by atsgamer
I preordered Mice and Mystics and in the interim between ordering and receiving it, I played Descent 2.0. I thought Descent 2.0 was a superb reworking of the game and I figured it would be my family dungeon crawl game. In fact, I was sure that MM would be duplicative in my collection. But then we sat down to play MM yesterday and today. It was the four of us, me, my wife, my 6 year old son and my 9 year old daughter. As we played, I saw the beauty of this game. My children immediately grasped the story and were immersed into it. The mice theme just clicked with them in a way that the Descent story did not. The kids would even say the lines of their respective mice in the story moments. The gameplay mechanics are perfect for the level of kids and even for my wife, who does not like heavily tactical games. I love heavily tactical and strategic games, but the story here was so fun and immersive and there is just enough crunch for me to be interested, plus I played Nez...love swinging that big hammer!We all had a blast together as we successfully completed the first chapter. You could just visualize the scenes - the mice desperately fighting the minions, running for the tree with the crow endlessly circling above. Great stuff! My kids were totally engaged and we spent some delightful family time together. Jerry Hawthorne has created a game that comes alive and creates memorable moments. This game absolutely shines as a family game. You just can't put a value on how boardgames like this create these family moments.
This game is one of the best thematic games I have played. It is about the story. It excels at achieving an immersive experience and knows exactly what it wants to be. Descent is a good game too, but I think it won't come off the shelf for awhile, at least not until my kids are older. For now, we will be continuing our adventures in MM....my kids are already talking about the next chapter.
Thanks for creating a great game Jerry!