The game is designed as a "story within a story" where a bedtime story for a young mouse comes alive. Players take on one of several fantasy roles like Healer, Thief, Mystic, Archer, etc. The game is really ingenious, and part of its allure for our family (since we're all heavy readers), is an actual story book with chapters serves to set the stage of any game you want to play. You can even opt to play all eleven chapters as a campaign if you're in the mood for a marathon gaming experience.
Here's what the unpacked box looks like. The artwork is simply stunning.
For our first round, we did the first chapter with four mouse warriors: Collin (Leader), Tilda (Healer), Filch (Scamp), and Nez (Tinkerer). Each player has a Hero card with stats, one or more Search cards (items, tricks, events, party items, weapons, armor, or accessories), and an Initiative card for use on the Story Control Board to track whose turn it is.
The Story Control Board is used for any Chapter being played, serving as a timer for both how long players have to complete the quest as well as time until a Minion Surge happens and the game board is flooded with enemies.
The rulebook is 22 pages and it's easy to read, if a tad lengthy. Plaid Hat Games thought of that though, and has a 24 minute video on how to play on YouTube:
The Story Book "Sorry & Remembrance" comes with the game and itself makes a good bedtime story in addition to setting up each Chapter as a unique game with victory and defeat conditions.
The game uses a tile system as interchangeable game boards. The first chapter has three tiles, and as the mice clear enemies they can explore "above" or "below" a room by flipping the tile. There are 8 tiles for a total of 16 different game boards, and the way the story unfolds multiple board combinations are used to complete the whole story. This game has a lot of replay potential, as Chapters have additional side plots the mice can choose to incorporate into the game.
We (the parents) finished reading the rules and watching the video the night before we played to get the kids right to the fun stuff. Our game time average is a little over an hour. There are a ton of Search cards available and special conditions, but nothing too overwhelming for kids: just a lot of options.
We really can't stress the appropriateness of the theme too much. Players aren't "killed" they are "captured." Similarly, Minions (the bad guys) are "defeated" so it's very family friendly. And again, the artwork and design! Look at these figures on a game tile. Amazing!
No wonder it's won so many awards!
Where to Purchase?
Mice and Mystics is available online directly from Plaid Hat Games and at most brick-and-mortar stores like Target and Wal-Mart.
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Disclosure: The products in this post were provided by Plaid Hat Games. As always, our posts are our own, honest opinions.