Kids Say:

“I think that Fox in the Forest Duet is a great entry-level game, and it has a really satisfying mechanism.  It is a trick-taking game with a few wrinkles that make it feel fresh and new. You’re not supposed to communicate with your partner, but we broke that rule just a little. Maybe that’s why we won on our first try. But it’s pretty hard to win without cheating.”

Adults Say:

“Cooperative games are all the rage these days. Or, perhaps we should say, the lack of rage, since working together rewards collaboration and strengthens partnerships, right? Well, no. I’ve discovered an alarming truth about myself which is that cooperative games tend to stoke my ire towards my loved ones more than competitive ones. After all,  if they are trying to beat me and they succeed, good for them!  But if they are trying to help me achieve some mutual goal, and fail? Screw those bastards. That’s the last time I shell out good money to take them to a ropes course.”

“Fox in the Forest Duet is a quick and clean travel-sized diversion for two players. It’s a cooperative trick-taking game; sometimes you want to win tricks and sometimes you want to lose. You and your partner have to read minds and count cards to do it well, although as the Kid Review mentioned, illegal table talk helps. If one person wins too many times in the row, your princess-or-woodcutter’s daughter-or-musician-or-fairy-or-animal steps outside the forest glade, which is bad. I guess that degree of exposure to the elements is enough to scratch away a quarter of your communal  hit points.”

“And to further the terrors of this idyllic, pastoral nightmare, the forest keeps shrinking as you play. It’s like the board game version of Fortnite. Or the Hunger Games. Or Forbidden Island, which is already a board game. You get the point.”

“Look, if you’re jonesing for a cooperative trick-taking game for 3 or 4 players, we recommend you drop your duckets on The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine. But if it’s just you and your sweaty roommate, and you need something to pass the time while your casserole heats up, Fox in the Forest Duet is a decent choice. Just make sure you have a deep capacity for forgiving this roommate’s strategic imperfections, or you’ll be too angry to eat the casserole when it’s ready.”