Unrest unleashed

✊ Unrest is an asymmetric duel game in a small box. It is about the final showdown between the Empire, a regime who has been ruling for a long time, and the Rebellion who are fighting against the oppression. 2p-only games get us excited instantly, especially if they have some clever twist like Unrest.

👉 The 2 players have different goals and different means of interacting with the game:
The Rebellion plays cards, trying to complete missions by having the correct cards in the correct place.
The Empire has 4 power tokens that they use to try to thwart the Rebellion’s plans.

Gameplay revolves around 5 Districts. If the Rebellion manages to liberate 3 of them, they win the game. The Empire just has to hold out until the Rebellion’s deck of cards runs out.

The Rebellion will begin each round by marking 2 adjacent districts as the area of interest and playing 3 cards - 2 facedown and 1 faceup. 🧐 This involves some bluffing and mind games. Then the Empire gets to flip 2 of their unused Power tokens to activate their ability - either peeking at a card, destroying one, relocating one, or blocking a district. They have to use all 4 tokens before refreshing them all again.

🃏 Cards are numbered from 2-6 in 4 different colors, plus there are some ‘misdirection’ cards. The goal is to play cards to a district in a way that matches the available mission cards that are randomized each game: e.g. “Have 4+ value Red and Blue cards” or “Have 3 cards of the same value”. Whenever a mission is fulfilled, cards are revealed and the district is liberated.

Asymmetry in games such as this is a double-edged sword. Of course it is an exciting concept and can lead to amazing experiences, but it doesn’t always work. We think that playing the Empire is just not as fun as the Rebellion, and the power tokens don’t allow for much agency. Another issue for us is how hard it can be to keep facedown cards in mind, so you keep having to check them (but probably our short term memory is at fault there 😅). Anyway, I like the concept and appreciate the small box 2p format that Unrest provides, and I am sure many will like this one.