Mice and Mystics
Adventure Awaites! In Mice & Mystics players take on the roles of those still loyal to the king - but to escape the clutches of Vanestra, they have been turned into mice! Play as cunning field mice who must race through a castle now twenty times larger than before.
The castle would be a dangerous place with Vanestra's minions in control, but now countless other terrors also await heroes who are but the size of figs. Play as nimble Prince Colin and fence your way past your foes, or try Nez Bellows, the burly smith. Confound your foes as the wizened old mouse Maginos, or protect your companions as Tilda, the castle's former healer. Every player will have a vital role in the quest to warn the king, and it will take careful planning to find Vanestra's weakness and defeat her.
Mice & Mystics is a cooperative adventure game in which the players work together to save an imperiled kingdom. They will face countless adversaries such as rats, cockroaches, and spiders, and of course the greatest of all horrors: the castle's housecat, Brodie. Mice & Mystics is a boldly innovative game that thrusts players into an ever-changing, interactive environment, and features a rich storyline that the players help create as they play the game. The Cheese System allows players to horde the crumbs of precious cheese they find on their journey, and use it to bolster their mice with grandiose new abilities and overcome seemingly insurmountable odds.
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I’ve been thinking about getting a dungeon crawler type game for awhile. Games like Castle Ravenloft had piqued my interest, but I just didn’t pull the trigger.
When I saw that Mice & Mystics was coming out, I thought that perhaps this would be the dungeon crawler I could get and know my kids would dig. Well I got it and they do dig it. I’ve also taught it to adults and they seemed to like it as well and get into it.
The game is very story orientated and that is great to help immerse yourself into the game, the kids really like this. When playing with a bunch of adults, they may opt to either have it read aloud, or bypass it and get the cliff notes from the player who already knows the story.
The game comes with a Chapter Book with 11 chapters, or missions. You can choose to play each chapter independently or you can play it in campaign mode and use the same mice and their upgrades as they level up and collect equipment. Though you can’t bring too much with you as it would ruin the fun of searching for new goodies.
Each chapter will set up the various conditions required. There is a finite number of pages you can go through on the page track before you reach the End Marker and lose. Various things can raise the page number you are on as you play, such as Surges (too much cheese on the cheese wheel) or by a mouse getting captured. Yes, the mice get captured and not killed, so that is cool and while it helps keep people from getting totally eliminated, it’s still not good as it causes the page marker to move up and that mouse can’t be rescued until it’s next turn when there are no minions in play.
There are plenty of choices to be made in the game because you can share cheese with other players so their character can use a certain ability to help the group, or even to level up and get another ability. You can also share equipment with other players for their mouse to use it. There are choices of staying together as a group in close to have certain advantages, or spread out in circumstances that are safer for the mice.
The neat thing too about the game is that there are winning and losing conditions for a chapter, but within a chapter there may be optional side adventures that can gain the mice extra equipment or something else advantageous for later on, but of course these side adventures will come at a risk.
As far as being replayable, well certainly once you play through the whole chapter book, you will know the story. So that won’t be new the next time. However, you can certainly replay the game with different combinations of mice and different combinations of starting abilities to help keep it fresh. You can choose to do the side adventure one time and not the next time. There are a ton of cool equipment and item cards in the search deck for you to find, so as you move along in a second or third run through of the same chapter, you can find new things to equip with or have some bad events pop up that make that game different from the previous one.
The components are very nice too. The minis are cool and they have a great way of using the same minion minis for different types of creatures. The tiles are great and I like the realistic shapes of the stone tiles rather than just squares that are all the same size.
All in all I’d say this game is a great value and while it is great for the family, other gamers can enjoy this game as well.
Mice and Mystics is a delightful game to play. The game has a wonderful story line about a castle, the evil Vanestra, and how the kings loyal subjects become mice to save the kingdom.
Components:
The games contains a number of markers for when you mouse becomes stunned, webbed, poisoned or wounded. Ability cards for you to choose your mouse abilities. Search cards for when you search an area – some items are good – some are not. Six mice figures with their character cards, as well as plastic miniatures for the roaches, rats, spider and centipede you will be fighting.
The miniatures are not painted but the art on the cards is colorful and very nice.
Tiles are included that you will use as maps for you exploration. They are double sided, and it is very likely that you will flip a tile to continue your exploration. Picture yourself on a grate lifting the grate up and splashing into the tunnel below.
There is an rule book and an adventure book. The adventure book has the various scenarios that you will be playing. You don’t have to play the adventures in order, but its more fun if you do.
Adventure reading note: Currently on the Mice and Mystics website you can purchase Rich Sommer performing a reading of the story moments from the Mice and Mystics storybook. He does a wonderful job with all of the voices.
