This review have made my day. I originally bought this game because I couldn't find players for my Unmatched sets but it looks like this is just what I have been looking for. Very excited and can't wait for my copy to arrive.
The overview didn't explain THE CENTRAL MOST IMPORTANT thing of the whole product. How does the enemy act during his turn? That's what this product is all about. Automating the opposing player is the whole selling point. Short version: The villain will not take two actions. It will attack once, moving as necessary to do so. Movement speed is on the activation card. Targeting priority is: 1. adjacent, 2. closest within move range, 3. no target. If the villain can't move and attack he remains where he is and the threat marker will be advanced instead. Villains attack by just using the top card of the villain deck turned over, all effects and values are printed on it.
19:25 I only did two plays of two player but this was not my experience. We honestly breezed through the first two rounds and I was scared it was going to be too easy. Then things started getting a little worse every round and I realized how quickly things go sideways. We still won both games but it was pretty close. The first game especially was literally at the buzzer.
wow, what a review, I only have cobble and fog and have trouble tabling it with my family because it is so competitive and head to head, but I might need to get this now to pair with that set... fantastic.
One thing that they do well is even if there is a card ability that doesn’t transfer over well into co op you can discard those cards to keep the villains from completing there objectives so bad cards are just support cards😅
I'm so glad I bet on this one! I'm one of those players who loves asymmetry and tactical card play but prefers co-op over competitive. I'm excited for my copy to arrive!
Well OK, I guess I didn't make a mistake backing this but by leaving it on my dining room table unopened for the last few days. Really just got it to, hopefully, get some solo use out of my shelf of Unmatched and would love if it winds up having legs despite only the two villains. Now we need a Tamashii review since that's also been sitting and waiting on my table.
I was on the fence on this, since I haven't played much unmatched and only have one set. But I did end up backing it, and you guys are making me really glad that i did! Thanks fellas! Have a wonderful day! Game On!
I havent played it but im surprised no comparisons to Dice Throne Adventures? Another head to head game with unique characters that they managed to make coop and use any characters youd like
It's awesome to hear how much positivity this game got. I am super happy I backed this one and this is also my first Unmatched set as well. It just came in the mail and I can't wait to table this. Keep up the good work guys!
This is my first Unmatched set and introduction to the universe. I love that you have that coop experience but can also play the traditional pvp mode if you wish as well as bring other fighters to this game. I was a bit overwhelmed with the multiple rulebooks and needing to go back and forth between the set's rulebooks and general unmatched rulebook but it didn't take as long to understand how to play. I have gone 1-2 as a solo player (I blame the nasty jersey devil burning through my deck in game 1) and was able to play my first 4player coop yesterday and we managed to win just barely. I agree that a 4player mode does get a bit longer specially when you are just down to the main boss and its just a matter of time to get the win so you are trying to play a bit quicker to get the game over with. 2player mode felt great but Mothman won by achieving it's objective with just 3 health left! Excited to test out a 3player mode. The game is solid and it already has me looking at some other unmatched sets and tierlists to pick the best possible one gameplay-wise to add to this set. I have my eyes on Cobble and Fog at the moment :)
Wow! I bought the very 1st set on the first UK release date. I was at the first ever UK GAMES EXPO and no retainer had bought a copy despite it being released the same day. Amazing how far the game has come. I wasn’t going to get this set before but I am now based on this review. Thanks guys!
I'm backed this after watching the live play they did. I looked like so much fun. About having to know how to play Unmatched with this. It comes with a Unmatched core rules book. so new players just need this box to play.
I love Unmatched I always want to play bothering my friends in always asking. And I still like the regular one more butttt it's indeed cool to have a different mode and there there are 4 new dope fighters to boot.
Two games I eyed for quite some time have been Unmatched and Wildlands, but didn't really need another two player battler when getting two player games to the table is hard for me. Then Wildands came out with a coop expansion, and I immediately put the whole game on my wish list. Once I picked it up, I was not disappointed. I feel like this will do for me what Wildlands: The Ancients did for that game. I now very much look forward to pick up Unmatched Adventures and some sets, and get to exploring the game!
The Cryptid theme and board layout reminds me of Horrified. I love the fact you can bring in Marvel characters to fight against theses classic horror movie creatures.
