Unmatched: Bruce Lee

1 player, Competitive, Fantasy Tactical Skirmish

Designer: Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson

Artwork: Oliver Barrett

Publisher: Restoration Games, Mondo Games

Release Year: 2019

Origin Story

We’ve come to week 3 of my 5 week deep dive into the Unmatched series of games by Restoration Games. This week I am focusing on the only single pack of the series thus far, Bruce Lee. This set is not playable by itself and requires the purchase of one of the other sets. For a deeper look into the first two sets, check the end of the review for the links.

Components/Card Decks

In this set you will receive the Bruce Lee mini, his unique deck of cards and his life counter. The mini is looking good as per the usual with the Unmatched games, having a nice wash and fine details. As an extra this mini also comes with a sparkly ring base to make it really stand out. Now, my Bruce Lee knowledge isn’t quite on par with Bruce Lee fanatics out there but I suspect there might be a thematic reason for the sparkle base.

His deck is focused around his different fighting maneuvers. This is very interesting actually because depending on the fighting maneuver of card played, you might have different styles of actions open for you. There are six of these completely unique fighting attack cards in his deck but only one of each and each one will open up interesting text for combat but always give you an extra action. Bruce Lee is all about speed, he can jump in and out of combat so quickly and his special power really enhances this. At the end of his turn you may move Bruce 1 space if you desire. This allows you to run in, unleash a flurry of punches and then hop back out just as fast, right out of reach of your opponent.

Visual Appeal

Another amazing batch of artwork by the awesome Oliver Barrett. This man really has a talent for capturing the essence of what he focuses on and Bruce Lee is no exception. You can almost feel the impact of the punches just by looking at some of these cards. I seriously hope that Restoration games/Oliver Barrett releases some enlarged art prints from these line of games, I would be first in line.

Replayability

This set isn’t replayable on its own as it’s designed to be purchased as an addition to another set. That said, if you already own another set then this will only go to improve the overall replayability. So…..thinking of it like that, this set is HIGH in the replayability category. They really should just rename this set, “Replayability Lee”.

Positive Final Thoughts

I like Bruce’s deck quite a bit and how it works. Even though he is melee, he almost fights like he is ranged with his special of moving back out of danger after an attack. The mini looks nice and I really like the sparkly base.

Negative Final Thoughts

Since this set isn’t playable on its own you will need to have purchased another set first to play with Bruce. Because of that, this set isn’t a good starting point to get into the series and you will want to get your feet wet with another set beforehand.

The Bottom Line

Yet another interesting character from the Unmatched games. I appreciate this one for the interesting use of the melee abilities but am not a fan of the character himself as I was never a huge Bruce Lee fan. That said, with the low cost of entry if you already have another Unmatched set, this one is a pretty easy buy. Especially if you are wanting to add a bit of replayability without having to buy a more pricey set.