Gameplay:
Typically you play with 4 mice going on an adventure. The first scenario is the mice trying to escape the dungeon of the castle to the large tree in the courtyard. This is a cooperative adventure game that can be played by 1-4 people. Playing with one person means that person is playing the roles of all four mice.
There is a time element involved in play. As you role dice for fighting or blocking you may role a cheese. If you role a cheese, YEA, you can save them to level up your character, or maybe heal another mouse. If the slimy cockroach you are fighting rolls a cheese that cheese may be placed on the cheese wheel. Once the cheese wheel is full a surge happens. That can be very bad news for the adventures as new enemies are added to the board. Sometimes the surge brings that dreaded cat!
Needless to say there is attacking, defending, scurrying, and healing that is going to go on in the little group.
Summary
I loved the game. It was fun to play and the rules are not difficult to understand. Most scenarios take between 1 1/2 – 2 hours. There are side adventures that your team can decided to take or not that affect the play time. You can play the game as an adventure keeping your level advancements and some items as you move from scenario to scenario.
There is a new scenario that you can purchase online at the Plaid Hat games website.
So grab some friends and go save the kingdom or at least Lilly. She has her tail caught in a mousetrap. RUN she is under attack.
I have to start this by telling a brief story. It seems appropriate.
About 7 years ago I picked up Heroscape after seeing commercials for it on Saturday morning cartoons. I remember reading through the rules and thinking that it was a special game. I saw it for almost unlimited possibilities that it presented. It could be played as a simple kill em all skirmish, or if could be a RPG-lite game. Put some thought and creativity into map and scenario design and it was a great toolbox for a lot of gaming fun and memories.
Fast forward to today (well a few days ago), and I find myself reading the Mice and Mystics rule book. I had some of the same feelings about this one that I did about Heroscape. Sure it is a little more limited in its wide open potential, but it presents an excellent toolbox for fun.
The game pits the forces loyal to the king, magically changed to mice, against the minions of Vanestra. You work together to thwart her evil designs as you negotiate the familiar, and suddenly much bigger, castle environment. You can explore the places familiar, and unfamiliar when you go through the holes and tunnels in floors and walls.
Each game tells a chapter of the story book. There is a reading section that sets the stage for what you will try to accomplish. You explore the castle trying to accomplish your mission, and fight Vanestra’s minions all along the way.
Cheese is kind of the currency and time keeping resource of the game. As you roll dice in combat you can collect cheese (one face of the dice awards cheese in combat). Cheese powers special abilities, it allows you to “level up” and gain new powers, and as minions collect cheese, it advances the story one page closer to the end of the chapter. You cheer when the cheese side of the dice comes up on your rolls, and you groan when the minions get cheese and you get that much closer to a surge of baddies.
The components are excellent. The minis are very cool and detailed even without compensating for their stature. The multipurpose dice are likewise very cool. The double sided (human areas and mouse tunnels) board pieces set the stage perfectly for the tales of adventure you will play out. A really nice touch is an index at the end of the rule book.
There is a finite number of chapters in the story book, and I’m sure there will be some who complain about there only being that many plays in the game. Plaid Hat Games already has a pdf download of a chapter for a buck. More of those in the future along with using your own creativity to write your own chapters lend a feeling of almost unlimited replayability.
While circumstances seem to be dictating that the Heroscape chapter of my life may be coming to a close, Mice and Mystics is stepping up to the plate and aiming its bat at the center field wall like Babe Ruth. I have that same feeling that it is a special game like Heroscape was and still is, and it has that extra bonus that my daughters are a lot more interested this time around.
Overview: Mice and Mystics is a cooperative game in which the players take on the role of one of six mice who are trying to recover their castle from the evil Vanestra. The mice, who were loyal subjects of the castle, were mystically transformed to allow them to escape from the prisons under the castle. Now they must search the castle for weapons and armor and fight minions to somehow defeat these evil forces. Although the game can support up to 6 players, most scenarios (or chapters) will only allow a maximum of 4 players at a time. There is a solo play version of the game which simply involves one person deciding the actions of all the mice. This can be a little hairy but virtually guarantees cooperation among the mice.
Components: The game comes with several reversible “tiles” which comprise the gameboards for each chapter, several well-sculpted prepainted plastic miniatures, numerous cards — mostly representing items and abilities to be gained (89 standard size 63mm x 88mm cards and 47 mini Euro size 43mm x 67mm cards for you sleevers), dice, storybook (adventure guide) , rulebook, and several cardboard tokens.
