Unmatched: Slings and Arrows Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Heroes of This Set
• Contents
• Heroes & Sidekicks
• How to Play
• Setup
• The Field of Battle
  • Spaces and Zones
• Your Turn
  • Anatomy of an Action Card
• Action: Maneuver
  • Step 1: Draw a Card (Mandatory)
  • Step 2: Move Your Fighters (Optional)
  • Boost
• Action: Scheme
  • Discard Piles
  • Maneuver & Scheme Example
• Action: Attack
  • Step 1: Declare Target
  • Step 2: Choose and Reveal
  • Step 3: Resolve Combat
  • Resolving Effects
  • Winning the Combat
  • Combat Example
• Defeating a Fighter
• Winning the Game
• Special Rules for This Set
  • The Wayward Sisters: Bubbling Brew
  • The Wayward Sisters: Three Sisters
  • Hamlet: The Question
  • Titania: Fairy Magic
  • Shakespeare: Iambic Pentameter
• Free-for-All
• Team Play
• Icon Reference
• Credits

The Heroes of This Set

The Wayward Sisters. The three witches figure prominently in the play whose name brings ill fortune on those who dare to utter it. [Aside] We're certainly not foolhardy enough to do so here! Do they drive the actions of the main character forward with purposeful hand, or be but able-eyed seers, announcing the inevitable before it occurs? Their true nature remains inscrutable.

Hamlet, Doomed Prince. Widely considered Shakespeare's greatest work, Hamlet finds the Prince of Denmark wracked by grief and driven by revenge for the death of his father by the hands of his uncle. Is he pretending to be mad, or is it not fully an act? In the end, it matters little, for only his friend, Horatio, remains to recount the tragic tale.

Titania, Fairy Queen. The Queen of the Fairies from Shakespeare's whimsical A Midsummer Night's Dream, Titania and her King Oberon are passionate and mercurial lovers. Their seemingly minor squabble results in turmoil for all – for though they are possessed of a beauteous and regal bearing, they are also possessed of the inscrutable and chaotic magic of the fair folk.

William Shakespeare. The Bard of Avon was a prolific writer, penning lines and breathing life into characters that echo through history. Only a handful of his 39 plays are referenced in this set. He is buried in Stratford-upon-Avon, where he was born, his marker bearing the epitaph: Blessed be the man that spares these stones, and cursed be he that moves my bones.

Contents

• 6 miniatures
• 120 action cards
• 8 health dials
• 4 character cards
• 5 sidekick tokens
• 2 hero ability tokens
• 1 game board

The Wayward Sisters

• 30 action cards
• 3 Wayward Sister hero miniatures
• 1 Wayward Sisters character card
• 3 health dials
• 1 cauldron token

Hamlet

• 30 action cards
• 1 Hamlet hero miniature
• 1 Hamlet character card
• 1 Rosencrantz & Guildenstern sidekick token
• 2 health dials
• 1 question token

Titania

• 30 action cards
• 1 Titania hero miniature
• 1 Titania character card
• 1 Oberon sidekick token
• 2 health dials
• 6 glamour cards

Shakespeare

• 30 action cards
• 1 Shakespeare hero miniature
• 1 Shakespeare character card
• 3 Actor sidekick tokens
• 1 health dial

Before you play for the first time, assemble the health dials by punching out the circles for each character and connecting them with a rivet.

Heroes & Sidekicks

All of your characters in the battle are called your fighters, but your primary fighter is called your hero. Heroes are represented by miniatures that move around on the battlefield.

Your other fighters are called sidekicks. Heroes may have multiple sidekicks, a single sidekick, or no sidekicks at all. Sidekicks are represented by tokens that move around on the battlefield.

Your hero has a unique character card that identifies their special ability. This card also lists your fighters' move value and starting health. You also have a custom deck of action cards.

How to Play

Players take turns maneuvering their fighters on the battlefield, playing schemes, and attacking their opponent's fighters. To win, you must be the first to defeat your opponent's hero, which happens when they are reduced to zero health.

Note: The main section of these rules applies to the two-player game, where one hero faces off against another. Instructions for free-for-all and team play are in their own sections below.

