Fugitive

Devilishly cute game. One of the most subtle deduction games I've seen in a while, and appropriately conveys the tension of the setting. After a handful of plays, I think the requirements for manhunts push optimal play toward cutting off the fugitive at the end of the line and then trying to reveal as many skip cards as possible. Well worth the cash in my mind, and will serve for a solid 20+ plays including the event cards (which we haven't even gotten to).

edit: 10 games in, we've gotten good enough that we can somewhat regularly win during a manhunt. Time to use the events to make it fuzzy. From a design perspective, there is a nuance regarding the manhunt cut off at 29 that feels like it came out of playtesting (similar to Power Grid's phase movement between 2 and 3 depending on when in the game it happens). In my last game, I specifically guessed up to 28 and drew as much of the final deck as I could and quit guessing then until they revealed the 42 (and then had enough of the third deck in my hand or hidden on the board that I could figure it out). Still, the game delivers on a thematically appropriate emotion; tension even if the ramp up is now much more concentrated toward the end of the game. Will try the event cards before deciding whether to downgrade from a 7 to a 6 or not as the final resting place.

Received June 2020. HNP

What a cool cat and mouse guessing game.

Looks good to me, but I suspect my SO will prefer Patchwork ...

Good, quick two player game.

10/2021 - 6 Fugitive is an easy-breezy little head-to-head pursuit card game. In short, the detective is trying to find the criminal by uncovering hideouts, and the criminal is trying to extend the line of hideouts sequentially according to a few rules. The criminal escapes if he makes it to card number 42 without the detective uncovering all hideouts.

Jon and I played a few times back and forth. I prefer playing the inspector, he prefers the criminal, we both think the event cards don't add much to the game, although we didn't try the 'catch up' variant presented in the rules. I think that might be the best one, personally.

Not sure how much longevity this will have, but it was a fun distraction that I'd happily play 5-6 more times. Anyhow, I've already gotten my five dollars' worth out of it!

A hidden movement game that doesn't overstay its welcome or its table presence.

(09/2017) I've enjoyed this game so far, but I haven't seen a lot of variability yet from game to game. I haven't tried playing with events yet, so that might very well change my thoughts on the game.