This two-player card game of memory and skill is a good way to kick off your games night

As a reimagining of many a timeless, trick-taking trump game, Fox in the Forest adds a mythical twist to the genre, with powerful cards to immerse you in tales of generosity and kinship. Fox in the Forest is a game of temperance where, like many of the best card games, calculated plays are a necessity. But here, all-out dominance will see your kingdom quickly fall to ruin.

Taking cues from age-old parlour games like Whist and Trump, this two player game marries memory and cunning, infusing skill-based play with a folkloric facade of elements that switch up the flow of the game. And, like all good fairytales, Fox in the Forest preaches a poignant moral. One that turns the simple act of point scoring into a delicate dance of moderation and mediocracy.

Fox in the Forest features & design

• Win tricks by exceeding the the trump or lead cards
• Switch things up with special abilities on odd-numbered cars
• Go humble, or reach for a valiant victory, but don't get too cocky

Fox in the Forest is a trick-taking game wrapped up in a fairy tale bow; it features everything from witches and treasure to woodsmen and woodland creatures. These are all illustrated in a dreamlike, water-color style.

In terms of gameplay, it's simple. Shuffle and give 13 cards to each player. The rest form a draw deck, the top card of which is turned over to reveal the trump suit, known in this game as the 'decree' card. Players then take turns to play a card each, with the first determining the 'lead' suit — if the following player has a card of the lead suit they must play one, otherwise they may play any other suit. If one or more trump suit cards are played, the winner is the person who played the highest trump card. Otherwise the win goes to whoever played the highest card of the lead suit.

The winner takes the two cards, AKA the 'trick', and places them face down in front of them. No one (not even the winner) is permitted to check these, though the number of tricks stays visible to both players. The player who won the last trick is always next up to play the leading card. That is, unless a power card switches the leading player.

While the base game is a simple case of following the trump and lead cards with higher numbers, odd numbered cards might activate special abilities: from a trump-transforming witch's curse, to a monarch's demand for specific plays, to a magic swan that grants the loser the next leading play. These add an extra layer of strategy to the game, with a lot of potential for take-that action, or a good old switcheroo.

The twist of Fox in the Forest is twofold. Alongside game-changing special abilities, the winning player is also not always the player who takes home the most tricks. The end of round scoring table details four tiers: Humble, Defeated, Victorious, and Greedy. With fewer than three tricks (Humble) scoring the same number of points as 7-9 tricks (Victorious), there's a gulf of failure between the two, and a top-end score of zero for the Greedy player.

You'll continue past the first round, reshuffling, dealing and playing tricks until someone ends a round with at least 21 points. If scores are tied, the tiebreaker comes into effect in which the player who gained the most points in the final round wins. Very rarely, there will be a tie in the final round, for which Randy Hoyt of Foxtrot Games suggests an official rules errata of "play another round."

Gameplay

• Memory is a major player but blind play is just as satisfying
• Scoring system is odd but thematically apt
• Official tiebreaker is a little anticlimactic

Fox in the Forest is as much of a guessing game as it is one of memory and skill. If you can anticipate your opponent's goal tier – Humble or Victorious – there's some scope to use it to your advantage, building your expectations into an overall strategy. With a little card counting, your initial guesses graduate to form educated guesses, helping turn the tide as you barrel your way through an otherwise chaotic set of plays into the late game.

For new players, or those that struggle with foresight in numbers-heavy games, even the act of scavenging through your hand for a trump card can be as satisfying as conspiring for the crown.

While the scoring system might throw some players off balance, it adds a refreshing twist that helps cleverly tie fairytale theming and otherwise relatively generic mechanics together. I wouldn't call Fox in the Forest innovative, as such, but it's certainly a cleverly prudence-inducing revival of some all-time favorite parlour games. It's almost whimsical in its approach to the genre, which makes its cozy aesthetics all the more appropriate.

As much as the official tiebreaker errata is a little anticlimactic, this is the case in many games. It doesn't change the fact that the tension build up of a well-strategized run can be just as thrilling as one devoid of tactical tomfoolery.

Should you buy Fox in the Forest?

Capturing the mythical mood with gorgeous artwork, tricksy magical powers, and a two player parable with a poignant message to rival politically charged games like Spirit Island, Fox in the Forest is a clever refresh of a historically well-received genre. With immense replayability and high portability, it's a great game to take travelling, but since it features minimal changes to something that could easily be played with a standard card deck – and particularly as it costs more than triple the price of a standard deck – it makes it a little hard to recommend.

Still, while it lacks the spark of emergent narrative you might expect from a folklore themed game for the price, it does offer a cozy and sobering backdrop to a wealth of classic mechanics if that's what you're looking for. Otherwise, a 52-card deck and some written rules could fill that void for far less cash.

Ratings

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How we tested Fox in the Forest

Seeing as the reviewer already owned a copy of Fox in the Forest, they've been able to play it multiple times over a relatively long period of time. That means they are very familiar with how it works, which led to an in-depth critique built from hands-on experience.

For a better understanding of our process, check out how we test board games or the GamesRadar+ reviews policy.

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