The Fox in the Forest: Duet

This spin-off of The Fox in the Forest changes things up a bit, turning a competitive game into a cooperative one. This is a trick-taking game for two players. You have a pawn moving along a track. There are markers placed next to the track. As you move that pawn back and forth along the track, it removes a marker whenever it stops, if there is one next to it. Your goal is to remove all markers from the track within three rounds of play. You have to be careful not to move off the two extremes of the track. Do that too many times, and you will lose. 

Cards come in 3 suits. At the start of the game, a card is randomly drawn to become the decree, and the suit of the decree is the trump suit. Cards have movement values, ranging from 0 to 3. Odd numbered cards have special powers. The winner of a trick moves the pawn in his direction, and the number of steps to move it is the sum of the movement values of both the cards played. Standard trick-taking rules apply. You must follow suit if possible. You can't discuss your cards with your partner. Some cards are not dealt. You don't know exactly which cards he has. The game is about trying to maximise every move so that you are always removing a marker from the track. At the same time you don't want to fall off the track. That generally means you don't want one person to win too many tricks in a row. 

A big part of the game is making use of the special abilities of the cards. The 9 lets your opponent play a card of any suit. This flexibility can be very helpful. The 1 lets the winner move the pawn in either direction. When a 7 is played, you must exchange a card with your opponent. There is also a card that lets you change the trump suit. 

A round ends when you play all your cards. You will shuffle and deal a new hand for the new round. Some markers will be added to the track. The track will also shrink. 

The Fox in the Forest: Duet can be played very strategically. You can keep track of what have been played. You can calculate what cards your partner might have (you can't discuss your cards). There are many effective ways you can use the card powers. Compared to the original, I prefer the competitive original and find it more exciting. Certainly the cooperative version offers a very different experience. If you are in the mood for something less confrontational and more like collaborative problem solving, give it a go.