Mindbug Review - with Tom Vasel

Tom Vasel takes a look at a bluffing game called Mindbug!
Intro 0:00
Overview 1:15
Final Thoughts 6:13
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BGG Link: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/3...

[@Aaackermann]

This is hands down one of the best two player games! Holy smokes, I LOVE this game!

[@Aaackermann]

@@ezes.5125 I honestly can't tell you. I lend it away and haven't got it back... maybe that answers the question though-

[@Walter.Kolczynski]

Skaff Elias was also involved in the very early days of Magic: the Gathering. He was one of Dr. Garfield's original playtesters at U Penn, and helped design many of the early sets as well as getting the Pro Tour started.

[@jiritsu0]

Press this timestamp to experience involuntary gasp if you are not a monster 10:29

[@RuNacken]

Tom: "I'm not a huge fan of tuckboxes". 5 minutes later; goes mjolnir on it.

[@RusselFleming]

I've played an earlier PNP version of the game and it has improved since then. It's a perfect game to play during lunch time or during an evening. BGstats has me playing it 26 times and a win percentage of 34%. I plan to get this on the kickstarter.

[@speedandstyletony]

Magic the Gathering - "yes but you have spent several hundred thousand dollars on that" - bout right!

[@atevlis3988]

I want this! NOW! Kickstarter starts at 23rd Nov? *happydance*

[@StefanLopuszanski]

I thought the Kickstarter is happening in 2022? That's what's listed on the website.

[@leroy7647]

Richard Garfield seems to be a master of coming up with interesting mechanics, and then distilling it heavily without ruining the experience.

[@APG-Games]

I playtested some earlier versions of the game. For a fun, simple, straightforward game, it has some solid depth.

[@CharlesCom-bd2qb]

Do you know how it compare to the somewhat related Radlands that is currently releasing ?

[@scififanman]

The Kickstarter says they already have upgrade packs in the works, so I'm guessing the idea of the game long-term is to start small and scale up over time, create a little game people can wrap their head around quickly, enjoy the artwork, and look forward to future decks where new gameplay elements are slowly added. That would let people dive into the game at their own desired level of play, and with the simple base deck(s) you could even just play go-fish and other simple games that even preschoolers can learn and become familiar with. This is something I've complained about other tcgs, is there's a moderately steep learning curve up front, you have to study a bit and stumble with the game, but MindBug just lets you pick up a deck and play, even quicker than Flesh and Blood Blitz decks. I'm supporting the game hoping it will become popular in the U.S. (mostly a Europe distribution network right now), mostly to have a simple game I can introduce my early-elementary school aged nieces and nephew to, and I'll keep the limited edition Kickstarter stuff for myself.

[@fearanarchy]

Taking a better lesson from Epic Card Game essentially, and a few lessons from Keyforge which has to be an influence

[@albertfajarito1]

Where to buy dice?

[@Asmor]

Besides Magic, I'm kind of getting Fantasy Realms and Hanamikoji vibes. Really looking forward to this.

[@kashstory]

I feel it's like Duel Masters

[@matofilipovic7818]

I never contributed to kickstarter. That is about to change.

[@bingomat1980]

Sounds fun. Thanks

[@maomao180]

All I can think about is "Damn that die is huge"

[@bigg3110]

I miss reviews like this, Tom and the Dice Tower at its best.

[@LookOut667]

Poisonous isn't the same in MtG. From what you described, it's most likely the equivalent of Deathtouch.

[@beetlefeet]

Came to check the comments for this :)

[@holgerejleby7367]

I'm guessing Tom was thinking of Infect which deals damage in form of poison counters :)

[@ScottRogersMightyBedbug]

Tom! You don't know who Skaff Elias is? "(George) Skaff Elias was one of the original playtesters for Magic: The Gathering and helped edit the early Magic sets. Richard Garfield got him to start working for Wizards of the Coast around 1993. He has held such positions as Magic Brand Manager and Senior Vice President of Magic R&D. He was the primary architect of the Magic: The Gathering Pro Tour which distributes millions of dollars in prize and scholarship money." - from BGG

[@thedicetower]

Ok sure! But I really don't think that's something most people know.

[@ScottRogersMightyBedbug]

@@thedicetower Well, now they do! And knowing is half the battle!

[@russellsmith5835]

I must say I am surprised. Looks like a good stocking stuffer.

[@russellsmith5835]

Ah, kickstarter? A future year's stocking stuffer then.

[@rawkyle9385]

@@russellsmith5835 2023 has entered the chat

[@jimgrant9081]

Seems like a winner!

[@smolle8906]

i should have picked it up at essen spiel :( i did play a few games of it in essen

[@5ammy13]

So you'd say it is ESSENtial?

[@rawkyle9385]

wow

[@zangster2k]

This reminds me of Terrible Monster.

