Fog of Love Review

There’s a feeling lingering in the air this evening. Is it love? Is it regret?

Fog of Love is a 1-2 hour gaming session for two star-crossed players. Will you make it work with the challenges life throws at your relationship? Or, will you find yourself arguing over whether or not to adopt a puppy?

Each one of your characters comes with a personal set of ups and downs. With every card bringing new twists to your love story, who knows if you’ll end up getting hitched or ditched.

Brief Overview of Fog of Love

Fog of Love can best be summed up with a simple equation:

• 1 part role-playing game +
• 1 part romantic comedy +
• 1 part area control

In contrast to most two-player games, Fog of Love isn’t truly about winning. You can’t call it cooperative or 1vs1. It’s more centered on the romantic (or tragically devastating story) of how your love plays out. 

Fog of Love is a relationship simulator where you narrate a game board sim’s love aversions and deviations by keeping their unique personal goals in mind. In each scenario life throws at you, you’re given a variety of scenes. From these scenes, you’ll make decisions based on what your character would do.

At the end of the game, you’ll review happiness scores, personal goal completions, and if you stay together or break up. This game is perfect for a rainy day; when you’ve burned out from Netflix and want a rom-com gaming experience.

Unboxing Fog of Love

The game includes the following components:

Structural

• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Game board
• 2 Dual-sided character cards (female/male)
• 2 Cardholders (pink & blue)
• 1 Custom insert to organize all content
• 18 Card dividers

Cards

• 110 Scenes
• 4 Love Stories (17 chapter cards + 4 synopsis cards)
• 14 Destinies (7 pink/7 blue)
• 38 Traits
• 60 Features
• 36 Occupations
• 30 Tutorial cards

Tokens

• 8 Choice tokens (4 pink/4 blue weighted chips)
• 80 Personality tokens (40 pink/40 blue wooden tokens)
• 2 Custom token boxes 

All jokes aside, you won’t be fighting over the organization. Fog of Love has a laundry list of components, but the designers made sure to keep us happy with personal organization boxes, dividers, etc.

It’s a bit heavy to set up, but the rulebook has you covered on any pieces you may be confused about. I’m mainly excited for you to flip through the scene cards. Some are so absurd, you’ll be questioning your problem resolution skills.

Diving into the quality aspect of this board game, the price point reflects the component quality. It’s a pricier game, upwards of $80 new, but the components meet the mark. 

The board itself is minimalist and clear, which is needed for some of the complicated game mechanics. You won’t ever be confused about where to put your chips (personality tokens), because everything is labeled directly. 

Token components are made of heavy wood; some are weighted for distinction. The cards are solid cardstock, readable, and straight to the point on the action-taking. 

I want to throw in a bit more praise for the organizational aspects of this box setup: including the dividers was a nice touch. Having a cardholder for the character’s traits is extra icing on the cake.

Other Versions

Hush Hush Projects are a modern, inclusive gaming company. Since this is a relationship game, two players, with male and female characters, the designers made versions for LGBTQ+. Players can choose between three different variations of couples:

1. Man and Man
2. Woman and Woman
3. Diversity

Wow, you guys! Never have I seen a game that takes these considerations in mind, and my little heart is oh so happy about it. Hopefully, this drives inclusivity in board games up a notch. 

The Diversity version cover art includes a man in a wheelchair twirling a woman in a dress. It’s one of the cutest cover images I’ve seen thus far.

Expansions

How to Play Fog of Love

Same as love, this game is tricky to understand fully at your first go-ahead. Don’t worry, I’ll break it down for you. 

Setup

Begin by each player choosing blue or pink for their player roles. You’ll then snag the cardholder, choice tokens, and token box with your color and place them in front of you.

Now, you and your co-player must decide which love story to play through. Find the synopsis, chapters, finale, and scene and prepare them for gameplay. Be sure to note any special rules in the synopsis, and adjust accordingly.

Here is the tedious part; the organization of the love story. 

1. Place special events below the synopsis card. These cards are marked with a star icon in the lower right corner.
2. Place the chapters face down on the chapter’s board game spot. The finale will be at the bottom, and chapter one will be on the top. 
3. Sort the scenes into three decks from sweet, serious, and dramatic.
4. Shuffle and place these three decks on their board spots.
5. Shuffle and place the trait, occupation, and feature decks.
6. Check the love story to find what destiny you’ll be playing, and give each player a set.
7. Whoever blew a kiss last, is the first player.
8. Take a deep breath, and begin.

Build a Character

Although gender has no influence in this game, you still need to choose a side of your character card (M/F).

The exciting aspect is choosing your player’s traits. This is going to make or break your happiness later in the game. Traits come with trait goals that will incentivize your decisions. However, your character might change personalities later in the game so you’ll have to adapt. 