Setup

1. Choose a battlefield and place it on the table.
2. Each player chooses a hero and takes the corresponding action cards, character card, hero miniature, sidekick tokens (if any), health dials, and any other components for their hero.
3. Each player sets their fighters' starting health on the matching health dials. Starting health is found on their character card. (Note: Sidekicks with no health dial have 1 health.)
4. Each player shuffles their action cards to form a single deck and places it face down, then draws 5 cards as their starting hand.
5. Starting spaces are designated on the battlefield by a diamond with a number on it. The younger player places their hero in the 1 space on the battlefield. If they have sidekicks, place them in separate spaces within the same zone as their hero. If their hero is in a space that is part of multiple zones, their sidekicks may be in any of those zones. (Note: If you cannot place a sidekick because there is no available space in your zone, you may place that sidekick in any space.)
6. The older player places their hero in the 2 space on the battlefield, then places their sidekicks, if they have them, based on the same rules as in step 5.
7. The player whose hero is in the 1 space takes the first turn.

The Field of Battle

Spaces and Zones

The battlefield is made up of circular spaces that the fighters will move between. Each space can only contain one fighter at a time.

Two spaces connected by a line are adjacent. Adjacency is used to determine targets of melee attacks and various card effects.

The spaces of the battlefield are divided into zones, which are indicated by different colors. All spaces with the same color are in the same zone (even if they are in different parts of the battlefield).

If a space has multiple colors, it is considered to be in each of those zones. Zones are used to determine targets of ranged attacks and various card effects.

Some boards have the same battlefield on both sides. On one side, the colored spaces are filled in with different patterns, which can be especially helpful for players with vision deficiencies. The other side has empty circles, where zones are only indicated by the circle's color. Both sides play exactly the same.

Your Turn

On your turn, you must take 2 actions; you cannot skip an action. You may choose two different actions or the same action twice.

The possible actions are:

• Maneuver
• Scheme
• Attack

You can have more than 7 cards in your hand during your turn. At the end of your turn, after resolving any other effects, if you have more than 7 cards in your hand, you must discard down to 7 cards, placing any discarded cards in your discard pile.

Then, it is your opponent's turn.

Anatomy of an Action Card

• A — Overall card type: Attack, Defense, Scheme, or Versatile (attack or defense).
• B — Attack or defense value (if any).
• C — Banner name.
• D — Name of the card.
• E — Effect when played (if any).
• F — BOOST value.
• G — Deck that the card appears in.
• H — Number of copies in the deck.

Each hero's deck is different, though they may share some cards with other heroes' decks.

Action: Maneuver

When you take the maneuver action, you first draw the top card of your deck, then you may move your fighters. These steps must be performed in order.

Step 1: Draw a Card (Mandatory)

Draw the top card of your deck and add it to your hand. You must draw a card when you take the maneuver action.

Exhaustion. When your deck is empty, your fighters are exhausted. If you need to draw a card while your fighters are exhausted, do not reshuffle your discard pile. Instead, each of your fighters immediately takes 2 damage for each card you cannot draw.

Banner name. Each card in your deck has a banner name that indicates which fighters are allowed to use it. You may not play a card if the listed fighter is defeated. If the banner name is "ANY", then any of your fighters can use it.

If the banner name is for multiple sidekicks, such as Medusa's harpies, choose which token is resolving the card. (They may resolve it even if other sidekicks of that type are defeated.)

Step 2: Move Your Fighters (Optional)

After drawing a card for the maneuver action, you may move your fighters.

Your character card lists your move value. During this step, you may move each of your fighters, one at a time, a number of spaces equal to or less than your move value. Before moving, you may choose to BOOST your movement (see below).

When you move a fighter, each space they move into must be adjacent to their previous space. You may move a fighter through spaces occupied by other friendly fighters (i.e., your own fighters), but they must end their movement in an empty space (i.e., a space with no fighters). You may not move a fighter through spaces occupied by opposing fighters.

You may move your fighters in the order of your choice, but must finish each fighter's movement before starting the next. You are not required to move all of your fighters the same distance as each other; you get to choose how far each of your fighters moves. You are allowed to move a fighter zero spaces.

Movement effects. If an effect ever lets you move your opponent's fighters, you must respect all of the same movement rules, but from your opponent's perspective.

If an effect lets you "place" a fighter, do not move them normally — simply put them in a new space. You may only place a fighter in an empty space.

Boost

When you take the maneuver action, you may BOOST your movement. To do this, discard 1 card from your hand and add that card's BOOST value to your move value. Ignore any effect on the discarded card.

Certain effects (like Medusa's Second Shot card) allow you to boost other things, such as the value of an attack.

Cards that can no longer legally be played, because the corresponding fighter or fighters have been defeated, may still be discarded from your hand to boost.

Action: Scheme

When you take the scheme action, choose a scheme card (indicated by the scheme icon) from your hand. Declare which of your undefeated fighters is resolving the scheme card and play it onto the table, face up.

