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About a month ago, Restoration Games released a bunch of videos with cryptic messages, featuring a radio broadcast and the sounds of monsters in the background. Over the course of the following weeks, they released more and more until we arrived at the name of Unmatched Adventures: Tales to Amaze, a new way to play Unmatched. Yesterday (23rd March as I write this), the Kickstarter went live and a whole host of details were released.
Now, there is something I should stress before I go too deep into this. This Kickstarter is not available to anyone other than those in the United States or Canada, which is really unfortunate for those who like to do Kickstarter and get all the goodies that come with it. However, Restoration Games did also include a list of international partners who will be distributing the game, such as IELLO in the UK, and it looks like they’ll be bringing along the promotional stuff with it. With that disclaimer out the way, let’s talk about the game.
Unmatched Adventures is a cooperative game based on the Unmatched system, where you and up to three companions team up to take on villains and minions. In this set, the heroes available to you are:
- Dr. Jill Trent, a science sleuth using gadgets for interesting effects, healing and solid defences;
- Annie Christmas, Louisianan strong woman who fights above her weight;
- Nikola Tesla, wielding the power of alternating current and;
- Golden Bat, a superhero with some powerful effects and who gets stronger when he stands his ground.
On the baddies side, Mothman and Martian Invaders are the two big masterminds here, both with their own particular schemes and abilities. And what’s a big baddie without a bunch of henchmen? The minions available are Skunk Ape, the Jersey Devil, Blob, Ant Queen, Tarantula and Loveland, each providing a unique challenge to the heroes.
The gameplay seems to be based on an ever-shifting initiative deck that will change up the turn order each round to keep you on your toes, and then largely plays similarly to regular Unmatched. Manoeuvre, Scheme and Fight your way to victory against the big bads.
One of the key points of Unmatched is the way you can mix and match the different sets, and Unmatched Adventures is no different. You can use other heroes in the cooperative mode, take these new heroes into your regular sets or play up to five players on the Adventures game board.
This looks like it is only the beginning for the Unmatched Adventures series, with countless more historical figures and cryptids to come in the future. I’m looking forward to giving it a try in the not-too-distant future, with an August 2023 delivery date in place for backers. However, I must stress only folks in America and Canada can back at this time, so watch out for your friendly local game store supplying it in the autumn.