Now on their turns the players place bids for one or several unicorns. This can be a winning bet for the winning uncicorn or a place bet for the positions 1-3 of a specific unicorn. The player places money on this bet. And if this bet comes true, the player wins. Depending on the odd of the unicorn, the player then multiplies the money on the bet and earns fame. If the bet was wrong, all of the money is lost. To have money is nice, but in the end it’s the fame that counts. As a result money is only a means to an end. Well, at least money is good to close deals with some miraculous creatures from the world of fables that offer various useful services and come in form of cards. For example you can contract on one of the unicorns last position, so you get money back even whenever the unicorn is last in a race.

Moreover, players can play magical cards to the unicorns to manipulate the race. These cards can have positive or negative effects for the unicorn they are played on. Of course these cards remain hidden until the race begins, but you can bluff and tell your fellow players that the card is good or not to further manipulate their bet choices. All that betting, contracting and manipulating takes place before a race begins. So, let's now have a closer look at the race itself:

Click on image to enlarge!

A race always begins by flipping all of the manipulate cards that were played to the unicorns. As a result, we learn which of the unicorns has a bonus in the race (for example it starts the race already one step further) and which of them has a malus. After that, step by step, movement cards are revealed and placed next to the odd table. Depending on the current position on this odd table, each unicorn moves one or more steps forward according to the movement card. Basically you can say: the higher the odd, the higher the chance that a unicorn makes a huge step ahead. But that’s not for sure. As a result a unicorn with a bad odd can still win the race, even more when some good manipulate cards were played to this unicorn.

The race continues by revealing more and more movement cards and moving the unicorns forward until all unicorns have reached the finish line. Depending on the positions of the unicorns, players cash in or loose their bets, collect fame and check their contracts for further bonuses. But no life without the state: fame tax must be paid for each fame point. That's where the money goes. If you don't have enough of it, you can raise a credit, but beware, you must refund the money with interest. Finally, depending on the race results, the odds of the unicorns are adjusted. After that a new round begins, new bets are placed and a new race takes place. After the fourth round the game ends. Now it's time to refund debts. If you cannot, you can only win, if all other players have more debts! Otherwise or in case of a debt tie, the players compare their total fame with the player with the most fame being the winner of the game.

Click on image to enlarge!

Unicorn Fever seems to be a children game. In fact when I opened the box for the first time, my younger son even said: Wow, a baby game! But appeareances are deceptive: it's quite the opposite: Unicorn Fever is a tough tactical betting game. A race of unicorns that run on colourful rainbows. Players influence the speed, the individual abilities of the unicorns and much more details of the race, while at the same time they bid on the outcome of the race.

Unicorn Fever impresses with its shrill colours and the cute unicorn pieces. The race of the unicorns itself is exciting and I caught myself deeply engrossed in the race. It’s not the game I had expected, it’s much more challenging than my first thought. But it’s no complex game in the end. The funny humour is already an attribute for Lorenzo Silva, Lorenzo Tucci Sorrentino and HORRIBLE GUILD. And this is again true for Unicorn Fever. The more people, the more unpredictable the race, but in the end the luck factor is not the main reason why someone wins the game. Great work as usual of this design team! Only thing I have to criticise: I often loose the game!