I played Fort for the first time a while ago and I was very impressed. Second and third plays soon followed and I’m already eager to play again.

As many of you will no doubt know, in Fort you play as kids trying to recruit other kids to play, eat pizza and horde toys in order to have the most fun. It’s a really fun and sweet theme and it comes out well thanks to great graphic design and art. The game has a super strong look and a lot of that is to do with the excellent character design. The game has a nostalgic feeling to it, which I love.

Have you ever played a game and straight away you can just tell that the mechanics and rules are tight? That’s how I felt with Fort. Within just a few turns, the implications of taking certain actions dawned on me and the depth of the interactions started to become clear.

Fort is a deck builder, and makes use of a really interesting mechanic where the kids you chose not to play with in that round (ie: your unplayed cards) become available for your opponents to take, representing kids leaving your group and going to play elsewhere. It means you have to think a few turns ahead as letting go of a kid with an ability you might need in a few rounds could be a mistake…

I found the game really easy to learn thanks to a brilliant how-to-play video by Watch it Played. There’s a bit of iconography to learn, but it’s all logical, and explained clearly on excellent player aids.

I’ve been really enjoying Fort. It’s a great take on the deck-builder genre which feels unlike any other that I’ve played. With an awesome presentation and a unique theme, I think Fort is a real winner.

[This review was originally posted on Instagram in October 2021]

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