Maybe it's because I'm not American, or more likely I'm just ignorant, but I have no idea who or what Golden Bat, Annie Christmas, Jill Trent, Jersey Devil, Loveland Frog, or Mothman are. I've never been less enthused for a bunch of Unmatched characters than these. Otherwise I think the decision to give each minion their own deck and mechanical twist is exciting and clever. The system seems to have a lot of expansion potential so hopefully it does well. I did miss in the review if they said the coop board was useable in the competitive mode. It looks much larger than other sets so I'm wondering how that would work.
Even as an American, I had to look up who a lot of those were. Golden Bat is a Japanese superhero (pre-dating Superman), and Jill Trent is an American oulp detective character but I don't most Americans knew her either. One of the fun things about Unmatched is learning more about their historical/legendary characters.
I suppose I enjoyed the game Watergate despite not knowing much about the scandal either. With Unmatched though, I like to get excited about matchups. I have some level of attachment to most Unmatched characters, whether that comes from love, love to hate, childhood nostalgia. It's kind of anticlimactic to bring characters like that up against random character X that I've only just heard of. But you can't please everyone with every box, and I'm happy to see Restoration aiming for a diverse lineup overall to maintain creativity and expand the audience. Just a miss for me with this one. @@DTChrisYi
@NoFreeGames No worries. Some sets are inherently more interesting to certain people than others. To answer your other question, I suppose you could play competitively on these boards but I probably wouldn't since they have features specifically for their nemesis.
Rules say you can use the boards for competitive play, you just wouldn't use the specific things for the Nemesis. Example, for the mothman board you would not use the bridges.
I gotta say I agree. I freaking love Unmatched. One of my favorite games, but I alway disliked the boards being this polka dot fest.. then the Battle of Legends vol 2 cane out and the made one side of the board a hollow circle, and I loved it! I was certain that it would be the new format, but them they reverted. I assume people said they could not tell what zones were what. But I liked it.
I’m interested in trying this, cause you say “no reason to reinvent the wheel”, but to me Unmatched has always been a game I didn’t like because it was head to head… some matches things snowball and I just never have fun when it’s one person punching down at the other the whole time. The notion of it as a co-op, where a power imbalance isn’t going to just recolor things into a one-sided forgone conclusion, that’s a huge improvement
Maybe the most exciting part about UMA co-op is that there's an entirely diffierent meta. Top tier characters in 1v1 like Sherlock aren't nearly as dominant, but some characters that are super low tier like the Buffy characters are actually pretty good!
Good to know! since Buffy is one of the two sets I already own (along with Cobble and Fog) Can't wait for my copy of UMA to arrive. The characters look awesome in this one.
@hondito Especially since you more or less control where villains/Minions are supposed to go, characters like Spike who need a certain setup for their best interactions get sorta nuts!
can you also play 1-1 or 1-1-1 not co-op with this set? i have not played any unmatched and this looks like a nice start set i like co-op but i also like just vs other players and i read no where that you can do that?
Short answer is yes. You would be able to use the 4 heroes in a competitive match, but not Mothman nor Invaders. The board is double-sided, so you could use either setting, but I'd think you'd want to play without the bridges on the Mothman side. I think (not sure) that the maps are bigger than average, so maneuvering the arena might be a little looser than normal. The box contains a full base rule book for competitive mode in addition to the co-op rules.
I'm with you. This has made me open those expansions that I rarely if ever use, just to see how they will stack up. (And thematically the buffy crew would fit right in.)
I'd be really curious to see how this lines up against "Horrified" in terms of a co-op experience. That game is a hit between my group, and this feels much less scalable or repayable over time unless you own all the different games. Looks awesome though I wish the board was a bit prettier.. it looks super boring and doesn't feel thematic either. Such high scores means next chance I get I gotta give it a go!
The board is definitely function over form, but you'll definitely appreciate that function when there is so much going on during some of your games. Hope you enjoy it!
Would you say this is in the same realm as Marvel United, and if so, which one would be the best purchase? I have nothin from either line at the moment.
I just received the retail version, and it came with a Core rules booklet, explaining the normal competitive Unmatched rules. So that shouldn't be an issue.
My point was that someone new to Unmatched with this box hoping to play cooperative has to first learn the competitive mode, then see how the co-op rules fit into the framework. That is basically my one concern, but otherwise it's phenomenal all around! -Chris
Only 9,5!?! Why do you hate the game Chris?! I need to get it. Hope they do a few more coop scenarios down the line. A Marvel one would be nice as well.
