Disclosure: Meeple Mountain received a free copy of this product in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. This review is not intended to be an endorsement.
Tricks-a-Million
Trick-taking games have been all the rage lately. If you’ve followed my writing, you’ll know that I was once a trick-taking hater—until I was more or less forced to play them with my friend group. The mechanics are based on the old card game Hearts (or Spades), and the gaming world has seen all kinds of versions from Rebel Princess to Mü & More to Jalape-NO!. However, it’s a bit uncommon to see trick-taking games that are two-player only, notably Sail, Jekyll & Hyde vs Scotland Yard, and The Fox in the Forest Duet. Add area-majority into the mix, and now we’re moving into uncharted territory!
I had a chance to meet with WWBG at the GAMA (Games and Manufacturing Association) Expo this year and chat about this little card game. Lone Wolves comes from designers Yasuyuki Nakamura and Anthony Perone. It’s a reimplementation of an older Japanese card game called Four Clans Conflict and features stellar wolf art from Zingco Kang and Yuan Momoco.
There Can Only Be One Alpha
The game is played over thirteen tricks, and the player with the most points at the end wins. Much like any trick-taking game, the cards come in four suits and range from two through seven. However, the hierarchy wraps around—meaning a two actually beats a seven. The board is split into four regions, and each region has three “scar” tokens that can be claimed. Players will play a card into any lane, and the other player must follow suit—but can also choose which lane to play into. The higher number wins the trick, and the losing player flips their card over, revealing the one-point “lone wolf” side. However, the losing player gets compensation by picking a scar token from that lane; these can add bonus points or strength to a lane.
Once all scar tokens are taken from a lane, that lane’s suit becomes trump. If it happens a second time, the trump suit changes again. Once all cards have been played, players check each lane for the highest strength (value of played cards) to see who scores the lane’s points. Scar tokens will often modify this ending value as well.
The Wolves are Howling
This game is a sleeper for sure. There isn’t a whole lot of chatter about it, despite how strong the game is. I play a lot of dueling games bewteen my wife and one of my friends, and this one was a bit of a head-scratcher (in the best way possible). You’d think that with thirteen cards, it would be fast and easy—but in reality, each card played is a highly strategic and tactical move. The decision space is a whole lot deeper than I had ever imagined. We found that simply winning more tricks doesn’t necessarily earn enough points to win the game. There’s an art to purposely losing a trick to gain a scar token. Some of these tokens offer buffs so valuable that they can catch your opponent off guard during scoring.
Add in the fact that four cards are always randomly removed from each game, and it becomes hard to predict what your opponent has—or what they’re trying to lean into.
Suddenly, a card color becomes trump, and the rest of the duel changes course dramatically. Then it can change again, leading to a cascade of strategic decisions with every card that hits the table. The game is a blast because the tactical play keeps every turn interesting and exciting. Being able to play into any lane as the trick leader or respondent makes the area control mechanic just as important as the trick-taking. And to add another wrinkle, players can place scar tokens into any lane as well—making what once seemed like a sure win suddenly questionable.
Flip the board over, and there’s an advanced side that adds asymmetry. Chef’s kiss.
It becomes a skillful dance of deduction and control, with a memorable push-and-pull contest that’s sure to escalate into a best-of-three or best-of-five bout.
That said, the scar tokens are limited in variety, and you’ll likely see all of them by your second game, which can factor into your planning. Still, whether you’re a fan of trick-taking or dueling games, this one ought to be a staple in your collection.
Lone Wolves details
- Designer: Anthony Perone, 中村 泰之 (Yasuyuki Nakamura)
- Artists: Yuan Momoco, Zingco Kang
- Publishers: Gém Klub Kft., Origames, Pegasus Spiele, White Goblin Games, Wonderful World Board Games
- Release Date: 2024
- Player count : 2
- Age range : 14+
- Time range : 15 minutes
- Mechanism(s): Area Majority / Influence, Trick-taking
- BGG Geek Rating: 7.79228 - converted to Meeple Mountain scale: 4.0.
- More articles about Lone Wolves.
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