skinned putting content online but it can bother me when the only thing someone contributes to a discussion is pointing out a mistake. I tend not to respond then, because we're no longer talking about the games. Even here, I just realised I ended up not addressing the main point of your comment, which I'm sure is what we both would rather have been discussing!
Thanks for the input on Cobble and Fog. It's definitely the next thing on my shopping list for this game as it's right up my street. I have heard that some of the balancing of characters is wonky across the range, but I'm not sure it matters all that much. The fun is in the crazy matchups, and I think if you want a serious contest you just have to play "within" a set, or pick two characters where the consensus is they are evenly matched.
You mentioned the looseness of the dials, did you fasten them enough? I find you need to press down with a hard, flat object on the connectors until they click.
They are definitely clicked as far as they will go. They are still a little loose though, but it's not a big deal.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I used a hammer after being annoyed by that issue for a while. They are perfectly tight now, it's just impossible to press down hard enough with thumbs.
My humble suggestions for more...
- Tarzan vs The Predator
- Quarterman vs The Abominable Snowman
- Captain Iglo vs Dagon 😂
Good choices. If they wanted to do an alien vs predator set, I would be down for that.
Looks like a cool duel system. Asymmetry is enticing.
Even with just the one two-player pack I keep going back to it. I don't have much on my "want" list for 2023, but more Unmatched is definitely making the list.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring "one more small box isn't much £".
...And so it begins😄
This is a hobby full of slippery slopes.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Yup. I've fallen down the slope. I got everything except the Deadpool expansion. (And that's onlt because my flg couldn't get a hold of it.)
There's something cool about Bruce Lee fighting against a pack of raptors.
Robin Hood vs Bigfoot is a great set. Robin is my favourite character in the game. I love the mobility he offers. I have all the non-franchise sets.
I like both characters a lot. I'm not sure I could pick a favourite from these two!
It is a hard choice. I've always been a Robin Hood fan since I was a kid.
@@jasonnewell7036 With the last name Outlaw I do share a certain kinship with Robin.
Do you have a preference for combat systems in board games? Do you like matching tables like Warhammer Quest 1995 (check WS vs Toughness), simple dice rolls like Heroquest (skull is a hit, shield is a block), deck management combat (like this game or Gloomhammer), action based dice combat (new Warhammer Quests)?
I do love dice. I did a video quite some time ago about three interesting dice combat systems I really like, but I am an omnivorous gamer and my favourite combat systems are the ones that fit the game. Dice would ruin Unmatched.
If you look at my top 10 games video, my favourite game is DungeobQuest which has rock-paper-scissors combat. Second is Space Crusade which has custom dice rolling (either opposed or against a fixed defence number). Third is Horrified which doesn’t really have combat but uses custom dice. Fourth is Advanced Heroquest which uses D12s. And fifth is HeroQuest. So really, anything goes.
This looks like it’ll be a lot of fun. Only 50 dollary-doos on Amazon, so I just grabbed a copy.
It's a great little game. I was very impressed with it, and my daughter loves it.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring - I’ve found my kids (still my kids even at 17 & 19) prefer to play the smaller games than the more involved games. So Blitz Bowl rather than Blood Bowl. Bladeborn instead of Warcry. Heroquest rather than Cursed City. We’re just about to open a still shrink wrapped Space Crusade this weekend.
I think often less ‘game’ can actually equal more fun.
Can’t wait to see how we go with this and if we like it, grab a few more of the sets to try out.
I love unmatched. Have tons of the expansions
It really is rather excellent. Which is your favourite set?
Couble & Fog is my favourite. First time w eplayed, Mr. Hyde straight up murdered Dr. Watson on his first turn.
It's definitely the set that appeals the most to me, although King Arthur and Medusa are also high on the list.
This is a great box to start with. Bigfoot generally ranks in the top 5 of best fighters,
He is very good. I really like Robin though.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring Robin vs King Arthur is thematically very fun. And my money is on Robin for that fight.
The board design reminds me of late 70s to early 80s fantasy boardgames.
Yeah, it does a bit. It also feels a bit like the board from the World of Warcraft Adventure Game.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring I've always thought about grabbing that WoW game. Probably best not to as it's got loads of spendy character packs.
The jackalope is funny with Bigfoot. That's the official Wyoming state mythological creature.
Never understood why they have deer horns and not antelope horns though.
I'd heard of the jackalope but didn't know too much about it, so looked it up after seeing it in this game. I am certain of two things: Shope Papilloma is horrifying, and the jackalope is a brutal sidekick.
I love how simple, yet deep this system is. I wish warhammer underworlds was like this, although enjoyable, it feels incredibly clunky compared to unmatched.
When Underworlds came out, I loved it. I bought all of the first season, and the first core set from season 2. By that point they started introducing magic, and I felt the game was becoming unwieldy, and shortly after I sort of lost my desire to play any of it. Unmatched is definitely much cleaner and feels like it has more finesse. They are both good games, but Unmatched would be my pick.
Bigfoot would have invisibility seeing he's the Grand Master of Hide and Seek lol.
Ha. They do work that hide and seek element into his play style. He benefits from being out of sight and has lots of ways to get away from enemies. It’s very neat.
There is a very good Steam version of this game. Both solo against AI and online multiplayer are available. Right now it is just Vol 1 but more will come.
Good to know. My daughter would probably like that. She already plays things like Pokemon online.
Hmm... I wonder if Unmatched has a Mummy...
I am not aware of a mummy in the range, unfortunately.
@@AlwaysBoardNeverBoring shame... Otherwise you might be able to get enough monsters together to recreate "Horrified" only as a free-for-all skirmish
I’ve never heard of this game pretty cool
It's really neat.