Good Games Publishing Unfair Medium

A little background about me:I play primarily mid-weight strategy games and was drawn to this game because my favorite game is Everdell (another tableau builder), but liked the player interaction Unfair added. I debated getting Funfair but decided to get Unfair due to it being crunchier and more replayable with more theme packs. I bought the game two weeks ago and have already played it 10 times (including solo and the ABDW expansion).Gameplay & Replayability:The gameplay is straightforward and not groundbreaking but offers some great strategic choices. Do you take a Blueprint (a Ticket to ride style contract where there's a penalty if you don't complete it) or focus on building your attractions or amassing coins/wealth? Your strategy will differ based on which theme decks you use (some favor coins, others attractions, etc.) and what cards you draw. You may not draw the cards you want and need to adapt your strategy accordingly. However, the market cards are cleared every round and as an action you can discard 1 card to draw 5 and pick 1, which helps you fly through the deck. In a two-player game, we always run through the deck. There are different mechanics for each deck as well - like alien abductions of staff members, gangsters gambling and rolling die, and dinosaurs escaping your park! However, some of these super thematic and unique mechanics are limited to a couple of cards in the deck (like the Vampire mesmerism tokens), which made me crave more of these unique cards, although I assume that wasn't done for balance and compatibility with other decks. Other decks, like Dinosaurs and Alien, embrace their theme much more.Unfair also has some decent engine building where you collect income each round, but what's really fun is the crazy combos you can build in this game (build X for free if you do this, bonus points for this set, etc.). And for the most part, I would say these are mostly an output of strategy vs. luck.In terms of replayability, this might be the most replayable game I own. The reason is that the base box has 6 theme decks and you only pick a number of themes to use based on your player count. Add in the expansions (with more on the way), and you have 14 decks to choose from and an almost infinite number of combinations of decks you can play with. For example, you could play a game of gangsters and dinosaurs, which rely heavily on dice rolls, or mix it up to offer competing strategies. The plan is to offer a different theme deck for every letter in the alphabet (except I) so there will be a ton of content for this game. There's also game-changers, with unique rules (shorter game, drafting for initial start, start with more money, etc.) that add variability as well.Take That:Let's now address the biggest criticism of the game, which is the Take That Element. Yes, there are take that cards in the game. However, these are usually part of Event Cards, where there is also another positive option that helps them and is usually a much better choice. Therefore, I typically don't see a ton of take that cards from other players in this game. There's also a World Peace Game-Changer which can prevent players from using the negative Take That event cards against other players, but I feel like that makes you lose that strategic choice in the game. I also think there are plenty of games in the Euro/worker placement/engine building/tableau building genre that are basically multi-player solitare. Unfair really separates itself from other games with this player interaction.There are also city event cards each round, which are positive the first half of the game, and negative the second half of the game. I was concerned about these, but honestly, they aren't too brutal and sometimes didn't even affect me. There is a game-changer available where you do not participate in any of the City Events, but again, the upside of the FunFair events at the beginning is too good to pass up. Mechanically, this also makes sense as you need more help in the beginning and can afford some hits at the end (thematically this is the city subsidizing you in the beginning and getting greedy once you're successful). This can be a little rough if it happens in the last round and you can't complete your blueprint, but it makes for some epic and memorable moments in the game. One other thing to realize is if an attraction is closed, it is simply closed for that round, not the entire game (very few cards can actually demolish an attraction). Also, the upgrades on the attraction are still active/generate income at the end of the round so is not as catastrophic as it may seem. It also teaches you to save some defense event cards to prevent these from happening to you and not just focus on attraction building (another great strategic tension). The negative round events remind me of those that happen in many cooperative games, like Pandemic or Atlantis Rising, which aren't criticized at all. In fact, I felt a sense of bonding with the other players as we went through these negative round events together.Components & Artwork:The artwork is fantastic and led by Mr. Cuddington, who also designed Tidal Blades, one of my favorite games. There's a ton of unique artwork in this game, which is fun to explore - especially as you aren't playing with all cards each game. The insert for the game is solid and leaves room for an expansion (or two if you really cram it in). The board design is also very thoughtful with one side supporting players playing side by side and the other if they are across from the table. There's also a rollercoaster mini, which feels super thematic on the board as it rolls down as the round tracker.My only complaint about the components is the card quality. They are quite poor, and bend after one round of shuffling. Fortunately, you vary your play of decks to spread the wear and tear.Solo Mode:The CHKO Unfair Expansion adds a solo mode, but you can print off the rules to play if you only have the base game. I was a bit intimidated by the flow chart presented and the amount of iconography, but my 2nd play was much smoother. The flow chart does simulate a real player pretty well, but there is some management involved with the AI as a tradeoff. More solo modes are coming and I hope there's one with less AI management (perhaps just flipping over a card from a deck for their action). The scoring also works as beating a set score based on which decks you play with. I found that a little disappointing as I prefer a solo opponent who has a unique score each time or levels of victory. I will also say as a new player (although I've played it 10 times), I've never come close to winning. However, officially the win rate is 45%. I still enjoy it as it's a way to play Unfair if nobody's around, but it's not my favorite. Fortunately, it doesn't change too much how you would play the game vs. in a multiplayer experience.Final Thoughts:Overall, Unfair is a 10/10 and my #2 favorite game of all time (behind Everdell and out of 160+ ratings). It's pretty easy to learn, offers great strategic choices, high replayability, unlike any other game, and has beautiful art. What more could you ask for? My only caveat is I wouldn't buy this primarily for solo mode.