Gameplay: Following the narrative in the storybook, each game consists of players guiding the mice through levels and rooms under and in the castle. Each room has its own set of minions and objectives. The mice can move, fight, search or explore each turn. Outcomes of searches and battles are determined by roll of the dice. Once the minions are defeated, the party can move on to the next tile. Tarry too long and a surge might be triggered, adding more minions to the fray. If a mouse loses all its “hearts,” it is captured and only able to come back into play after all minions are defeated. Too many captured mice or triggered surges will lead to defeat.
Impression: Despite the evil minions and battles that occur, the theme, artwork and story appeal to families with young children. Even my daughter and wife, who are not gamers, seem to enjoy playing this game. Winning is not easy, although a learning curve will allow future successes. There is some luck involved since many outcomes are determined by rolling dice. This game would certainly appeal more to casual, family, and possibly social gamers than strategy and power gamers. Replayability is limited since it is not likely that players will revisit a chapter already completed. Future chapters and expansions would certainly be likely. Overall, this is a very charming game with an appeal to those who like cuddly heroes.
I knew I’d play this game with my kids as soon as I saw photos of it on the web. We pre-ordered and we’re so glad we did! The components are wonderfully made and the look of the boards, cards, and books are really top notch. A LOT of care went into making this title.
The game itself is sort of pitched as a dungeon crawler / story game that’s approachable enough for kids and broken up into chapters. I’ve gotta tell you, it’s really tough to get a chapter finished before the hourglass gets to the chapter end marker for even veteran gamers. I’ve played a few times with the kids, once with friends, and probably 5 times attempting to solo a chapter… those dice, while attractive, are mean, vengeful cubes of despair. (Hoping the extra sets I just bought from PHG will be easier on us).
The story that’s woven into each chapter is engaging and got my kids excited. The idea of rescuing one of the characters in chapter 2 before getting to use her was an incredible hook for my daughter! The basic mechanics of moving, battle, searching, etc. are straight forward enough. What really sets this game apart is not just how diverse each chapter is… but how gameplay varies incredibly from tile to tile within each chapter.
Just the other night I was able to use a fork to launch a grape at a couple of Elite Rat Warriors on a table. After successfully killing one, I then used the fork to launch one of my mice onto the table top to finish off the other. How epic is that? And that’s just in chapter 3! I can’t wait to see what’s do-able in our adventures in the later chapters… and future expansions that PHG is already dropping hints about.
While the rulebook looks great, the organization seems a little off to me. The first few games took a lot of flipping back and forth to see how certain situations would affect our next actions. It’s the one thing ‘lacking’ in my mind. Overall, this game is really worth the price of admission. There’s so much fun stashed in this box – you can’t lose! Well, you will lose, to be sure… but you’ll enjoy yourself while you do.
The story of Mice and Mystics is of a King who has fallen under a terrible curse, and a group of loyal followers who magically turn themselves into Mice to escape and attempt to save the King. Unfortunately for the Mice, the enemies have caught onto their plan and have also been transformed into miniature size to follow and capture them. But don’t forget about Brodie the cat!
Summary
Mice and Mystics is a simplified version of what would be a table top Role-playing Game. Every player has a character(s) that they play. Each character having their own classes/armor/abilities that they can use through the game. When playing, you will be provided with a chapter of the book to play from. Each chapter details the story, provides scenarios, win and lose objectives, and sometimes even an after story if the participants succeed.
Even though the game is a simplified table top RPG, it still has several rules and moving parts, yet it still holds true to table top RPGs. For example, the story and character personalities are there, you still roll dice for combat/movement, spells and range require line of sight to your target, etc.
Breakdown
Pros
-The Story is pretty awesome. It plays well to give you immersion and character coloration. Very enjoyable for all ages.
-The pieces to the game are well done. The Minis are detailed, but left uncolored for painting. Dice are unique to the game but have a nice design. Then you have character cards, ability, cards, and several tokens. The list goes on.
-Each chapter provides unique encounters, each of which need to be played differently. For example, in chapter one, you go from basic fight to helping Ms. Maggie (human cook) fight off roaches. Unfortunately Ms. Maggie is unaware all of you are mice as well and she becomes part of the encounter.
-There is an achievement system (acheesements) that provides benefits to the players and party.
-The game is miniaturized. What I mean by this, is that everything has been structured to mouse size in an imaginative way. Tiles have been made so that you can weave in and out from underground areas. Even new equipment is make shift armor made from small objects like coins, walnut shells and fish hooks.
Cons
-The biggest gripe of this game is the rules. As a table top RPG player myself, I found myself going through the book several times to get the rules right. Even then I had to check forums and FAQs for clarifications because the game has so many moving parts that often clash or become hard to keep track of. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like going through a 200 page player’s handbook, but the rules are still much more elaborate than a basic board game.
