{"id":240545,"date":"2021-12-02T08:32:49","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T14:32:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/?post_type=reviews&#038;p=240545"},"modified":"2024-04-03T16:09:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T21:09:30","slug":"mindbug","status":"publish","type":"reviews","link":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/mindbug\/","title":{"rendered":"Mindbug Game Review"},"content":{"rendered":"    <!-- error code: BA -->\n\n<p><b>Sharp<\/b> (adj.) <i>\u2018sh\u00e4rp<\/i><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>(of an object) with an edge or point able to cut another object.<\/li>\n<li>(of a sound) loud, sudden, and piercing.<\/li>\n<li>(of a board game) highly tactical, presenting myriad options with only a few that will not lead to ruin.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>How sharp do you like your games? If board games were wit, how would you rate your preference on a scale from garden slug to Winston Churchill? If board games were knives, where would you fall on the spectrum between a butterfly trainer, its dull blade used to practice throwing tricks, and a freshly-sharpened chef\u2019s knife fashioned from Aikido steel? If board games were cheese, would you like them aged a mild three-to-six months, or would you rather they had two or three years\u2019 experience before you take a bite? For those who lean towards the sharper end, let me introduce you to <i>Mindbug<\/i>, quite possibly the sharpest game I have ever played.<\/p>\n<p><i>Mindbug<\/i> is a two-player card game with some serious design pedigree: alongside first-time designers Christian Kudahl and Marvin Hegen are Richard Garfield, the creator of <i>Magic: The Gathering<\/i>, and Skaff Elias, one of Garfield\u2019s co-conspirators since the early days of Wizards of the Coast. The rules are about as simple as it gets: each player is dealt a personal deck of ten cards, each featuring a single creature and a fantastic illustration from artist Denis Martynets. On your turn, you either play a creature card from your hand of five \u2014 there\u2019s no cost associated with this, there are no resources to manage, you just pick a card and put it down on the table \u2014 or attack with one of the creatures you already have in play. The defending player can decide to block with one of their own creatures, possibly losing it in the process, or take the hit and lose a life point.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_240547\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-240547\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-240547 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"A picture of several cards from the game laid out on a table, showcasing the vibrant colors and dramatic posing of each creature card.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-wp-pid=\"240547\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-74x55.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 74w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-111x83.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 111w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-215x161.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 215w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-300x225.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 300w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards.jpeg?size=528x396&amp;lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 528w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-600x450.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 600w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-768x576.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-990x743.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 990w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1024x768.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1024w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1200x900-cropped.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1200w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1320x990.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1320w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1536x1152.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1536w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1200x900-cropped.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1920w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/768;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-240547 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"A picture of several cards from the game laid out on a table, showcasing the vibrant colors and dramatic posing of each creature card.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-wp-pid=\"240547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-74x55.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 74w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-111x83.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 111w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-215x161.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 215w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-300x225.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 300w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards.jpeg?size=528x396&amp;lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 528w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-600x450.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 600w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-768x576.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-990x743.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 990w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1024x768.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1024w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1200x900-cropped.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1200w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1320x990.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1320w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1536x1152.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1536w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Cards-1200x900-cropped.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-240547\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The art and the quality of the printing are as good as it gets.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Every decision you make in <i>Mindbug<\/i> is influenced by the creature abilities, which vary so widely in their effects that it\u2019s hard to know where to begin describing them. These are where Garfield\u2019s influence is most clearly felt, since many will be familiar to players of <i>Magic<\/i>: take a card from your or your opponent\u2019s discard pile, reduce your opponent\u2019s life points, gain life points, defeat a creature, etc. This may sound an awful lot like a game where the player with the better cards will almost always win, but that\u2019s where the Mindbugs come in. Those one-time use parasitic aliens, two per player, can take control of an opponent\u2019s creature the moment it\u2019s played. This happens before any abilities come into effect, and is the key to <i>Mindbug<\/i>\u2019s considerable tactical depth: every card you play could end up in the hands of your opponent.<\/p>\n<p>I was unimpressed by my first couple of plays. In fact, I hated how consequential every decision felt. The cards are all so overpowered \u2014 one of the designers said as much to me when I spoke to him <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/articles\/essen-spiel-2021\/\">during my trip to Spiel 21<\/a> \u2014 that everything feels like a trap. Every card, when played at the right time and used in the right way, has the ability to completely change the direction of momentum, and at first that\u2019s overwhelming. With repeated plays, though, a fascinating decision space unfolds before you, familiarity revealing new ways to try to wriggle out of tight spots. Everything is surmountable, even if it\u2019s unpleasant.