Unmatched is a modern classic. Unmatched, you might say, in the genre of miniature combat games. Accessible rules, punchy fights, card art that turns heads. It’s fun, especially for those of us who don’t generally enjoy player-versus-player miniature fighting games.

And then there’s Unmatched Adventures, a cooperative take on the system. The best of both worlds: all the fun of combat but working together to defeat a common enemy.

A lazy design studio might simply have created automated opponents and left it at that. Restoration Games is not a lazy design studio. Yes, the bulk of the game is indeed an automated boss and its minions fighting the players until one side is defeated. But the team pushed beyond that basic experience, adding little pressure points that influence how you approach defeating the big baddie.

A downside is that each villain is restricted to its own scenario, tied to a specific board and rules additions. You can’t mix-and-match villains in the same way as you can with the heroes. Mothman always tries to destroy the bridges of Point Pleasant, presumably to cause transportation chaos and highlight America’s overreliance on the automobile. Meanwhile, the Martian Invader is exclusively focussed on dropping aliens into the cornfields of McMinnville…

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Here at Meeple Mountain there’s a spectrum of opinion on the merits of Restoration Games’ Unmatched. I lean towards the positive. Partly because of the system’s easy rules, snappy fights and gorgeous production. It’s a hard game to hate.

But I’m also the ideal audience for Unmatched. I don’t play player-versus-player fighting games, as a rule. It’s the head-to-head combative nature of them; it’s just not my jam. Sure, I’ll happily block your perambulation in Tokaido, cut you off in Through the Desert and strand as many of your meeple as possible in Carcassonne. I can be ruthless as I claw towards victory, but that victory isn’t dependent on you being eliminated, just inconvenienced. Perhaps it’s less honourable than looking you square in the eyes as I punch you in the face, but a game where the entire point is to whittle you down to zero health does not my boat float.

Unmatched is the exception. With its sleek rules and sharp turns, I don’t have to invest much energy into engaging with a genre that doesn’t thrill me. The stakes are lower, which conversely means I’m more invested in enjoying the experience itself. And there’s a lot to enjoy.

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