-Alpha gaming. Those of you not familiar with this, it is when a dominant personality attempts to take over everything what everyone is doing. This issue doesn’t really come up in my group, but there is always a possibility of this happening in any coop game.
-A bit of power gaming imbalance during moments of the game. To succeed you must progress your characters. Some characters will get their items/abilities much faster than others, this can lead to some characters being much more powerful than others in the party. However in the longer run, everything will even out as there is only so much you can get.
-Limited dice. 5 dice for 4 players is annoying to put it bluntly. Most times, you need 2-3 dice for a basic attack but then you get abilities and equipment that give you more dice to roll. Considering you have to do attacks/defense for every character and enemy, the passing of the dice gets a bit annoying.
-I would recommend a set party of four. Technically you can play any chapter with any random group of people that are willing the play, but this game would be enjoyed most if you have the same people developing their own characters and playing the story along side you.
Conclusion
While Mice and Mystics is a very rule heavy game, this is really just the nature of a table top RPG game and I don’t blame the developer of the game at all for needing to clarify the rules through forums and FAQ (most table top players know this). That being said, this is easily one of my favorites. While I don’t want to judge the story until I find out the ending, the story so far has been enough to develop personalities, scenarios and encounters. This is a game that kids will easily love, but they would need an adult to administer the game and RP the dialogue with them! Even in a group of adults, I play with my 3 friends and we all enjoy it. As said above, I like to keep a set party for the game, so we plan a day that we can all meet and play together. But I have to resist every urge in my body to read ahead. Then during game nights, it’s well worth it.
This game is great and easy. You are mice and you try to get out of the dungeon. You fight rats, roaches, centipedes, and other icky things I don’t like thinking about living in my home. It is straightforward and easy to get the hang of. It reminded me a bit of a Gauntlet board game. I had the pleasure of demoing the game at GenCon with Colby.
You start in a room with your other mice friends. The goal is to clear the room of the enemy and then get out. If you wait too long the cheese wheel begins to fill up and rat guards will appear giving more enemies to kill before leaving a room.
The mice take on the forms of the standard dungeon crawlers. Hunters, healers, tanks, and mages.
There are several stories to play through which changes the game as you play. In the demo we ended up in a sewer and had to find a fishing hook to climb out. I got pinned up in the sewer and slowly went down the drain until I was swept away. The multiple scenarios add length and staying power to a game that may get boring if it just repeated itself. I do not know how many stories there are to play, but like most board games, it leads the way to future expansions.
The plastic models used are really well made and add to the experience.
It is a fun romp but some older gamers may pretend they are too cool to play as mice. Younger gamers may be enthralled by the idea of being mice instead of zombies. This makes it a great game to play with your children, younger game players, or friends who aren’t too cool to have a good time.
This game brings good elements of role playing to a fun board game, it keeps you on the edge of your seat as you get closer to more danger as your cheese wheel fills up! With story elements that draw you in, it makes you want to achieve your quests and gets you into your characters. The presence of side quests means that you can help yourself out for future adventures by taking a little extra time to go and help others out along the way. The game cleverly wraps components around a world that would be very dangerous for a mouse such as the cat, birds, and old ladies with broom sticks. The miniatures are nicely sculpted, and the board tiles are very nice as well with a nice twist on flipping tiles to go above or below ground. I highly recommend trying this game and cant wait for it to come out in September.
BATTLE SQUEEK!!!
The replay value is limited to its story arc. However, if you have kids you would get a lot of fun play out of this. The current story arc replay limitations may improve in the future as I know Plaid Hat Games has been developing new adventure stories to go along with M&M. Currently they have a new adventure chapter for download on their website, and its only 99¢ to do so. I also know they are working on an expansion for the game coming to a shelf near you soon.
The game itself is very thematic; you have cheese slices to measure time, you use devices like forks, spoons, acorn shields, and toothpicks to assist adventuring through the game. The components are well done, and if you are minis painter, the minis in this game are a blast to paint.
The game is easy to learn, but the rule book seems a bit disheveled. At times you may want to find a specific rule and it doesn’t come easy to find. This is the only strike I have against this game.
Overall, a marvelous game to play, and a must own for a collector!
This game went by my focused gaze a few times before it suddenly caught my attention. And for that I’m glad!
This is a quiet expensive game, but it’s worth every buck!
A great dungeon crawler with focus on thought through mechanics, an engaging story (made for kids), beautiful artwork and build quality with elements of role playing (character building).
The thought of playing a story instead of only reading it (for my kid), is a thing I really like with this game. Most kids games is competative where you have to “make yourself dumber” to let the kids win once in a while. but since this is a coop you can focus on playing it just as you would with your friends.
I haven’t yet, but I’m definitely going to introduce this game to my gamer group after we finish our campaign in Descent!