WBG Score: 8.5/10
Player Count: 2
You’ll like this if you like: Mindbug, Magic The Gathering, Air Land & Sea.
Published by: Nerdlab Games
Designed by: Skaff Elias, Richard Garfield, Marvin Hegen, Christian Kudahl
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
Mindbug is a fascinating game. If you don't know the story, here is the abbreviated version. Magic: The Gathering (if you haven't heard) is one of the biggest, most popular, and profitable card games of all time. This was made by Richard Garfield. An utter legend of the industry. Magic is an almost perfect game. Almost, in that it does cost a fair bit of time and money to get into it. Being a collectible card game, you do need to invest more than usual to get the most out of it. You get the sense that the designer, Garfield, wanted to correct this, and along with a few buddies created a new card game that you can get the full experience from right out of the box. Just one box. A box of cards. That's all you need. But you can get a similar, not the same, but similar feel from the game as Magic. Some bonkers card powers, swingy game one-versus-one card battling action with a bit of bluffing, hand management, and ingenious card play. Mindbug is the result of that, and it does it with such a simple twist. I can't wait to tell you all about it. So, with that history lesson out of the way, let's get this new Beyond Evolution version to the table and see how it plays.
How To Set Up Mindbug: Beyond Evolution
Take out the cards and separate the four Mindbug cards, giving two of each card to both players. They have different art, so be sure to give each player two cards with the same art each. Then separate the Evolution cards; these are easily identifiable as they are double-sided! There is also a small icon on them on the top right showing their evolution stage, but don't take all cards with this icon, as the level one evolution cards start in the main deck.
Now shuffle the remaining cards, deal ten to each player, and then each player takes five cards from these ten as their starting hand. Give each player a score tracker set to three, or use three cards or a die to do this if you don't have the score trackers. They are provided with the game, but they didn't used to be so they offer this in the rules still. You are now ready to play.
How To Play Mindbug: Beyond Evolution
Both players now draw one card from the top of the remaining deck to see who goes first. The highest card wins. The remaining deck is now discarded and won't be used for this game. The first player now plays a card from their hand face up in front of them. This has no cost. You just pick one of the five cards and play it. Some cards have a "When played" power; if the card you just played has this, carry out this action. If not, that is your turn over. Draw a card from your remaining five cards to get back to five in your hand, and that's it. The next player will then do the same. From the first player's second turn onwards, players now have a choice. You can play another card, just as you did before. Or you can use a previously played card's "Action" power if you have any. Simply carry out what the card says. Or, finally, you can attack. Use any previously played card to attack the other player.
You attack mainly with the attack value shown in the top left of the card, but also using the card's powers, more on that shortly. The defending player can then take a hit, and lose one point. Or defend. If they defend, they can pick any previously played card on their side to defend with. Again, the defence is simply about the power of the card shown in the top left, but card powers again come into effect. The card with the highest power wins, and the losing card is discarded. That's it. No points awarded, just one of your opponents' cards eliminated. If there is a draw, both cards are eliminated.
Ok, now what about those card powers? Well, one card power is the Hunter power. This allows the attacking player to choose which opponent card they target, meaning they can take much lower-risk attacks, knowing beforehand if they will win or not. Poisonous means the card will kill the other card, irrespective of card power. If the other card has a higher power than the poisonous card, it will be eliminated as well, but it always takes out its enemy. There is also a card with the Frenzy power, this means that if it survives the first attack, it can then carry out a second. Very cool. Sneaky creatures are very powerful. They can only be blocked by other cards that also have the Sneaky power. Hard to stop! And finally, there is a defensive keyword, Tough. This means a card can take two hits before it is defeated. The first time it loses a fight, rotate the card to be horizontal on the table. It can still be used to fight, defend and use it's abilities, but now the Tough element is gone. And the next hit it takes will take it out as usual.
When players play a card, they draw back to five from the spare five cards. When their spare cards run out, that's it. Keep playing with the cards in your hand. But if you ever cannot play a card or use a card's power to take an action, or fight with a card, as you have none, that's it, you lose. Equally, if you take your opponent's health down to zero, you win.
