Plaid Hat Games Mice And Mystics Board Game 9 Years, For 9 Years, Red, PH1100

I am reasonably new to dungeon crawler games, I’ve played hero quest and that’s about it. I was looking for something similar to her request that was more suitable for children under 10. This is one of the best games I have ever played, the storyline is wonderful, the miniatures are really cute and high-quality. Bought it with my seven-year-old daughter in mind, the game is probably a little bit too complex for her at this stage, but my wife and I are having a really good time playing through it and we involve my daughter so she can start to pick it up. There are a lot of rules that would be complex for most seven-year-olds, understanding how the different equipment impacts the game and the general strategy for beating the minions. That being said, there are still no regrets about buying this game as we still involve her in it, and I reckon we’ll get many years of enjoyment out of it when she is a couple of years older.

This is the game that got my family to love board games! We have played this 6 times now and are slowly going through this as a campaign (you have the option to play the chapters out of order but it sounded a lot more fun to go through it like a book) I have seen others mention it takes around an hour per chapter.. We do not play that fast, it takes us at least 2 hours. Maybe that is because we are playing with 2 adults and 2 kids (9 and 15) and like to take our time. When i first started reading about this game I was worried about the replayability as there are only so many chapters to play. It is true that once we pass a chapter there is little chance we will play the same one again, but it takes us so long to get through one (and we had to play the first one twice) so we have already got around 10-12 hours out of this game and expect it to take at least 20+ hours more. When you compare this with other family activities there is no way that 70ish dollars will get you at least 20 (more for us) hours of family fun. The simple combat and action orders of this game make it easier for kids and people new to this type of cooperative game style. The story is very well written and really draws the kids in and gives the game a purpose. The art work is amazing and the miniatures that come with it are of good quality (although a little small) I can't wait to paint them (will be my first time) I would recommend watching a few videos on youtube before playing. Two that were very helpful were "rules you may have missed" and Wil Wheaton's Tebletop show where he plays with his family. Also there are some very good FAQs that you can quickly look up when you are not quite sure what to do. There are a few DLC stories you can get for 2 dollars on Plaid Hat Games website as well as 2 expantions that continue the story. I give this game a 5/5 as any game that has the kids (and wife) asking if they can play it on a saturday night makes it perfect in my book.

Wait! Go to http://www.plaidhatgames.com/games/mice-and-mystics and watch the instructional video on how to play the game. You'll get to see everything in the box and see if it's right for you. Please read on to see my input. I just bought 3 big dungeon crawler type games: Descent (2nd ed), D&D Wrath of Ashardalon, and Mice and Mystics. Of the three, I am fascinated the most by this game. The mechanics of the game play are simple yet smart. The characters are just inspiring. The mice are smaller than I thought, but well made and detailed none the less. The card stock for the character cards are a bit flimsy, so I recommend a protector sheet of some sort to store them in, otherwise beautiful. Everything fits nicely in the box with room to spare (compared to Descent where I needed an extra box to out the tile pieces in). You'll want a couple of sandwich bags to segregate some of the pieces, though. Hats off to plaid hat games for making an instructional video (see their website) that actually teaches you the whole game! There's a sticker on the cover of the rules book that directs you there too. No way to miss it. This doesn't mean the rule book isn't any good. You can actually follow along. The materials and video are well thought out and top notch (love the index!). The presentation of the video alone eludes to the quality and effort spent in the design and production of the game. The miniatures are a bit small (like the tab of a soda can), but it makes sense. Mice are all so unique and cool. The game will play well on most dining tables. The board "tile" placement doesn't get too out of control so space isn't the primary concern (in contrast to Wrath of Ashardalon where the dungeon goes all over the darn place and you wind up moving things around just to make more room). So what is the primary concern? The game is marked as ages 7+. True, my kids are already broken-in on dice rolling games (ages 7 and 5). By no means would I ever expect my 7 year old to grab this off the shelf and play by himself or with his sister. There are a great deal of rules and pieces. There are 2 books. The rules, and the adventure book (how to set up each unique story). Sure, my kids could both put pieces on the board and make their own adventures. Learning the dice combat and cheese system is easy: That I agree, but to play the game "as intended by the books" I find it hard to believe. Some lego sets are labeled 7+, and my kids can figure those out, but this is a different animal. This isn't Candyland. Notice my rating stays 5 stars. I bought this as a family story telling game, so the kid-solo-play issue is a non-issue. We will only pull it out together. You have to understand why the designer made the game to understand the 7+ rating. He made the game to help his daughter learn to read and overcome a reading disability. This game has several "pick a player to read the following passage" sections. This is intended get kids interested in creative storytelling and reading. If your child is already a great reader, let him or her read all of the passages. It will only make him better. If he struggles with reading, let him read all of the passages. It will take time, but he will get to play out the adventure afterward with you and begin to enjoy reading. The connection from story to characters to game will grow the more they progress through the adventure book. Please don't pass this opportunity to get involved with your kids to read and play games together. You won't regret it. Last, but not least, the average play time labeled on the box is 60-90 minutes. Good luck keeping younger kids focused that long on anything. In my experience though, games like this keep their attention longer than any other similar type of entertainment. As a side note, if you're an old school gamer (tabletop or whatever) and you're looking to grow your home-based play-group, grab this game. The whole family (kids and spouse included) will get hooked on the concept of story telling, dice-based actions and combat, and leveling up. A stealthy and sure-fire way to make nerds out of everyone. Where's the 6th star?

Playing this with my girlfriend and having a great time. Watch the Watch It Played videos that are linked on Plaid Hat Games website (you don't need to watch all of it, just a couple of episodes) and read the rulebook and you're good to go! Well worth the hour or so investment to learn how to play it properly and one player can easily pass their knowledge on to others. The box feels lovely and weighty but isn't excessively sized for the contents, which are absolutely gorgeous in design. You also get to paint the figures if you want. Simple mechanics for gaming newcomers, the game suits 2 players just great. Haven't tried it with any other amount but 1-3 should work perfectly well. 4 players would be fine apart from 1 chapter in the (rather long) story book. You'll get many hours out of this!

I love this game; everything that comes in the box oozes quality! So excited to paint the minis!