Restoration Games announced the winners of their Unmatched character design contest via a Twitter update and press release this morning. The four winning characters are The Genie of the Lamp designed by Adil M. Geresu, Harry Houdini by Sam Crane, William Shakespeare by Jonathan Guberman, and Rosie the Riveter by Chet Dudick and Charles Peters. In addition to the four winners, Restoration Games also selected eight additional characters as unofficial “runners-up.” These other characters will make their way into Unmatched sets in the near future.
Of the winning characters, all of which were designed with feedback from the Restoration team, the first two that will be released are Houdini vs The Genie in a two-pack early next year. The other characters will be released at some point after that, although the structure and timing of these releases has yet to be revealed.
“We were stunned at the response we received to the contest and impressed by the thought and effort put into so many of the submissions,” said Rob Daviau, lead creative at Restoration Games. “We quickly realized we had more than four good decks, and we were excited that additional heroes meant we could be flexible in designing cohesive sets with strong themes.”
Aside from the news regarding the winning designs, not much else is known in terms of sidekicks, abilities, or maps, but here’s hoping they plan to include a board depicting a classic Houdini escape. Perhaps a new mechanic where certain areas of the board become locked by Houdini’s actions? And obviously, Shakespeare needs to come with a Globe Theater battle map when he’s finally released. I would also prefer brand new maps as opposed to simply an alternate art side like the one introduced in the Little Red Riding Hood vs. Beowulf set.
This year was already shaping up to be a big year for Unmatched, with four upcoming Marvel sets containing 12 new characters and a new Jurassic Park two-pack that will include the system’s first large-scale character in the form of a T-Rex. Considering the unique mix of characters coming out soon—sign me up for Moon Knight vs. Rosie the Riveter—it looks like the next year or so will be an exciting one for fans of the no-luck skirmish game.
Unmatched sets are co-published by Restoration Games and Mondo.
