Mice and Mystics

Mice and Mystics by Plaid Hat Games

This game has been my first introduction into the miniature style dungeon crawl games, and I can say that it remains one of my favorite in the genre!  Don't let the whimsical theme deter you, this is an easy game to learn, but a difficult game to master!

Overview: Plaid Hat Games puts forth this game of epic mouseness where Prince Colin and a collection of his loyal followers are transformed to mice by Maginos, the mage-adviser of the late king, in order to escape the clutches of the evil queen.  The queen finds out and transforms her henchmen into rats and various other creepy crawlies to thwart your efforts of escape and of ultimately overthrowing the queen.  Through a series of story book chapters (AKA quests to the campaign), the good guys overcome the bad guys...or can they?

COMPONENTS

Score: 9 of 10

Box Insert: The stock insert that comes with this game leaves room to be desired.  Although it holds each component and provides plenty of room for the Heart of Glorm expansion (released this year) as well as sleeved cards and extra dice sets, extra minion sets - the latter two are available directly from PlaidHatGames.com.  The picture above shows a custom foam core insert that divides the components and keeps them from sliding everywhere which for those of us that like to maintain the integrity of our game components as long as possible, is a must.  I have not gone to the extent of making a custom insert...yet...but as this table hits the table more and more I am seriously debating the option.

Score: 7 of 10

Miniatures: Mice and Mystics comes with plastic miniatures of the 6 mice from which you can form your group (Colin, Lily, Nez, Maginos, Filch, and Tilda).  Additionally there are 6 rats, a centipede, a spider, and numerous cockroaches that serve as your enemies throughout the game.  The miniatures come in an ivory colored plastic and ARE NOT pre-painted, sadly.  All-in-all, I don't ever find it a requirement for the miniatures to come pre-painted, it's just a nice surprise that would have made these miniatures perfect...like a free dessert after an expensive dinner or that girl/guy you like offering you their phone number :p.  The components are quite resilient and have not shown any signs of wear/tear despite their frequent use.

Score: 9 of 10

Cards: Not much to say here.  The text on each card is in a readable font at a properly readable size.  The majority of the cards are of standard US board game size while the spell/ability cards of the mice and the initiative cards are of half-size standard US.  The card stock is on the thicker side with a linen finish and rounded edges.  Plastic cards would be the only improvement leading to a perfect 10.

Score: 9 of 10

Cardboard: Standard cardboard thickness for the map tiles and tokens.  Very resistant to bending and denting, but a few of the more frequently used tokens have shown signs of wear on the edges after about 10-12 plays (the cheese primarily due to its frequently necessary handling).  That wear is expected and short of laminating the cardboard, cannot be prevented without playing the game with latex gloves and ensuring never to toss the pieces!
Score: 9 of 10

CONVENIENCE
Score: 9 of 10

There are a decent amount of chits used in this game, but quite often, you will not use each type for every chapter of the story book.

The most used tidbits are: map tiles, miniatures, cards, initiate board, cheese, wound/poison markers, and mouse traps.  In various scenarios you will encounter the need for stunned, webbed, and other effect markers; markers for elite rats; a tiny marker if Maginos uses the Meeps spell, but overall the basic components are all you need for the average chapter.  Map tile setup for each chapter is clearly outlined in the sceneario setup of the story book and if there are specific rules for a particular tile/event in that chapter, the rules are clear and concise.  One of the quickest board games to set up in my collection, without a doubt.

Score: 9 of 10

COHESION
Score: 10 of 10

I cannot say that I have seen any other games where you experience the dungeon crawling genre while portraying the role of mouse heroes.  Roleplaying games are not my forte, but something about Mice and Mystics really puts me into the persona of whatever mouse (or mice) I am playing.  The story moments introduced by certain events during each chapter put you into the thick of the adventure, making you want to press on and overthrow the evil queen!  What Mice and Mystics is able to do, so effortlessly, really sells this games theme to me as it fully envelopes the players into the world that is this theme.

Score: 10 of 10

COMPLEXITY (inverse scoring; higher = easier)
Score: 9 of 10

A near miss on a perfect 10, but I'll explain why.  The rulebook is well structured and provides an index that makes rule references quick and effective.  The complexity of Mice and Mystics comes not from the rules or the game concept, but I feel that I find myself never quite understanding the rules that surround enemy placement.  Particularly the rules that surround ranged-attack enemy placement and melee-attack enemy placement as well as rules about what happens should all of the enemy spawn points be filled.  Aside from that, this game is quite easy to teach and the rules aren't bogged down by complex what-if scenarios.  Rules conflicts (one rule contradicting another during rare occurrences) have yet to happen through my many plays and I don't foresee any happening at all in the future.
Score: 9 of 10

COMPANIONS
Score: 10 of 10

*Not a photo of me or my friends - "stolen" from BGG.com*

Because of the genre of this game, I feel that it would innately appeal to less devout table top gamers.  The theme seemed a bit childish to me, but I am willing to try any game once.  Boy, am I glad that I gave this game a shot!  For me, a HUGE bonus to any game is whether or not my wife is willing to play the game.  Mice and Mystics is a game that when I recommend it she jumps right on board to join in with the fun (her favorite mice being Nez and Tilda).  I have also introduced this game to my brother, a board game nerd friend, and a few others - every one enjoyed the game.  Because Mice and Mystics is a cooperative game the options for age range are much larger than other games in that I feel a child as young as 8 could EASILY grasp the concept of this game and be able to contribute to the game play; much in the likeness that an elder might enjoy the whimsy but subtle Dungeons and Dragons similarities that arise during the role-playing moments of each story.

Score: 10 of 10

CONTINUABILITY
Score: 7 of 10

Continuability is the aspect of Mice and Mystics that I raise issue.  The difficulty of the game seems quite viable in that winning every single scenario the first time is near impossible - victory always seems so close, only to slip through your fingers due to unlucky dice rolls.  Having not made it completely through the story book yet, I find myself growing bored with certain chapters just of repetition of exposure.  The chapters that exist can be played again using difficult encounter cards, and there are "forgotten chapters" released by Plaid Hat Games, as well as an expansion that introduces a new character and chapters, but I feel that once a chapter is beaten, all the mystery of the adventure is removed.  That fear is what keeps me from playing this game religiously, for I don't want Mice and Mystics to ever become a predictable and cookie-cutter type game where each scenario has become memorized and each 4-mouse group becomes the same over and over.

Score: 7 of 10

Final Thoughts: With all things considered, Mice and Mystics was a blind purchase that really turned out to surprise me.  I had not read anything about the game, nor played it, before purchasing it and now I look for every opportunity I can to bring it to the table.  This game is meant for those who enjoy: dungeon crawl games, whimsical themes, rolling dice, miniatures, role-playing games, and cooperative games.