Game: Mystic Vale: Mana Storm
Publisher: AEG
Designer: John D. Clair
Year: 2017
Mystic Vale: Mana Storm is the first expansion we've tried for Mystic Vale. Mystic Vale was AEG's first game with the card crafting system where you add to and improve your cards throughout the game, so that you are deck-building, but not actually adding cards to your deck throughout the game. I really enjoyed the system in Mystic Vale, as you can see in my older review, but I've held back from investing in expansions because nothing about them seemed game changing and the price point for a box of cards was very high in comparison to the base game.
Mana Storm makes two or three key changes to the game. Firstly, it adds new cards to all of the decks. Secondly it gives each player a leader card, which becomes one of the ards in your deck and gives you a unique ability which can also be upgraded using mana. Finally, each player has a unique amulet which replaces the double sided mana token, giving you each unique abilities when you spoil and flip the token.
Variable player powers are a very popular trick with board gamers that really seems to resonate and add replayability to a game. Personally, having something cool I can do that other people can't isn't the main appeal, but drafting the leaders and the amulets at the start of the game really helps to give you focus to your strategy and that's what I enjoy more. Ideally you'll be able to draft a leader and an amulet with a synergy that perhaps leads you towards a strategy of buying lots of Vale cards with your Spirit symbols, or maybe encourages you to add lots of decay and growth symbols to your deck.
The other thing that really drew me to this expansion was its name. 'Mana Storm' might be a pretty generic name, but to me it signals that this is the big money expansion. My favourite Dominion expansion is Prosperity because it adds more powerful actions and bigger money and victory point cards and I was hoping for the same from Mystic Vale: Mana Storm. There is not necceasrily bigger money (or mana) in the new cards with this expansion but there does seem to be more of a focus on Spirit symbols and the new vale cards that you can buy seem to offer further synergies to allow you build an engine around generating more Spirit symbols. In addition the new advancements introduce more methods of end game scoring for particular 'themes' in your deck, such as focussing or different levels of advancements or focussing on the helmet symbols on some advancement cards.
I was already a fan of Mystic Vale, but it wan't hitting the table much. If nothing else, Mana Storm has brought the game back to the table and for me it's als a game enhancing expansion. All of the elements I like about the expansion boil down to focussing your strategy. Whether it's through picking a leader and amulet at the start of the game or wheather you start to develop a strategy from the advnacements you're selecting during play, both give you the opportunity to focus on combos that keep your play unique from other people at the table. Mana Storm is an expansion I'd highly reccommend and for the Yellow Meeple it's a 8/10.
Publisher: AEG
Designer: John D. Clair
Year: 2017
Mystic Vale: Mana Storm is the first expansion we've tried for Mystic Vale. Mystic Vale was AEG's first game with the card crafting system where you add to and improve your cards throughout the game, so that you are deck-building, but not actually adding cards to your deck throughout the game. I really enjoyed the system in Mystic Vale, as you can see in my older review, but I've held back from investing in expansions because nothing about them seemed game changing and the price point for a box of cards was very high in comparison to the base game.
Mana Storm makes two or three key changes to the game. Firstly, it adds new cards to all of the decks. Secondly it gives each player a leader card, which becomes one of the ards in your deck and gives you a unique ability which can also be upgraded using mana. Finally, each player has a unique amulet which replaces the double sided mana token, giving you each unique abilities when you spoil and flip the token.
Variable player powers are a very popular trick with board gamers that really seems to resonate and add replayability to a game. Personally, having something cool I can do that other people can't isn't the main appeal, but drafting the leaders and the amulets at the start of the game really helps to give you focus to your strategy and that's what I enjoy more. Ideally you'll be able to draft a leader and an amulet with a synergy that perhaps leads you towards a strategy of buying lots of Vale cards with your Spirit symbols, or maybe encourages you to add lots of decay and growth symbols to your deck.
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| There are 8 different amulets in the expansion, but each game you draft from a number equal to the number of players plus one. |
I was already a fan of Mystic Vale, but it wan't hitting the table much. If nothing else, Mana Storm has brought the game back to the table and for me it's als a game enhancing expansion. All of the elements I like about the expansion boil down to focussing your strategy. Whether it's through picking a leader and amulet at the start of the game or wheather you start to develop a strategy from the advnacements you're selecting during play, both give you the opportunity to focus on combos that keep your play unique from other people at the table. Mana Storm is an expansion I'd highly reccommend and for the Yellow Meeple it's a 8/10.
Mystic Vale: Mana Storm was a review copy provided by Esdevium Games Ltd. It is be available for an RRP of £29.99 at your friendly local game store or can be picked up at http://www.365games.co.uk/.
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