So, are you ready for the first twist?
As you can tell, with only ten cards in the entire game, picking which cards you play and in what order is crucial. But do you have any more control than that? Surely it is down to the luck of which ten cards you got dealt versus the ten your opponent got? There are 48 cards in total after all. 28 are not being used, and you may simply have the best or worst hand? Well, this is where those two mind-boggling cards you got dealt at the start of the game come in. They really are the biggest part of this game. Hence the name being about these two cards, and not the other 20 you will play with each game. Two times in the game, whenever your opponent plays a card you either do not want them to have, or you simply want to have for yourself, play one of your Mindbug cards and then you simply take that card from them, and it is now placed in front of you instead. It is now your card. It's that simple. But you can only do this twice in the entire game. Flip over your Mindbug when you do this to show it is exhausted. And remember, your opponent can do this twice too!
Understanding which cards to take, and the order of your own cards to play, so that your opponent doesn't take the cards you want from you in crucial to success in this game. Tempt them with something they think may be your best card early, only to then lay the star of the show the round after. This is the trick of playing this game well. It is genius. Equally, knowing when to use your own Mindbug cards to strike against your opponent is very important, but hard to judge.
Think that's it? Well, it pretty much is for the main game, First Contact which I love. But this version, Beyond Evolution, has one more little trick up its sleeve. Are you ready?
Some of the cards have an Action power on them that says they can be swapped for one of the cards you set aside during setup. The card evolves, giving it a more powerful action. This second card has the same ability, and again, for an action on a later turn, can be evolved by flipping it over to its level three power. Which can be pretty devastating! It takes obviously a few turns to get one of these level three cards into your hand and ready to use, so your opponent has a chance to initially Mindbug the card from you, or attack it before you evolve it too far, but if you manage to get it to its full level three power, well, you are in for some fun!
Is It Fun? Mindbug: Beyond Evolution Card Game Review
Mindbug is a great game. If you own the base game already, you will know the huge amount of fun you can have with this small deck of cards. The introduction of the Action power and changing evolution card is a fantastic addition that brings a fresh new element to the game. If you do not own a copy of Mindbug yet, I would encourage you to start with this one. It has all the base game offers and a little more.
My favorite new card is the cute little Penguin. It starts as a Waddling Recruit, giving you a card at strength three, and the chance to force your opponent to discard a card. But evolve it once, and it becomes the mighty Veteran Penguon, now at strength five, and with the same power. Oh, it evolves again! Into what now? A strength ten card with the power, when it attacks, to force your opponent to discard their entire hand and draw pile! Boom!
This card can feel a little overpowered. But don't forget that you can always Mindbug this card from your opponent when they play it, and as they have to evolve it two times before it gets to its full powers, you can always try to attack it before then, if possible. And of course, maybe you have an Evolution card too? There are three others in the game. The Wildspout that lets you play cards from your discard pile but then evolves into the Oakmaster. A powerful card that lets you increase your other cards by plus five. The cute Curious Turtle that lets you gain a life and then evolves into the World Eater. A mighty card that has strength eight and when it attacks, forces your opponent to lose one life. And then there is the mysterious Cloud Lady. A card with the power to defeat an enemy with a power of four or less when it attacks, but then can evolve into the fearsome Thunder Queen. A strength nine card with the power to defeat any enemy creature when it attacks!
These cards are game changers in the literal sense of the word. I love them. It's what Mindbug should be about.
If you are a fan of the original game, then I would encourage you to add this to your collection. It brings more cards, more fun, more twists, and is a fantastic addition to the Mindbug family. If you don't own any yet, start with any box. They all work as standalone games. This is not an expansion as such, more a new version of the same game, offering more cards and variation. But the new Action power, along with the evolving cards, does make this feel quite different when you play. The strategy changes in a big way in all areas: how you play your cards, how you use your Mindbugs. The entire process has, well... evolved!
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