[@lenaforsgren]

Seems fantastic 😀👍😍

[@mardel5466]

I know it may be a weird question but this game or Keyforge ?

[@MatheusVenti]

With 2 decks of Keyforge you can have a big unbalanced matchup. Só, unless you pretend to buy 5+ decks of Keyforge, this is better.

[@lastburning]

This game because the business model for Keyforge sucks so much for the player. You're buying random decks blindly and can't even change them later. So you should buy a lot of decks and pray for strong ones. Even if you're playing casually, you still have a bunch of unbalanced decks. It's even worse than the regular CCG model.

[@Aquateenmitch]

I think the better comparison is Mind Bug or Redlands. Similar concepts and execution of unlimited gameplay in one box, but different themes and a few different rules. I think Redlands has a little more depth to the amount of strategy and decisions though. We'll see what I think after playing both a few times.

[@Env1ve]

@@Aquateenmitch so how is it after a year. Radlands or mind bug?

[@tonywalters914]

So it's like Terrible Monster with a few more cards

[@MarkusBreindl]

This or radlands? seem similar from the core premise even if some mechanics clearly are differentiating the two

[@kkyeung2050]

I choose mindbug because the gameplay is shorter

[@619ck154]

Why choose. Radlands has always been one of my favourites but having acquired this recently it’s gonna make it into my travel collection for sure . Mind bug has a more definitive time limit on if compared to radlands. It’s genuinely impossible for a game to last over half an hour. If that’s not in your remit I’d say radlands is still better as it has more nuances

[@alexstrang9823]

where can I buy this...now?

[@kerim8666]

coming to kickstarter in Nov 23 apparently

[@alexstrang9823]

@@kerim8666 ok. I had assumed Tom’s reviews are usually of games that are currently available

[@kerim8666]

@@alexstrang9823 I was surprised as well. I think it was available on Essen, where some people got their hands on one of the decks

[@MegaSNES64]

And don’t forget Bunny Kingdom Tom..

[@AkmalGameAtion]

I'm sold micro magic

[@marcosfernandesdesousajuni9576]

I'd say it's accurate to say "magic-like game" even if you consider the bluffing, blue decks does that all the time!

[@Ilsyde]

Jace vs Jace

[@notsaved]

wish they did a bit better production with a decent small box, space for sleeved cards, some life counters...

[@johannesimpybgg5174]

The product currently available is only a kind of preview, wait for the Kickstarter coming this month, maybe it has to offer what you're looking for.

[@juanroaguilo]

lovelyy

[@KristoVaher]

Take a look at Radlands, I feel like it does this kind of thing better.

[@lastburning]

MtG takes 5-15 minutes also to be fair. Also, isn't poisonous like deathtouch in MtG?

[@keel1701]

If Magic only takes that long, its because you are playing vintage/legacy to win by turn 2 which means a huuuuuuuge cost.

[@PandaOfElastic]

@@keel1701 Unless you're playing Commander or some other hyper casual format, games are typically going to be 5-10 turns, with the first few turns being very short. I think 5 minutes seems too low to me, but 10-20 minutes sounds pretty accurate.

[@lystic9392]

For some reason, with my gaming group games tend to take much longer than on average. Not with Magic in particular, but I noticed this with all games. For instance, Hanamikoji took us about 1 hour per play. I think people on average take like 15-20 minutes per play? Then we tried War of the Ring... One game took about 10 hours. I think we take about 3-4 times the length of the average game group for most games. And I can't even say how or why.

[@stefanplankenbichler3216]

I dont think its like magic, i think its way different, the keywoards might be iddentical but you have it in Other games too, so yeah i think its way different but a very cool game

[@fearanarchy]

I do love that everyone thinks Richard Garfield designed this. "He made Magic the Gathering!". (1) MtG back then is terrible compared to gaming now (2) HE WAS BROUGHT ON. He helped refine it. Those 3 other gentlemen made the game. (3) Keyforge.

[@thedicetower]

1. OK, but it's still a groundbreaking design. 2. Fair enough. 3. I like Keyforge! I also like Roborally, King of Tokyo, and many other great games designed by Mr. Garfield.

[@fearanarchy]

@@thedicetower And so is Monopoly. Yet I seem to remember some reviewer's disdain for that. Garfield is a great designer. The story of MtG being funding idea for Robo Rally always stucks with me. It was a barren market; so success was based on adoption. The first several years reflect that ad the wild west / gold rush of CCGs was just publishers looking for adoption of a product. His ideology and creativity yielding Keyforge shows he is a person who still has their edge. Mind Bug shares many ideas with Garfield games (for obvious reasons). But its initial burst NEEDS to be followed by good marketing or you just get Star Realms; a game everyone loves but much fewer play now outside of the app.

[@PestiferousJoe]

"Take that tuckbox!" 😖

[@tommyclay6922]

1st