This is the first in a four part series on Terra Mystica.
When Amazon first debuted their New and Interesting Finds feature, I decided to try it out. Somehow through clicking through various games I liked, I stumbled upon Terra Mystica. It sounded interesting, so I added it to my wish list. Then Christmas rolled around, and my husband bought it for me.
I couldn’t believe all the little pieces inside! My first thought was, “President Gamer would love this!” The more pieces a game has, the more he likes it. The rules seem a bit daunting, but after playing it a couple times, we got it down.
What I really like about the game is each player gets their own little board, and that board tells you most of what you need to know about the game. It tells me how much it costs to build each building, what my income will be at the start of each round, what I can do with the resources I get, etc.
The other two boards give my the rest of the information I need. The Cult board tells me how many points I gain when I devote a priest, and if I’ll receive any power from putting points into that particular cult. The main board tells me how many points I have, what the reward is at the end of the round and what I need to do to get that reward, what special actions are still available for purchase, and what points are awarded at the end of the game. Of course the main board also shows where I’ve built, and who’s built near me.
We’ve only played a handful of times, but we don’t need to look at the rule book during a game. Once you know what all the symbols mean (which is pretty easy to pick up on), you’re good to go.
There are a few things we sometimes forget about like putting coins on the bonus tiles or making sure a player picks up a favor tile when they build a temple, but we’re getting better about that.
Shutter and President Gamer were kind enough to get me the expansion, Fire & Ice, for my birthday, which adds crazy new elements. This is definitely a game that will see a lot of play, and might just become one of our favorites.
In the next entry, I’ll discuss the Terra Mystica App (for Android and iOS).