Resolve the card's effect, then place the card into your discard pile.

Discard Piles

Maintain your own discard pile. All action cards, once played and resolved, should be placed in the discard pile. Keep your discard pile face up to differentiate it from your deck.

Both you and your opponent are allowed to look through your discard pile at any time.

Maneuver & Scheme Example

Ken is playing King Arthur. Madison is playing Medusa. It's Ken's turn, and he is low on cards and nearly surrounded by Medusa and her harpies.

For his first action, Ken plays a scheme card, Prophecy. After resolving its effect, Ken has 2 additional cards in hand and decides to make a strategic retreat.

For his second action, Ken maneuvers. He draws a card and then chooses to boost his move with Noble Sacrifice, which boosts King Arthur's normal movement of 2 up to 5. Ken moves King Arthur 4 spaces (passing through his sidekick, Merlin) to a safer position. He decides not to move Merlin.

Action: Attack

When you take the attack action, declare which of your fighters is attacking and who the target is. You may not take the attack action if you do not have an attack card in hand or a valid target to attack.

Step 1: Declare Target

Any fighter may use a melee attack to target a fighter in an adjacent space, regardless of what zone they are in. Melee fighters (indicated by the melee icon on their character card) may only make melee attacks.

Ranged fighters (indicated by the ranged icon on their character card) may also make ranged attacks. A ranged attack targets a fighter anywhere in the same zone as the attacker, regardless of adjacency.

Step 2: Choose and Reveal

As the attacker, choose an attack card from your hand and play it face down in front of you; it must be a card that your attacking fighter is allowed to use. Then, the defender may (but is not required to) choose a defense card from their hand and play it face down in front of them; it must be a card their defending fighter is allowed to use.

Once both players have chosen their cards, reveal them at the same time. Then, resolve combat.

Versatile cards. Cards with the versatile icon are versatile cards. They can be used as attack cards or defense cards. Versatile cards also count as both attack cards and defense cards for the purposes of other game effects.

Combat effects. Effects that resolve in combat have labels indicating when they occur: immediately, during combat, or after combat. Effects can be on played attack and defense cards or elsewhere, such as a character card.

If two effects would ever appear to resolve at the same time, the defender's effect resolves first. If two different effects by the same player happen at the same time, that player determines the order they are resolved.

Even if a player's fighter is defeated during the combat, any effects of their played card will still resolve. Nevertheless, some effects might not trigger (for example, if it requires the defeated fighter to be adjacent to another fighter).

Step 3: Resolve Combat

Combat is resolved in the following steps:

• IMMEDIATELY: After cards have been revealed, resolve any effects that occur immediately. These effects often cancel other effects.
• DURING COMBAT: Resolve any effects that occur during combat. These effects often change the attack or defense values.
• APPLY COMBAT DAMAGE: Determine the result of the combat. The attacker deals combat damage to the defender equal to the value of their played attack card. If the defender played a defense card, subtract the value of their played defense card first. For each damage that the defender takes, reduce that fighter's health by one, adjusting their health dial accordingly. (A defender never deals combat damage to the attacker, even if their defense value is greater than the attacker's attack value.)
• AFTER COMBAT: After the result of the combat has been determined, resolve any card effects that occur after combat. These effects will often move fighters, draw cards, and so forth.
• CLEANUP: Place all played action cards into their discard piles.
• ADDITIONAL EFFECTS: Some effects happen "after attacking." These are different from after combat effects and occur as the last step after the attack is fully resolved.

Resolving Effects

Card effects are mandatory and must be resolved unless they include the word may. If an effect says that you may do something, you choose whether or not to do it when you resolve the effect.

If an effect lets you do something up to a certain number, you can choose "0". For example, if an effect tells you to move your fighter "up to 3 spaces", you may move them 0 spaces, leaving them in their current space.

When an effect refers to a card's printed value, that means the value on the card itself, ignoring any changes to it from other effects.

Some effects cause you to ignore a card's value. Ignored values are treated as a "0" when calculating combat damage, regardless of how and when they might be modified by other effects.

If any part of an effect cannot be resolved, resolve as much of that effect as you can and ignore the rest. For example, if an effect requires you to draw a card and your opponent to discard a card, and your opponent has no cards to discard, you would still draw a card.

Some effects cancel other effects. If an effect is canceled, do not resolve it.

Winning the Combat

Some effects check to see who won the combat.

The attacker won the combat if they dealt at least one combat damage (i.e., damage to the defender from the attack itself, not from any effects).

The defender won the combat if they took no combat damage from the attack itself (even if they took damage from effects).

