Fog of Love: Initial Impressions

I jumped the gun and ordered the Fog of Love after seeing the AMA with the designer on reddit. The game offers a two player board game in the tone of romantic comedies. This premise was very attractive to me, as we lost our gaming groups in Arizona and with the kids, it was hard to form and maintain new groups. The romantic comedy was an added bonus for a game to be played with the missus.

We just finished our first run. What I found in the box was what was promised and more… Fog of Love is obviously the result of long and careful design. We may have a new favorite!

The game fulfilled its promise and delivered on the 2 player romantic comedy board game. We had lots of fun playing it! But what really impressed us was how well designed the game was. The interactive tutorial was a touch of genius. Just like tutorial levels in computer games, the tutorial allowed us to start the game without cracking open the manual. The decks were sorted and slowly introduced the concepts of the game with the aid of some additional tutorial cards.

The materials felt high quality, although there were some small issues. The decks for example were wrapped in easy open shrink wraps that were not easy to open. Or the color scheme for certain aspects were too similar to distinguish… Still these were minor issues.

The game is more of a story telling game. Imagine, Gloom, but instead of misery and suffering, focus more on romance. Considering how difficult romantic relations are, it is even more difficult to emulate a relation in a board game.  Somehow Fog of Love manages to pull it off. The characters end up having motivations of their own, and the story just spins itself.

We played through the first scenario, and had a good time through it. The other surprise was when I started packing the box back together. There aren’t very many games that pay this much attention to organization (Zombicide black plague is good but even that is not close to Fog of Love). The box contains separators, boxes, bags and everything you will need to keep the game together. Along with instructions in the manual to keep things organized.

While we liked the game, I am not sure if this game is for everyone. It is obviously easier to play as a couple. I can not imagine playing this game and having as good a time with a room mate, or a friend. I think this is not necessarily a downside as there is an under-served marked for two player games for couples.  If you are in the market for a game to play with your better half, this may be it for you too!