Looks like poor-man's "Horrified" knock-off. Cards and components have a great art, figurines are excellent, but the board art is a total lackluster though.
This might be the highest ratings I've ever seen from DT. Can't believe Chris gave it such a low score!
I'm not sure I've ever seen more than one 10 in one review. And here we have three 10s and one 9.5.
It is the highest rating ever
I’m 100% sure
Incredible
Yeah, there's always the grumpy one... ;)
Fairly sure Earth was the last one this high. Convinced me to order a copy.
'I can play with my wife and we will be friends afterwards" - that should be on the box!
I'm glad I preordered it! Can't wait to play it!
"I can play with my wife, and we will be friends afterward. That's huge."
This resonates with me. So happy I backed this.
This is exactly what I was hoping for 🎉
This review have made my day. I originally bought this game because I couldn't find players for my Unmatched sets but it looks like this is just what I have been looking for. Very excited and can't wait for my copy to arrive.
The overview didn't explain THE CENTRAL MOST IMPORTANT thing of the whole product. How does the enemy act during his turn? That's what this product is all about. Automating the opposing player is the whole selling point. Short version: The villain will not take two actions. It will attack once, moving as necessary to do so. Movement speed is on the activation card. Targeting priority is: 1. adjacent, 2. closest within move range, 3. no target. If the villain can't move and attack he remains where he is and the threat marker will be advanced instead. Villains attack by just using the top card of the villain deck turned over, all effects and values are printed on it.
I can't wait to take Sherlock Holmes, Nikola Tesla, and Harry Houdini up against the Martians. :)
19:25
I only did two plays of two player but this was not my experience. We honestly breezed through the first two rounds and I was scared it was going to be too easy. Then things started getting a little worse every round and I realized how quickly things go sideways. We still won both games but it was pretty close. The first game especially was literally at the buzzer.
wow, what a review, I only have cobble and fog and have trouble tabling it with my family because it is so competitive and head to head, but I might need to get this now to pair with that set... fantastic.
same situation :)
Same!
One thing that they do well is even if there is a card ability that doesn’t transfer over well into co op you can discard those cards to keep the villains from completing there objectives so bad cards are just support cards😅
Great point, that's a good use for them.
Not at all related to the game itself, but I'm glad this gives more attention to the Loveland Frogman! A much less referenced cryptid.
I'm so glad I bet on this one! I'm one of those players who loves asymmetry and tactical card play but prefers co-op over competitive. I'm excited for my copy to arrive!
Well OK, I guess I didn't make a mistake backing this but by leaving it on my dining room table unopened for the last few days. Really just got it to, hopefully, get some solo use out of my shelf of Unmatched and would love if it winds up having legs despite only the two villains. Now we need a Tamashii review since that's also been sitting and waiting on my table.
I was on the fence on this, since I haven't played much unmatched and only have one set. But I did end up backing it, and you guys are making me really glad that i did! Thanks fellas! Have a wonderful day! Game On!
Never played unmatched. But I love 60s sci-fi and my wife enjoys co-op games. Seems like a must have game.
I havent played it but im surprised no comparisons to Dice Throne Adventures? Another head to head game with unique characters that they managed to make coop and use any characters youd like
I was going to get this, but Chris has convinced me otherwise.
How do you rate replayability? I missed that in review.
YES! Mine arrives tomorrow - you all got me hyped!
looks amazing, golden bat is like bigfoot mixed with dracula and i think that’s perfect
It's awesome to hear how much positivity this game got. I am super happy I backed this one and this is also my first Unmatched set as well. It just came in the mail and I can't wait to table this. Keep up the good work guys!
Alrightey then!! Cant wait for my Kickstarter copy to arrive!
This is my first Unmatched set and introduction to the universe. I love that you have that coop experience but can also play the traditional pvp mode if you wish as well as bring other fighters to this game. I was a bit overwhelmed with the multiple rulebooks and needing to go back and forth between the set's rulebooks and general unmatched rulebook but it didn't take as long to understand how to play. I have gone 1-2 as a solo player (I blame the nasty jersey devil burning through my deck in game 1) and was able to play my first 4player coop yesterday and we managed to win just barely. I agree that a 4player mode does get a bit longer specially when you are just down to the main boss and its just a matter of time to get the win so you are trying to play a bit quicker to get the game over with. 2player mode felt great but Mothman won by achieving it's objective with just 3 health left! Excited to test out a 3player mode.