Combat Example

Anna is playing Alice. Ken is playing King Arthur. It's Anna's turn, and she wants to attack King Arthur.

Alice and the Jabberwock are melee fighters, so one of them must be adjacent to King Arthur in order to attack. Alice has a move of 2. Anna takes the maneuver action and draws a card. She could boost to get Alice adjacent, but she has an attack card she can play for the Jabberwock.

Anna moves the Jabberwock adjacent to King Arthur to make a melee attack. She decides not to move Alice.

Anna attacks King Arthur with the Jabberwock. She can't play Looking Glass, a defense card, or Snicker-Snack (it's an Alice-only card, and Alice is not adjacent to King Arthur). She plays Jaws That Bite as her attack card, face down.

Ken has The Holy Grail but wants to save it for later because of its effect. He plays Skirmish as his defense card, face down.

Anna and Ken reveal their chosen cards at the same time. There are no immediately or during combat effects. Jaws That Bite and Skirmish both have a value of 4, so the attack deals no combat damage. King Arthur wins the combat (for taking no damage as the defender).

Both cards have after combat effects. The defender, King Arthur, resolves Skirmish first. Ken moves the Jabberwock 2 spaces away, next to Alice.

Next, Jaws That Bite resolves. Because Alice is the only fighter adjacent, Anna must deal 2 damage to Alice.

Defeating a Fighter

Fighters lose health by taking damage in combat and from various effects. When one of your fighters is reduced to zero health, for any reason, they are defeated.

Some effects allow a fighter to recover health. A fighter's health cannot go above their starting health. A defeated fighter cannot recover health.

When a fighter is defeated, immediately remove their miniature or token from the battlefield.

Winning the Game

At the start or end of any action, if your opponent's hero is defeated, you win! If both heroes are defeated, the player whose turn it is wins.

Special Rules for This Set

The Wayward Sisters: Bubbling Brew

The Wayward Sisters use their cauldron to mix strange ingredients and cast devious spells. At the start of the game, place your cauldron near your action deck.

Each of your action cards has an ingredient on it (snake, bat, or lizard's leg). Whenever you would place an action card in your discard pile (whether it was played, used to boost, or discarded by an effect), place it in your cauldron instead.

After you attack, you may cast a spell. Choose one spell that you have the matching ingredients for in your cauldron. You can only cast one spell after each attack, even if you have enough ingredients in your cauldron to cast more.

Resolve the spell's effect, then place all cards in your cauldron into your discard pile (even ones you did not use). You may use a card you just attacked with as an ingredient in your spell.

The Wayward Sisters: Three Sisters

The Wayward Sisters are 3 heroes. Each Sister has a unique miniature and her own health dial. When a Sister is defeated, remove her from the board like any other fighter. However, you only lose the game if your last Sister is defeated.

All of your action cards can be played by any Sister. If something affects your "hero," you choose which Sister it affects.

Hamlet: The Question

Hamlet is eternally confounded by the Question. At the start of your turn, choose whether the TO BE or NOT TO BE side of your Question token is face up. You may choose the same side as last turn. If you choose NOT TO BE, immediately deal 2 damage to one of your fighters.

• While TO BE is face up, draw 1 additional card each time you take a maneuver action.
• While NOT TO BE is face up, add +2 to the value of all Hamlet's attacks. (Your sidekick does not get this bonus.)

Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are a single fighter despite having two names.

Titania: Fairy Magic

Titania uses her glamours to weave whimsical fairy magic. At the start of the game, shuffle your 6 glamour cards and place them beside your action deck. At the start of each of your turns (including your first turn), if you do not have a face-up glamour, flip the top glamour on your deck face up. Its effects are ongoing while it remains face up.

Your glamour cards can only be discarded by effects on your action cards. When you discard a glamour, place it into a discard pile. Glamours in your discard pile have no effect. Do not flip a new glamour until the start of your next turn.

If your glamour deck is empty, do not shuffle your discarded glamour cards. Glamour cards can only be returned to your deck by effects on your action cards.

Example glamour — Glamour of Jealousy: When Titania or Oberon are attacked, before playing a card, they may swap spaces. If they do, your other fighter is now the defender.

Shakespeare: Iambic Pentameter

The Bard is crafting another memorable line. Whenever Shakespeare or his Actors use an action card to attack or defend, instead of discarding it, place it face up in front of you to add it to the line you are composing. Cards in your line must be placed left to right, in the order you played them. (Cards used to boost or discarded by effects are placed in your discard pile normally, not added to your line.)

Each card lists the number of syllables in its name and has a special completion effect at the bottom.