As a kid, did you ever imagine running you own theme park? You thought you could ride all the rides, eat all the fried food you wanted, stay up every night to watch the firework show. Well reality just gave you a slap in the face. Running a theme park is an immense amount of work. You have to build the rides, hire staff, open up amenities, improve and upgrade your equipment to outshine the competing parks, and be on the defense of any “unfair” corporate schemes or espionage from the other players. Who will have the grandest theme park at the end of 8 rounds? Fingers crossed and good luck!Number of Players: 2-5Play Time: 50 - 125 minutes-Setup-To setup the game, each player choices one theme that they want to have incorporated in the game. Then you take all the chosen theme cards, separate them by type (Event, Park, Showcase, etc.) and shuffle them all together. Each player is given a main gate card, a loan card, 20 coins, and 5 cards off the top of the park deck. Once everyone has their hand of cards you are ready to begin Round 1.-Gameplay-Unfair is played over 8 rounds. In each round, starting with the first player you will play through 4 phases. In phase 1, the event phase, each player will draw an event card and then have the chance to play as many event cards from their hand that they want to. Phase 2, the park phase, is where you will actually be taking your main actions. You have a few options on your turn: you can buy a card from you hand or market on main board to add it to your park, or you can draw some more cards from the park, event, or blueprint deck, or you can demolish an attraction in your park, or you can find loose change (which is the weakest action in my opinion but can get you a few more dollars, instead of you taking a loan). After the action packed (get it?) park phase, you get to rake in all the money from ticket sales in the Guests phase. Finally you have the cleanup phase, which just involves round maintenance.I know what you are thinking. That’s it? The fun to be had here is how everything is thematically tied. If you play with the vampire theme, there is a staff member to be hired that can mesmerize other players staff to give you their abilities. If you play the pirate theme, a lot of the cards will be focused on getting all that booty. Your park can only hold up to 5 attractions so you must also be mindful of getting the most out of your limited space. At the end of the round, you must also discard down to 5 cards. You can carry event cards that you draw from round to round but they count against your hand limit. You will always be trying to weigh if any card is worth clogging a spot in your hand.Unfair can be mean-spirited because your actions and event cards can interfere with other players parks, but it is just a game and the game is literally called unfair so it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Depending on the themes you choose (Base game includes: Vampire, Ninja, Pirate, Gangster, Robot, and Jungle), the cards also allow for plenty of way to redirect or defend against any attack or event that could do damage to your park.If you ever get tired of the 6 base sets there is an expansion that has 4 more themes. Each game also comes with some “Game Changer” cards that you can add at the beginning of play to add even more variability.-Components-In the box there are: 86 coins (in denominations of 1, 5, 25, 125), 6 theme packs of 57 cards each, a roller coaster cart shaped round tracker, a game board, and a score pad with pencil. The components in this game a excellent in my opinion. The board is nice quality, the tokens are thick, and the cards are nice quality. A round of applause is needed for artist Mr. Cuddington (David Forest and Lina Cossette) as everything from the cover art to the board to the cards are covered in some of the most vibrant work I have ever seen in a board game. The cards are really nice with unique illustrations that are just dripping with theme.-Final Thoughts-I love unfair, it’s that plain and simple. I feel like a kid every time we open the box. It just transports me to a simpler time and theme without losing any of the strategy that a medium game should have. There can be quite a lot of “take that” but one of the included game changers is a world peace card that eliminates all interactive cards. Mixing up different themes makes you adjust your strategy every game so I am always surprised how my park ends up. It works good at all player counts but may be a little long at 5. If I had to find any con, it would be that when the final round starts I feel like I have already accomplished all that I wanted to. We will always play with the game changer that cuts the game down to 6 rounds. Its faster to play and creates tension because you know you can’t get everything done in time.I would give Unfair 5 roller coaster loops out of 5Board or Bust Scale:1- I would never play this again. I would not give this away as a gift.2- I would play this game if someone else had a copy but I would not buy it for myself.3- I would ask to play this game on occasion. Would be happy to receive as a gift or in a trade.4- I would purchase this game for myself. I can see this getting to the table a few times a year. Always enjoy myself when playing.5- This is exactly what I want out of a board game. Would never turn down a game and would ask to play regularly. Hard to imagine ever getting rid of this game.