The game is solid and it already has me looking at some other unmatched sets and tierlists to pick the best possible one gameplay-wise to add to this set. I have my eyes on Cobble and Fog at the moment :)
Definitely the best Unmatched set so far! The co-op is fun and the four hero’s are great.
Wow! I bought the very 1st set on the first UK release date. I was at the first ever UK GAMES EXPO and no retainer had bought a copy despite it being released the same day. Amazing how far the game has come. I wasn’t going to get this set before but I am now based on this review. Thanks guys!
Epic scores for an epic product, so satisfying when something you're so excited for gets such positive reviews, thanks DT!
I'm backed this after watching the live play they did. I looked like so much fun.
About having to know how to play Unmatched with this. It comes with a Unmatched core rules book. so new players just need this box to play.
I love Unmatched I always want to play bothering my friends in always asking. And I still like the regular one more butttt it's indeed cool to have a different mode and there there are 4 new dope fighters to boot.
Two games I eyed for quite some time have been Unmatched and Wildlands, but didn't really need another two player battler when getting two player games to the table is hard for me. Then Wildands came out with a coop expansion, and I immediately put the whole game on my wish list. Once I picked it up, I was not disappointed.
I feel like this will do for me what Wildlands: The Ancients did for that game. I now very much look forward to pick up Unmatched Adventures and some sets, and get to exploring the game!
I’m not familiar with wildlands
The Cryptid theme and board layout reminds me of Horrified. I love the fact you can bring in Marvel characters to fight against theses classic horror movie creatures.
Yi -- you had one job.
Maybe it's because I'm not American, or more likely I'm just ignorant, but I have no idea who or what Golden Bat, Annie Christmas, Jill Trent, Jersey Devil, Loveland Frog, or Mothman are. I've never been less enthused for a bunch of Unmatched characters than these.
Otherwise I think the decision to give each minion their own deck and mechanical twist is exciting and clever. The system seems to have a lot of expansion potential so hopefully it does well.
I did miss in the review if they said the coop board was useable in the competitive mode. It looks much larger than other sets so I'm wondering how that would work.
Even as an American, I had to look up who a lot of those were. Golden Bat is a Japanese superhero (pre-dating Superman), and Jill Trent is an American oulp detective character but I don't most Americans knew her either. One of the fun things about Unmatched is learning more about their historical/legendary characters.
I suppose I enjoyed the game Watergate despite not knowing much about the scandal either. With Unmatched though, I like to get excited about matchups. I have some level of attachment to most Unmatched characters, whether that comes from love, love to hate, childhood nostalgia. It's kind of anticlimactic to bring characters like that up against random character X that I've only just heard of.
But you can't please everyone with every box, and I'm happy to see Restoration aiming for a diverse lineup overall to maintain creativity and expand the audience. Just a miss for me with this one. @@DTChrisYi
@NoFreeGames No worries. Some sets are inherently more interesting to certain people than others. To answer your other question, I suppose you could play competitively on these boards but I probably wouldn't since they have features specifically for their nemesis.
Rules say you can use the boards for competitive play, you just wouldn't use the specific things for the Nemesis. Example, for the mothman board you would not use the bridges.
Zee is the BEST!!!!
Love the co op version!! I hope they come out with more co op enemies!
What characters are a bit janky if you add them to coop?
Yeah we're going to need a list of ones to maybe avoid for people just jumping in.
I'd love to see a combination of you guys rank all the unmatched characters... All of them would be great, but I'd settle for top 10.
I just wish they could finally improve the look of the boards with those plain and ugly circles. E.g make them transparent a bit
I gotta say I agree. I freaking love Unmatched. One of my favorite games, but I alway disliked the boards being this polka dot fest.. then the Battle of Legends vol 2 cane out and the made one side of the board a hollow circle, and I loved it! I was certain that it would be the new format, but them they reverted. I assume people said they could not tell what zones were what. But I liked it.
The last few sets have alternate versions on the back of the board with a coloured rings rather than a filled circle.
@@EpicShoes How did I miss this? Thanks
Looks like some solid co-op fun.
