Unstoppable

Unstoppable is among the best co-op/solo boss fighters I have played, and I would place it comfortably ahead of the much-loved Aeon's End. That is a substantial claim; the card crafting is why I am making it, because it is not garnish here but the engine that makes every session feel like machinery assembled under pressure.

Cards are double-sided: one face belongs to the player, the other becomes a threat or monster. You attach upgrades from the market, improving your own options while also strengthening the hostile half of the system; the interesting decision is how much future power you are prepared to hand to the enemy.

The base game offers three Bosses with properly distinct demands: a straightforward damage race, one with a branching story mode, and one built around managing combos. There are several difficulty adjustments too, while the constrained draw and draft keep luck in check: this is not a yolo solitaire exercise, but a game of planned sequences and, in the two-player game, actual coordination.

The combos do not announce themselves in the first play, and the rulebook requires some attention. Quite right, I think, because the game has enough substance to make learning it worthwhile. For a base set of this scope, it is difficult to ask for more: Unstoppable is demanding, substantial, and quietly excellent.