Insane fun

🧠 Mindbug was quite hyped during last year's SPIEL21. We kind of missed out on that, so I really wanted to get my hands on it now. 😁

It is a quick to play 2-player card game with a small footprint from designer extraordinaire Richard Garfield. 🙃 The gameplay is akin to a collectible card game, however you just have to buy the game once, and there is no deck construction.

👆 Setup is easy: you each get 10 random cards from the deck, then you are ready to duke it out. Your goal is to defeat the other by getting their health to zero. You won't get any more cards during the game.

⚙️ On your turn you either play a card (it's free, there is no currency in the game) or use a card to attack.
If you attack, your rival can either block it with one of their monster cards or take damage. Monsters with bigger strength defeat the other and take no damage - though there are some abilities like poison that could change this.

The unique twist of the game are the Mindbugs. You each start the game with 2 of them - when someone plays a card, the other can take it over by using up one of their Mindbug cards. So playing your most powerful card could easily backfire. Also, using up your Mindbugs early could give your opponent free reign over what to play and when.

This is again a game that has simple rules and the complexity comes from the effects and interactions of the cards themselves - so it’s hard to exactly describe what it is like until you try it 😅 But I like how it is basically just a deck of cards with virtually no setup, that you can easily carry around with you.

You got destroyed? Luckily it plays very quickly so you can immediately call for a rematch!😁