I’m interested in trying this, cause you say “no reason to reinvent the wheel”, but to me Unmatched has always been a game I didn’t like because it was head to head… some matches things snowball and I just never have fun when it’s one person punching down at the other the whole time. The notion of it as a co-op, where a power imbalance isn’t going to just recolor things into a one-sided forgone conclusion, that’s a huge improvement
I would have like more information about the difference between mothman and the alien and the different minion decks
Unheard of! Great overview. Thanks!
Maybe the most exciting part about UMA co-op is that there's an entirely diffierent meta.
Top tier characters in 1v1 like Sherlock aren't nearly as dominant, but some characters that are super low tier like the Buffy characters are actually pretty good!
Good to know! since Buffy is one of the two sets I already own (along with Cobble and Fog)
Can't wait for my copy of UMA to arrive. The characters look awesome in this one.
@hondito Especially since you more or less control where villains/Minions are supposed to go, characters like Spike who need a certain setup for their best interactions get sorta nuts!
can you also play 1-1 or 1-1-1 not co-op with this set? i have not played any unmatched and this looks like a nice start set i like co-op but i also like just vs other players and i read no where that you can do that?
Short answer is yes. You would be able to use the 4 heroes in a competitive match, but not Mothman nor Invaders. The board is double-sided, so you could use either setting, but I'd think you'd want to play without the bridges on the Mothman side. I think (not sure) that the maps are bigger than average, so maneuvering the arena might be a little looser than normal. The box contains a full base rule book for competitive mode in addition to the co-op rules.
great thanks yes i heard somewhere that the map is bigger what allows you to play up to 5? but that would never be a thing for me@@JonTripp115
I also might finally get Buffy box out against them- might see if they work
I'm with you. This has made me open those expansions that I rarely if ever use, just to see how they will stack up. (And thematically the buffy crew would fit right in.)
The buffy characters actually work BETTER in the co-op setting of Tales. Added bonus for Tales :-)
Heard the Buffy set is pretty good in this mode
Whats up with the #’s in this video 😀
Thank you
You're welcome
I'd be really curious to see how this lines up against "Horrified" in terms of a co-op experience. That game is a hit between my group, and this feels much less scalable or repayable over time unless you own all the different games. Looks awesome though I wish the board was a bit prettier.. it looks super boring and doesn't feel thematic either. Such high scores means next chance I get I gotta give it a go!
The board is definitely function over form, but you'll definitely appreciate that function when there is so much going on during some of your games. Hope you enjoy it!
Brasil love this game!🎉❤
It's the best set yet 😎
Can you use SW: Epic Duels characters in unmatched? If so, there are tons of fan-made character sets that could be mixed in as well.
Can you play this game 4 player free for all?
Yes, there are rules for 1v1, three player free for all, four player free for all, and 2v2 teams as well.
I just received my Kickstarter copy. Excited to give it a try, thanks for the great review.
Welp. Now my husband wants to preorder this.
Trex vs mothman!!!!
Would you say this is in the same realm as Marvel United, and if so, which one would be the best purchase?
I have nothin from either line at the moment.
Classic Chris
Wow!! I’m even more hyped to table this game now!
Wow... 😅
I can't wait to hate this game! :D
I just received the retail version, and it came with a Core rules booklet, explaining the normal competitive Unmatched rules. So that shouldn't be an issue.
My point was that someone new to Unmatched with this box hoping to play cooperative has to first learn the competitive mode, then see how the co-op rules fit into the framework. That is basically my one concern, but otherwise it's phenomenal all around! -Chris
Meh. I really want JUST tesla for normal unmatxhed play, its so bad they dont sell individual charcters the way idk Neuroshima Hex does.
Tesla is a ton of fun in PVP. Pretty strong as well, this whole set has a good power level for 1v1
Only 9,5!?! Why do you hate the game Chris?!
I need to get it. Hope they do a few more coop scenarios down the line. A Marvel one would be nice as well.
Looks like poor-man's "Horrified" knock-off. Cards and components have a great art, figurines are excellent, but the board art is a total lackluster though.
Why does Chris hate this game.
Why did Chris hate it?
The aesthetic looks awful, the theme is just okay, and seems like it would be repetitive with the same objective (save the bridges) in each game.
Agreed, seems like I would be asleep in about five minutes. Flip cards, see what happens. Flip cards, see what happens. Flip cards, see what happens.
Chris, please explain your hatred for Unmatched
Man Chris Hates this game! 😂
Why does Chris hate this so much?
Ugh why did Chris hate this game.