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_240546\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-240546\" style=\"width: 1024px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-240546 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"A picture of the Mindbug box, the same size as a deck of standard playing cards.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-wp-pid=\"240546\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-74x55.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 74w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-111x83.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 111w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-215x161.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 215w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-300x225.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 300w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box.jpeg?size=528x396&amp;lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 528w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-600x450.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 600w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-768x576.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-990x743.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 990w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1024x768.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1024w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1200x900.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1200w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1320x990.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1320w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1536x1152.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1536w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1920w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/768;\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-240546 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1024x768.jpeg\" alt=\"A picture of the Mindbug box, the same size as a deck of standard playing cards.\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" data-wp-pid=\"240546\" srcset=\"https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-74x55.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 74w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-111x83.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 111w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-215x161.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 215w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-300x225.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 300w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box.jpeg?size=528x396&amp;lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 528w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-600x450.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 600w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-768x576.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 768w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-990x743.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 990w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1024x768.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1024w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1200x900.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1200w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1320x990.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1320w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box-1536x1152.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1536w, https:\/\/b1803394.smushcdn.com\/1803394\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Box.jpeg?lossy=1&amp;strip=1&amp;webp=1 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-240546\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">It&#8217;s wonderful to see this much game in so small a box.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><i>Mindbug<\/i> is a luxury sports car, fine-tuned and unbelievably responsive. Unlike <i>Magic<\/i> or many other collectable card games, there isn\u2019t any potential for down time, no turns wasted while waiting for cards to come up that give you something to do. There\u2019s always a decision to be made, even if it\u2019s choosing between the frying pan and the fire. This is a game where two well-matched opponents can both somehow feel on their back foot, and the best part every time I\u2019ve played has been the post-op discussion about all of the things you and your opponent could have done differently at different moments. Nearly every game I\u2019ve played produced the opposite victory outcome if we went back only one or two turns. It\u2019s that sensitive a machine, an absolutely wild experience once you learn to see it.<\/p>\n<p>While I have nothing but glowing praise for <i>Mindbug<\/i>, I find myself weirdly cold to the experience of it. This could be a thematic issue, since there\u2019s no real story to be found. On paper, a highly-interactive two-player game loaded up with tactical decisions should be exactly my bag. The issue could be that there\u2019s nothing but tactics, since the game doesn\u2019t include much in the way of the longer-term decisions that constitute strategy. I\u2019m really not sure. Even if <i>Mindbug<\/i> isn\u2019t a game that I love, it\u2019s a design that I admire. It\u2019s <i>Magic<\/i> on steroids and unambiguously fantastic at being what it wants to be. If you\u2019re the kind of person who likes games that are sharper than Oscar Wilde using a Ginsu knife on an old chunk of Asiago, you\u2019d be hard-pressed to do better than <i>Mindbug<\/i>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mindbug: Two players, twenty cards, fifteen minutes, and a million decisions in the new card game from Nerdlab Games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":240540,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"MSN_Categories":"Uncategorized","MSN_Publish_Option":false,"MSN_Is_Local_News":false,"MSN_Is_AIAC_Included":"Empty","MSN_Location":"[]","MSN_Add_Feature_Img_On_Top_Of_Post":false,"MSN_Has_Custom_Author":false,"MSN_Custom_Author":"","MSN_Has_Custom_Canonical_Url":false,"MSN_Custom_Canonical_Url":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"coauthors":[6354],"class_list":["post-240545","reviews","type-reviews","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-card-games","category-fantasy-board-games","category-two-player-board-games","designers-christian-kudahl","designers-marvin-hegen","designers-richard-garfield","designers-skaff-elias","mechanisms-betting-and-bluffing","mechanisms-campaign-battle-card-driven","mechanisms-hand-management","mechanisms-take-that","publishers-self-published","publishers-nerdlab-games","artists-denis-martynets","release_year-2622"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Mindbug Game Review &#8212; Meeple Mountain<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mindbug: Two players, twenty cards, fifteen minutes, and a million decisions in the new card game from Nerdlab Games.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/mindbug\/\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/mindbug\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Board Game Reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Mindbug Game Review\"}]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mindbug Game Review &#8212; Meeple Mountain","description":"Mindbug: Two players, twenty cards, fifteen minutes, and a million decisions in the new card game from Nerdlab Games.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/mindbug\/","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/mindbug\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Board Game Reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/reviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mindbug Game Review"}]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/240545"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/reviews"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/reviews\/240545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240545"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.meeplemountain.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=240545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}