The Fox in the Forest is a two-player-only trick-taking card game by Joshua Buergel, published 2017 by Foxtrot Games and Renegade Game Studios, listed at 30 minutes for ages 10 and up. Taking too many tricks makes you greedy and scores zero.
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Trick-taking games generally do not work at two players. The whole genre assumes a table of people and a card you cannot predict, and with one opponent most of the tension evaporates. The Fox in the Forest is the exception, and it gets there by inverting the scoring.
Win too many tricks and you are declared greedy and score nothing. The target is a narrow band in the middle.
01
Why greedy scoring fixes two-player trick-taking
In a normal trick-taker, more is better and the stronger hand simply wins. Here, taking seven or more of the thirteen tricks scores you zero, and taking too few scores badly as well. You are aiming for a window.
That single change turns every trick into a real decision. Holding a high card is not automatically good -- it might force you into a trick you did not want. Deliberately losing is a legitimate and frequent play, and the moment where you dump a winner to avoid going greedy is the game's signature.
It also means the player with the weaker hand is not simply doomed. A poor hand is easier to keep low, and low is sometimes exactly where you want to be.
02
The odd cards make it a puzzle
Each odd-numbered card carries a special ability that breaks a rule -- changing the trump suit, forcing a lead, letting you swap. Playing one is always a trade: you get the effect, and you have spent a card whose number may have been more useful.
This is what keeps the game from being solved. The decision space is small enough to hold in your head and rich enough that you keep finding new lines, which is a hard balance for a card game this compact.
03
Who should skip it
Skip it if neither of you has played a trick-taking game before. Following suit and trumps are assumed knowledge, and layering greedy scoring on top of an unfamiliar base is how a good game gets a bad first impression. Learn on something conventional first.
Skip it if you want a long arc. Rounds are short and self-contained, and while that makes it excellent as an evening filler, people who want to build something across an hour will not find it here.
What we would buy
Picks drawn from the games covered on this site, chosen against the criteria above.
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A trick-taking game for two that actually works, which almost no trick-taker manages.
A two-player-only trick-taking card game. Winning too many tricks makes you greedy and scores nothing, so the game is about landing in a narrow band -- and odd-numbered cards each break a rule.
Players
2
Playing time
30 minutes
Age
10+
Designer
Joshua Buergel
Publisher
Foxtrot Games / Renegade Game Studios
Published
2017
Who should skip it
Skip it if neither of you has played a trick-taking game before. The scoring rewards losing on purpose, and that lands badly cold.
Built for two2 players · 30 minutes · ages 10 and up
Old enough to vote and still the cleanest press-your-luck card game for two.
A two-player-only card game about mounting expeditions. Every card you play must be higher than the last on that color, so committing early is how you score and also how you go negative.
Players
2
Playing time
30 minutes
Age
10 and up
Designer
Reiner Knizia
Publisher
Kosmos / Rio Grande Games
Published
1999
Who should skip it
Skip it if a run of bad draws will sour the evening. The cards decide more here than in anything else we recommend.
Built for two2 players · 30 minutes · ages 12 and up
The best first two-player card game there is: five minutes to teach, and it keeps giving for years.
A two-player-only trading card game. You collect and sell goods in sets, racing the other trader for bonus tokens that shrink as they are taken. Best of three rounds decides it.
Players
2
Playing time
30 minutes
Age
12 and up
Designer
Sebastien Pauchon
Publisher
Asmodee / GameWorks
Published
2009
Who should skip it
Skip it if you want a board on the table. This is cards and tokens, and it looks slight next to a game with a map.
+−Is The Fox in the Forest a two-player-only game?
Yes. It is published for exactly 2 players, at 30 minutes for ages 10 and up.
+−Why is winning too many tricks bad?
Taking too many makes you greedy and scores nothing for the round. The scoring targets a middle band, which is what makes trick-taking work with only two players.
+−Do I need to know how to play trick-taking games first?
It helps a great deal. Following suit and trumps are assumed, so if neither of you has played one before, learn on a conventional trick-taker first.
+−Is it good for date night?
Yes, provided you both have card-game footing. It is short, sits on a small area of table, and works on a coffee table with the two of you side by side.
