Misfit Heroes

A bear with a librarian's temperament, and a librarian with the arms of a bear.

Phil Walker-Harding designed Sushi Go!, Imhotep and Cities, and has a habit of building games that teach in ninety seconds and still reward a fourth play. Misfit Heroes is his tableau-builder, and the physical trick is the reason to look twice: every hero is two pieces, a base attribute card and a clear plastic overlay, sleeved together at random during setup. Human base, beast overlay, and you have something the box did not plan for.

You are drafting these hybrids into a tableau where their attributes combine, and the scoring rewards combinations rather than individual quality — a mediocre hero in the right place beats a strong one in the wrong one. Because the pairings are randomised each game, the same card is worth chasing one night and worthless the next, which does more for replay value than most expansions manage. Light-to-medium weight, and it lands in well under an hour.

Perfect for: anyone who liked Sushi Go! and has been waiting for the version where the cards are physically stranger.

2–4 players | 30–45 minutes | Age 10+