The challenge in The Fox in the Forest: Duet is to collect gems along a track, which represents the path in the magical forest where the musician is kept. We’re now using the findings from our co-discover stage to help plan the next phase of the project, our co-design stage, which will run from May – July 2023.

The 6 odd-numbered cards all have different benefits, you can gain extra points for playing a 7, or force players into losing a good card by playing an 11. On top of all this, the odd-numbered cards all have special powers that may let you cycle your cards, change the trump suit, or even win bonus victory points. Vitally, none of these powers are particularly aggressive; there’s nothing that’s going to spoil the laid-back atmosphere. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Having to worry about not just the number or ability of your cards but also the number of animal tracks, as well as where you are on the path and how many gems are at each node, gives both players a lot more to think about.

If your team lost, you score zero points but otherwise, you score points based on which difficulty level you chose, if you managed to win by the second round, how many cards you and your partner have left and how many forest tokens you did not use.

Forest school is an approach to learning that takes children into the great outdoors whatever the weather to explore the natural environment. The Fox in the Forest is a two-player trick-taking game from Foxtrot Games and Renegade Games Studios, with designer Joshua Buergel. So if you’re looking for a 2-player, co-operative trick-taking game that will entertain you for a long time to come, then The Fox in the Forest: Duet is definitely for you. A number of tokens are also in the box including twenty-two red Gem Tokens and four round Forest Tokens.

Typical trick-taking mechanisms only allow for three players plus, so as a board gaming couple, The Fox in the Forest jumped up our list of games to play, with a lot of high praise from other reviewers. Destructoid (7/10) also enjoyed the graphics and user interface, though criticizing weapon restrictions. This mode works fine, but it has a familiar complaint; the AI is dreadful if you are at all familiar with trick taking tactics. I would definitely recommend this for any friends or couples who are into board games that don't take too long (like Catan or Sythe), and who don't want to get too competitive with each other.

I usually learn a new game by reading the rules once, then setting up the game and reading the rules again as I take a few turns and play a couple of rounds. Use the special abilities of the characters to exchange cards with each other, then let your teammate follow with any card, and more. They let you swap the Trump suit card with a card from your hand, a powerful ability, one with more depth than I first imagined. Switch between various seasons on the fly, shoot and slash with your magic melee crossbow and snatch valuable loot to unveil the mystery of the 5th seasons.

There is no undo button here, but the game moves so quickly that the next turn has likely already begun by the time you would look for an Undo.

The new combination of card powers combined with moving on the path on the central board is just brilliant. If you leave them upside down, then you won’t be able to see them when you fan out your hand of cards. Forest schools allow children to spend their time learning and exploring the natural world in an exciting hands-on way that children love.

Its theme is based on an original fairy tale by Alana Joli Abbott – a theme that leads to beautiful artwork of fairy tale characters and woodland creatures.