Altema games has delivered something special with Unbroken. A harsh single-player game of dungeon survival, its mixture of resource management and steep diffculty may romance the many fans of Dark Souls or Darkest Dungeon, two best-selling video game series that I feel draws the closest comparisons. Not many board games come to mind that capture the brand of intense, nail-biting gameplay that draws upon twin feelings of vengeance and hopelessness. Setup is so fast and almost effortless that after a few games, it'll be second nature. It's abstract take on dungeon crawling greatly reduces the randomness seen in many board games, making every player choice more deliberate and defined. Death comes quickly in almost every playthrough, more often through a difficult decision between Encounter cards than the random attack of a monster. Magically, Unbroken makes this experience fun. Incidentally, Unbroken may be the perfect companion game for our current lives in solitude. The unintentional timing of this release couldn't be more perfect. The death of your traveling companions, the struggle for survival, the tinge of despair, all resonate stronger today than when I imagine this game was concetptualized. You are alone, both inside the game and, as Unbroken was designed as a solo adventure, through the metagame. Survive, fight, escape. Fail, rinse, repeat. Every decision is yours and yours alone. Physically, the Unbroken game assets themselves are beautiful, with a few nitpicks. Unboxing it was a treat. Everything is lovingly placed inside the small box. Under the well-made rules manual, there was something I hadn't expected: a two-sided poster that I don't remember seeing mentioned in other reviews. One side has a collection of the heroes and "boss" monsters from the game. The other is a detailed hand-drawn dungeon map, with notations from whatever unfortunate soul trapped therein. It is a welcome touch. The lush, dark artwork is presented on fairly thin cardstock; I would have liked to see them thicker, but we'll see how they hold up to the many games I plan to play through. The small Altema fox token is a personal favorite, as is the felt Unbroken drawstring bag included to hold the pieces in. After a few games, however, I found myself not needing the flowchat that the fox token was included for, so he now remains inside the asset bag, sadly alone and unseen. The double "display" boards (a Kickstarter stretch goal) use wooden sliders and are cleverly implmented, although my boards had a fair bit of flash around the edges and in the tracks that had to be trimmed out. Nothing major to complain about, mind you, but simply things to be aware of. Also tucked away is an achievement sheet, something else I haven't heard about. A quick look tells me that I'll be in the dungeon for quite some time if I plan to tick off all of the boxes. Some are much easier than others, and it gives Unbroken more goals outside of simple escape. The included score sheet pad also teases victory, if you can survive; you made it out, but how much better, how much more efficiently can you do it next time? In the end, I recommend Unbroken for fans of horror games, solo play, and difficult games in general, in any medium. It's fun in a way few games are, and for many unique reasons. I haven't won a game yet, through many playthroughs, but I know that when I do, that vicroty will be glorious.
