Fort Sumter - A Five Second Board Game Review

Fort Sumter is a game I’m somewhat conflicted about.  I don’t quite understand the process that led to such an abstracted design that still felt like it had weird restrictions as concessions to the source material.  It feels like it would be too abstract to please the grognards. but too stodgy to please casual gamers. 

The cards themselves are fairly “samey” which prevents any truly exciting turnabouts from occuring. And yet, I had a decent time across my several plays.  It has some tense back and forth, a few unique twists on the 2 player card driven formula and doesn’t overstay its welcome.

My understanding is that GMT's goal is to create a series of “lunchtime” historical games, and perhaps it succeeds in exactly that niche.  I certainly have a hard time recommending this one outright, but I can’t quite write it off entirely either as I’d gladly sit down for another bout if someone asked.