Each time you add a card to your line, count the total number of syllables in your line:

• If your line has fewer than 10 syllables, nothing happens.
• If your line has exactly 10 syllables:
  1. Read out your line (the name of each card, in order) as a proper actor would. This is your moment in the spotlight, so really ham it up!
  2. Resolve the completion effect on the last card in your line.
  3. Place all cards in your line into your discard pile.
• If your line has more than 10 syllables, place all cards in your line into your discard pile without resolving any completion effects.

After you discard your line, the next combat card you play begins a new line.

Example. On Shakespeare's turn, he attacks Titania, playing All Are Punished. After the attack, he adds the card to his line.

Since his line now has 10 syllables, he reads: "Et tu, Brute? Alas, all are punished!" The completion effect on All Are Punished means he draws 1 card immediately. Then he discards all 3 cards in his line so he can start a new line with the next card he plays.

(The line is: Et Tu, Brute? — 4 syllables; Alas — 2 syllables; All Are Punished — 4 syllables. Total = 10.)

Completion effects are only resolved when completing lines. When you complete a line, resolve the completion effect on the last card even if its other effects were canceled. Do not resolve any other effects on that card or any other cards in your line.

Free-for-All

You can play Unmatched with three or four players playing against each other using the following rules:

1. Choose a battlefield with four or more starting spaces. (Some battlefields have only two starting spaces and therefore cannot be used for free-for-all play.)
2. On a player's first turn of the game, they may only attack the player whose turn is immediately after them or a player who has already taken their turn. For example, in a game with four players, the player going first may not attack the player going third or fourth, and the player going second may not attack the player going fourth.
3. When an effect on a combat card refers to "your opponent", that means the other player in the combat.
4. A player is eliminated when their hero is defeated. Immediately remove their sidekicks from the board, if any.
5. The winner is the last player whose hero is not defeated!

Team Play

You can play Unmatched in teams of two with three or four players, using the following rules:

1. Choose a battlefield with four starting spaces. (Some battlefields have only two starting spaces and therefore cannot be used for team play.) Teammates sit next to each other on the same side of the battlefield. They may communicate about their cards and tactics, but each player controls their own hero and sidekicks. Your teammate's fighters are considered friendly fighters. (For team play with three players, one player will control both heroes and sidekicks for one team.)

2. During setup, players place their heroes in alternating order:

   • First player on Team A places their hero in the 1 space.
   • First player on Team B places their hero in the 2 space.
   • Second player on Team A places their hero in the 3 space.
   • Second player on Team B places their hero in the 4 space.

   When placing their hero, each player also places their sidekick within the same zone, as normal.

3. During the game, players take turns in alternating order:

   • First player on Team A takes their turn.
   • First player on Team B takes their turn.
   • Second player on Team A takes their turn.
   • Second player on Team B takes their turn.

   This order repeats for the rest of the game.

4. When a player's hero is defeated, immediately remove that hero miniature from the battlefield. That player still takes their turns as normal, as long as their sidekick is not defeated. If all of a player's fighters are defeated, they are eliminated and do not take any more turns.

5. When both heroes on one team have been defeated, the opposing team wins!

Icon Reference

• Attack — This card can only be used to attack.
• Defense — This card can only be used to defend against an attack.
• Versatile — This card can be used to attack or defend.
• Scheme — As an action, this card can be played for its effect.
• Ranged — This fighter may make ranged and melee attacks.
• Melee — This fighter may only make melee attacks.

Credits

Forsooth, Unmatched is our rose by any other name, and was restored from Star Wars: Epic Duels, designed by Craig Van Ness and Rob Daviau and published by Milton Bradley. Zone rules inspired by the Pathfinding System from Tannhäuser, designed by William Grosselin and Didier Poli and published by Fantasy Flight Games.

• Shakespeare Deck Design: Jonathan Guberman
• The Wayward Sisters Deck Design: Jason Hager
• Titania and Hamlet Deck Designs: Brian Neff, Rob Daviau, Noah Cohen, Justin D. Jacobson
• Game Restoration: Noah Cohen, Rob Daviau, Justin D. Jacobson, and Brian Neff
• Graphic Design: Jason Taylor, Lindsay Daviau, and Ian Reed
• Cover and Card Illustration: Zoë van Dijk
• Board Illustration: Nastya Lehn
• Rules Editing: Jeff Fraser
• Project Management: Brian Neff
• Marketing: Suzanne Sheldon

Thank you to everyone who helped playtest the game! You're all wonderful people. We mean it.

©2024 Restoration Games, LLC.