| Release Date: 2024 | Players: 1-4 |
| Designer: Dustin Dobson, Jamie Thul | Length: 15-30 minutes |
| Artist: Filip Popovic | Age: 10+ |
| Publisher: Button Shy | Complexity: 1.5 / 5 |
| Plastic (by weight): 50% | Air (by volume): <1% |
The elements are alive in our realm. The water element can douse the deadly flames of the fire element that would otherwise leave behind deeply scorched earth, while the earth element itself has the power to consume the waters of a dozen seas. The three elements are in constant battle, balancing each other out at times in infinite variations of their eternal cycles. Yet none of the three elements can ever reign supreme in the realm of Mysticana: A Foundation Deck by Dustin Dobson and Jamie Thul from Button Shy.
It’s such an epic introduction to what is merely 18 cards, plus a couple of rules leaflets contained in one of the plastic wallets that Button Shy has become known for. I am always astonished that you can make a really interesting and exciting game that has a lot of depth out of a mere 18 cards. I am even more stunned when I see the rules leaflet that teaches you all the rules in a very short amount of time indeed. It takes mere minutes to set everything up and start to play your first game. Not only that, many of the wallet games are over in around 15 minutes, during which you have made many tough and meaningful decisions that are sometimes tactical, sometimes strategic.
So if you’re looking for small box games, then you won’t find much that is smaller – both in size and the amount of time it takes to learn and play them. Yet, what they lack in volume and game length, these games make up with clever gameplay that makes you want to play again and again and again.
Mysticana – One Deck, Many Games
While previous wallets from Button Shy contained a single game, Mysticana is a deck of cards that can be used for multiple games. The Foundation Deck includes rules for three, but you can buy expansion packs that add a few more cards and more rules. So far I have only tried the original three games. I will cover the expansions in another review.
Before I explain the games, let me describe the Mysticana deck of 18 cards. They are a set of six cards in three different suits or colours. The cards in each suit are numbered 2 to 6 and also include an unnumbered card called the Avatar. How that card functions depends on the game you’re playing. Sometimes it acts like a wildcard, sometimes it’s the equivalent of a card with the number 1.
The card stock is thick and the usual quality that Button Shy is now known for. The illustrations are gorgeous and are a way of double-coding the three colours. Each suit represents one of the three elements: water, fire and earth. So you don’t need to be able to tell if a card is blue, red or green. The illustrations show you if it’s water, fire or plants. I think that’s a great plus for accessibility.
The suits are printed on the back in a trefoil shape, with arrows indicating which suit is stronger against which other suit. As you would expect, water defeats fire, fire defeats earth and earth defeats water. In all three games, those relative strengths are important, as they decide which card wins over which other card.
The Games
The three games included in the core Mysticana set are Nine Perils, Sorcerers’ Showdown and The Path Ahead. I won’t be able to cover all three in a lot of detail in this review, but I will give you a good idea of how they play. Let me just say that the Foundation Deck should offer something for everyone, whether you are looking for a pure solo game, prefer a two-player experience or want to play with up to four people.
Nine Perils is Mysticana‘s solo game in which you take on the role of a seer whose task is to avert the nine perils that prophecies foretold. You shuffle the cards together and deal nine face-down into a row ahead of you. You then flip the card in the centre face-up. These are the perils you’re trying to defeat. Each turn, you play a single card underneath one of the perils. You need to play a card of higher value, as in a higher number or a stronger suit, to defeat the peril. You will also flip up a face-down peril each turn, slowly revealing the challenge ahead of you.
Sorcerers’ Showdown is a two-player card battler. It’s almost like a mini trick-taking game, where the suit of the card played by the lead player needs to be followed by the other player. If they can’t, they can play any card, allowing them to potentially beat the lead card with a stronger-suited card. You keep taking turns casting your spell cards until all cards have been played. The goal is to win every single encounter to become the victor. If you fail, you play another round, but with fewer cards, until eventually someone manages to become the supreme sorcerer.
One More
The Path Ahead is a guessing set collection game. You shuffle all 18 cards into a face-down draw deck, then flip the top card face-up to make a discard pile. The first player then guesses if the top face-down card is stronger than the top face-up card and then turns it over to check if they guessed correctly. If they are right, it’s the next player’s turn.
If they get it wrong, they choose either the top card from the discard pile or the card they just flipped over from the draw deck. That’s where the set collection comes in. Once you have at least two cards in your hand, you can discard both, if they are the same number. Alternatively, if you have three cards, you can discard them if they are the same suit.
The Path Ahead is about getting rid of cards, because cards in your hand give you negative points. It is almost like a shedding game. It’s certainly a lot of fun and a game you can quickly play a few times.
In fact, all three games are great fun and quick to learn and play. With the variety of player counts, Mysticana is a really versatile wallet that you can easily have in your back pocket, coat pocket or handbag. So while previously you may have been tempted to have multiple wallet games on you, just in case, now you can cover multiple bases with one wallet. Mind you, there is nothing stopping you from adding other Button Shy games as well for even more variety.
Useful Links
- Mysticana: A Foundation Deck: https://buttonshygames.
com/ products/ mysticana-uk-only - Rulebook: https://boardgamegeek.
com/ filepage/ 284772/ official-rules-button-shy - Button Shy: https://buttonshygames.
com/ - BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.
com/ boardgame/ 408842/ mysticana-a-foundation-deck
Transparency Facts
I feel that this review reflects my own, independent and honest opinion, but the facts below allow you to decide whether you think that I was influenced in any way.- I was sent a free review copy of this game by the publisher.
- At the time of writing, neither the designers, nor the publisher, nor anyone linked to the game supported me financially or by payment in kind.
Audio Version
Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.
Sound Effects:
Effervescent tablet dropped in water by Toko_malourcour — https://freesound.
breaking waves.wav by reinsamba — https://freesound.
R27-25-Large Fire Burning.wav by craigsmith — https://freesound.
Immersion by Sascha Ende
Free download: https://filmmusic.
License (CC BY 4.0): https://filmmusic.
Playlist
These are the songs I listened to while I was writing this review: