Review 8: Mice and Mystics

Mice and Mystics is relatively new, published only in 2012.  It is the first solo playing game that I have reviewed and it falls into the category of co-operative play.  This is a review that I have really been looking forward to writing; it’s a game that lots of people have really enjoyed playing:

Name: Mice and Mystics

Players: 1-4

Playing Time: 120 minutes

Suggested Ages: 8 and up

Awards:  2013 Games Expo Best Boardgame Winner

Game Setting:

Mice and Mystics is a story based adventure game.  After one of the players reads to the Prologue and the start of Chapter One to the other players the game is ready to start.  Each player then takes on the role of one of six different mice characters, adventuring through the castle of King Andon. 

Game Play:                              

Six mice can be played throughout the game and the players control one or more of them depending on the number of players and the number of mice needed for the chapters.  The players can play through a total of twelve chapters in Mice and Mystic. 

Each player chooses whether to be Prince Collin the Leader, Maginos the Mystic, Nez the Tinker, Filch the Scamp, Tilda the Healer or Lily the Archer.  Each mouse has its own ability, health level, movement amount, lore level, defence figure and attack figure.  Each mouse also starts with its own equipment.

The equipment is one of the best parts about the game and is complete keeping with the mice that the players will be using.  Button Shields, Walnut shell armour, thimble helmet and a scorching wand from a burning twig and more all add to the amazing feel of the little world that the players will find themselves in.

Using this equipment the players then embark on battling roaches, rats, spiders and centipedes in under floor tunnels, all the while following the story of the game.

Players roll custom made dice to move and search, attack and defend.  Whenever a cheese is rolled the mice collect a cheese token that they can use for their special abilities. 

The clever part of this game is the minions that the mice find themselves fighting against.  It’s the minions that enable the game to be played solo as the game defines the rules for moving and attacking with Minions.  This means that one player doesn’t need to miss out on the action of being one of the adventurers.  It also means that the players all get to work together towards a common goal.

The game is also cleverly put together so that the players are encouraged to keep going rather than hang back and spend lots of turns searching for items that they want.  Every turn that the mice are on a board sections where there are now minions the chance of failing the chapter increases.

The game ends when either the players collectively achieved the objective or the game wins and they fail to achieve their adjective.

My Score:

 

Game Play:  4/4
Components: 2/2
Replayability: 1/2
Theme: 2/2

Total: 9/10

My Comments:

The artwork is amazing.  The miniatures are amazing.  The components are well constructed.  The gameplay is well balanced.  The story is suitably atmospheric.  I really enjoy Mice and Mystics and having played it both solo and as part of a group it works well in both instances.

By no means is this game easy.  In fact I’ve lost the first chapter almost as many times as I’ve won it.  I’ve played the first chapter a number of times and it’s still great to play because the same minions are not always going to appear in the same rooms and the side quests are also optional. 

I love the fact that there are lots of different abilities that the players can choose for their mice and that due to the need to roll the dice to attack and defend, it’s not always guaranteed to go the players way.  The decision to search rather than attack puts the players in a challenging position as the equipment is useful but the minions can in just two turns capture the mice and put them temporarily out of the game.

Rather than dying the mice are considered as captured until there are no more minions on the board.  This was the players do not feel completely at a loss for losing all their wounds.  With even the weakest enemy causing a potential two wounds on a turn and the majority of the mice having only three wounds, losing combat is a serious business.

Another great feature is that if the players want to continue their adventure onto Chapter Two and beyond the mice are only allowed to keep one of the items that they have found in the previous adventure.  This means that the second chapter continues to be challenging.  The players also have the chance to level up during a chapter by collecting and not using six cheeses.  When a mice levels up they can take another ability to help them in the game.

I have played this game with my four year old daughter and she loved it, even the lengthy story at the beginning.  It’s one that most of the family can enjoy and is certainly one the family can work together on.

For me Mice and Mystics loses its point because of the continual story element.  If you have a regular gaming group then this would not lose any points and you’d probably give it a ten, however I do not and therefore I currently have six different games on the go, most are only on chapter two.  This is the sticking point, although my own solo game is moving on.   This is a minor point and if I were giving half points then I suppose Mice and Mystics would have got nine and a half out of ten.

Team games give a complete sense of achievement and all players feel that they have won or lost together.  Mice and Mystics delivers on this front in a brilliant way and in through a well-crafted story.  It’s played across beautifully detailed board and supported with superb artwork.

Give Mice and Mystics a go and enjoy the wonderful world rodent adventuring.  So pick up your coin shield, tighten you old shoe leather armour, roll up the scroll of levitation and scurry forward into the dark.