Unstable Unicorns
STRATEGIC BUT CUTE + WICKED CARD GAME by RAMY BADIE (UNSTABLE GAMES, 2017 KICKSTARTER — over 400K backers, one of top-funded tabletop KS ever). 2-8 players race to COLLECT 7 UNICORNS in their STABLE while DEBUFFING opponents with MAGIC + INSTANT + UPGRADE + DOWNGRADE cards. Whimsical art of unicorns + darkly-comic effects like 'BLINDING LIGHT' + 'SHARK WITH A UNICORN HORN'. Extremely popular family + friend-group card game; MANY EXPANSIONS + spin-offs (Dragons, Rainbow Apocalypse, NSFW etc.).
Quick facts
Category
Party Games
Type
Individual
Players
2–8
Duration
~45 min
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇺🇸 United States
Estimated origin
Kickstarted 2017 by Ramy Badie (founder Unstable Games) — raised $2M+ from 400K backers; retail release 2018; 6 expansions by 2023 (Dragons, Rainbow Apocalypse, Adventures, Unicorns of Legend, Apocalypse, NSFW).
Olympic
No
Popularity
regional
How it works
Objective
COLLECT 7 UNICORNS in your STABLE first — while using NEIGH cards + MAGIC + INSTANT to disrupt opponents.
Rules
Basic rules
SETUP: each player gets 1 BABY UNICORN in stable + 5 cards in hand
Signature 1-baby-unicorn + 5-hand-cards start.
TURN sequence: BEGINNING PHASE (activate 'beginning of turn' effects) → DRAW → ACTION (play cards to stable/discard) → END PHASE (max 7 cards in hand — discard extras)
Signature 4-phase turn.
UNICORNS added to STABLE (in front of you) count toward 7-unicorn WIN CONDITION
Signature stable = victory tracker.
MAGIC + INSTANT + UPGRADE + DOWNGRADE cards affect stables + hands + gameplay flow
Signature 4 card categories.
NEIGH CARDS — 3 in base deck, can be played FROM YOUR HAND at any time on your opponent's turn to CANCEL a card being played (like counter-spell). Can be super-neighed (chain of neighs)
Signature Neigh cancel-chain mechanic.
BLACK UNICORNS + EVIL UNICORNS + NARWHAL TORPEDOES + SHARK WITH UNICORN HORN + BLINDING LIGHT are examples of cheeky card themes
Signature dark-humor + cute-art theme.
FIRST TO 7 UNICORNS IN STABLE WINS — even if others also hit 7 on the SAME TURN, first-to-reach wins
Signature 7-unicorn win condition.
Scoring
Race to 7 unicorns in your stable; first to achieve wins.
Win condition · First player to have 7 unicorns in stable at ANY POINT.
Equipment
135 CARDS (base game): 51 UNICORNS + 27 MAGIC + 30 INSTANT + 12 UPGRADE + 12 DOWNGRADE + 3 NEIGH
Signature 135-card base deck.
8 STARTING BABY UNICORN CARDS (1 per player, unique)
Signature baby unicorn starters.
PAPER RULEBOOK (~10 pp)
Standard rules booklet.
OPTIONAL EXPANSIONS: Dragons Expansion (2018), Rainbow Apocalypse (2018), NSFW (2018) with mature-content cards
Signature expansion library.
Terminology
- Stable
- Play area in front of you where unicorns accumulate — win condition track.
- Neigh
- Counter-card that cancels a played card.
- Super Neigh
- Neigh-of-a-Neigh — cannot be Neigh'd.
- Baby Unicorn
- Starter unicorn — cannot be destroyed by most effects.
- Kickstarter unicorn
- Frequently referenced KS-only reward cards (Nightmare Unicorns etc.).
Major competitions
Casual home + convention gaming; no formal tournament
n/a · Global home gaming · since 2017
Where it is played
Governing bodies
Unstable Games (publisher)
Founded 2015 · San Diego, CA, USA
Famous names & records
Famous athletes
- Ramy Badie (US, designer/founder of Unstable Games)
Sources & provenance
- Wikipedia — Unstable Unicorns— Wikipedia
- BoardGameGeek — Unstable Unicorns— BGG