Of course, living isn’t free, so you’ll need to choose an occupation too. It doesn’t make a whole lot of difference from what I’ve seen playing, but it makes roleplaying amusing.

Lastly, you’ll have features about your character that other players notice about you. They could be negative or positive based on your co-player’s character’s perception. 

There is a whole mechanism of defining your player identity in the rulebook. You’ll be choosing from a limited number of cards so you’re not created perfectly.

Playing the Game

Each turn is composed of the following actions:

1. Discard a minor scene to draw again. (This is unlimitedly repeatable).
2. Play a scene and resolve it. 
3. Draw up to five scene cards in hand.
4. Check for chapter end. 

Players take turns until the number of scene cards played matches the amount on the chapter card.

Resolving a Scene

Most of the chapter and scene cards force players to make choices. Whether it be both of you or only your partner choosing, decisions must be made.

If your partner chooses, it’s as simple as that, and they’ll receive personality tokens. If you both choose, it’s a secret, and the resolution is more intense.

Together, you’ll play out the card effects. You might have to change your personality, or get creative and tell a story. In some instances, your partner will be forced to reveal a secret they’ve been hiding from you. Then, things get messy.

Playing Destinies

Don’t forget to take your and your partner’s destinies into account when you make challenging decisions. If you can’t deduct what destinies your co-player is trying to fulfill, you may be left broken-hearted in the end.

You’ll both start the same with the same two destiny cards. You’ll acquire more and swap them out until you need to decide on a final one at the finale.

Game End

Once you write your chapter, scenes, and finish up your finale, the game of love is over. Select your final destiny, and add up points based on your personalized goals and secrets.

Once again, I can’t reveal everything in this review. It’s up to you how you write your own love story. Consult with the rulebook for final actions and let me know if you scored a happily ever after.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Replayability
• Storytelling

The four stories included provide limitless opportunities for a fresh gaming experience every time. 

Hush Hush has released some expansions to further convolute the decision-making process. As a player, the choice is yours on how you develop a strategy within Fog of Love. If you go for a “jerk” approach, you’re going to have a completely different experience than if you played like a lovestruck husband or wife.

In terms of playing the game, it’s a storytelling experience rather than a traditional board game. You and your partner need to actively step into the character roles for it to work. Without the cheeky dialogue throughout, it becomes a mundane card drawing routine. 

I took the opportunity to live out simulations in board game fashion and really enjoyed myself. I did end up single in the end (in the game, not real life), but it’s all part of the experience. If both players are fans of role-playing games, this could be extremely engaging to watch as well. 

Cons:

• Storytelling
• You need to trust your partner.
• Lengthy gameplay

Storytelling can be as much of a pro as it is a con depending on the types of games you both enjoy playing. I couldn’t see myself playing this game with anyone I wasn’t close to. 

Piggybacking on that note, another player I spoke to said she and her boyfriend got into a heated discussion following the finale. In real life, not just the game. I scoured other reviews online and found similar discussions. Turns out, a lot of players have a hard time separating their partner from the fictional character they’re playing post-finale. If you think this might touch a sore spot for you, it’s best to avoid this game.

It might sound like I’m judging Fog of Love a bit harshly, so here’s my last con. The box states games can take up to two hours, but ours lasted around three hours. Sure, we stopped for a drink break (it can get a bit hectic making fictional decisions on in-laws, finances, and infidelity).

Fog of Love Review (TL;DR)

Fog of Love serves romantic comedy with harsh decisions and occasional deep-rooted discussions on love. You definitely shouldn’t play this game with younger audiences due to some sexual references and adult-rated humor. 

Usually, our reviews can give you a quick guide on how to play the game, but this one needs a tutorial run-through, 100%. There are just too many deviations in the setup based on your story picks, characters, and secrets.

Conclusion: Verdict?

From my side, I enjoyed Fog of Love, but I’m not the kind of person that brings anything from the gaming table home with me. I can see why people are divided on this game. It will bring up real-life decisions that could hit close to home. It’s up to you if you could have fun with it, and take it lightly in pursuit of your fictional characters’ love interests. 

It’s heavy to set up and tear down, as well as learn. The tutorials do their job well, but sometimes I don’t want to commit 20-30 minutes to understand the ins and outs of a two-player game. 

When I have the time, I will try Fog of Love again, guaranteed. This game would work well for close friends wanting a laugh, light-hearted partners, and… that’s it. 

All in all, it was a totally different playing experience than anything I’ve encountered on the tabletop before. The different versions warm my heart, and the dynamics of outsmarting your partner were engaging. For storytelling games, it was humorous and zesty. 

Play Fog of Love if you’re looking for a rom-com movie experience in your next gaming fiesta. I recommend trying it before you buy it.

We hope you enjoyed our Fog of Love review! Have you tried this game before? Leave us a message in the comments and let us know what you think! We’d love to hear from you.

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