Terra Mystica

Play fantastical factions. Expand your influence by terraforming and joining cults.

        Terra Mystica was one of my mother’s purchases in our earlier gaming days when we were looking for more of a challenge. We were becoming seasoned gamers, and many classic eurogames were ever so popular and loved by the world. This game popped up in her searches, and we were ready to take on the challenge!

In Terra Mystica, you are one of many factions vying for influence across the map. Each faction has a specific land type associated with it and requires terraforming the land to build dwellings, trading houses, temples, sanctuaries, and strongholds! Each building type evolves from the previous, so you must develop your structures sequentially to grow your influence.

In addition to terraforming land and constructing cities, you may also develop various cults across the land. In doing so, you earn more power. Power is the key to success in Terra Mystica, as you can use it to take critical actions in the game.

Players will earn varying amounts of gold, workers, priests, and power each turn based on how they choose to develop their faction. With so many choices and so many actions, how will you become the victor?

Mechanics & Categories: Civilization, Economic, Worker Placement, Area Control

SO MANY COMPONENTS

   Games like these tend to turn people off as they are known as a “tree in a box.” The box is riddled with components and is rather heavy, literally. I would say don’t let that fool you, but there are so many options in this game, making it a much more challenging game than others out there.

For each of the seven factions, you can play two character roles whose rules and abilities are described on a double-sided cardboard player mat. For each mat, a player gets numerous wooden components: dwellings, trading houses, temples, sanctuaries, strongholds, priests, workers, power, trackers, and bridges. There are also cardboard punch-out circles with terraforming artwork on either side. Players will grab a handful that matches their character’s preferred terrain type.

Phew, okay, we listed out everything...for a single player. It’s a lot. They are all very colorful but in your standard expected rainbow colors, nothing fancy like lime greens or pinks.

Now, for the rest of the table, in addition to a massive game board, there is a cult board, player bonus tiles, town tiles, favor tiles, and scoring tiles, all cardboard punchouts that require plenty of table space to layout. If you like heavy games with many options and don’t mind a bit of a more extended game setup, then this game is for you. I definitely wouldn’t show this game to just anyone.

Terra Mystica plays like a classic euro with very traditionally expected components as opposed to a game like Dinosaur Island, which also has many components. Still, those are modernized, vibrant, and unique, which might draw others in.

My tips? Buy acrylic player board overlays to hold the plethora of wooden structures you need to maintain in a designated location on your board. Also, buy a bead organizer. So many smaller components can easily be stored to make setup much quicker.

CLASSIC FANTASY STYLE

The artwork for Terra Mystica feels straight out of a fantasy novel. You have highly detailed terrains in high-contrast colors, making gameplay much more accessible when deciding where to build next.

The cultist track comprises four castles, all with intricate stonework clearly defined within the artwork. The bowls of power even look intricate and smooth like marble, expressing the royalty you earn that comes with power. The attention to detail in every single piece of artwork is indescribable.

The actions you have available very clearly show the iconography for what to expect: coins, power, bridges, priests, shovels, workers, cultist tracks, etc. There is never a question of what you are earning when you take an action either on the board or your bonus tile.

With 14 characters to play, some players choose the coolest-looking one and roll with it. Others will look for the character’s ability. Each character continues to be highly detailed and exemplifies their playstyles.

Major note: within the rulebook, there is an interesting story behind each faction and why they operate the way they do. The rules even mention looking at these stories to help players learn the best strategy to play. One cannot simply pick up a character but play in a style that doesn’t match their vibe.

A HEAVY CHALLENGE

Proceed with caution; his game is incredible, but not for the faint-hearted. No, this isn’t the heaviest game I have ever played, but it is up there.

If you ever have played Agricola, you understand that time is not on your side. You have so many things you want to do but so little time. With only so many resources, you need to be able to balance your actions wisely to overcome the other players.

Getting your stronghold built quickly can earn you a special action that might be beneficial; however, building your sanctuary can earn you priests and income every turn, which will also help you in the long run. The more dwellings you build, the more money you will make overall, but you must return those dwellings to upgrade to bigger and better buildings.

But wait, don’t forget about shovels and power! Maybe even sailing! You have to be able to shovel and terraform land before you can even build, and sometimes, it might require power to do so.

If you are running low on power, you better do something to help out the cultists to earn some more. Can’t build a bridge? Better sail the seas and increase your shipping lanes to travel farther across the map.

Did you play first? If not, it might be a race to use the power actions on the game board; plan for the worst.

Did you want to place that building and place a priest on the cultist track? Better do them in the correct order, or else another player will snatch up your action.

On top of all that, the scoring bonuses for each round change! This time around, building dwellings scores you points! Darn, I already built all of mine in the last round.

As you can see, this game can quickly spiral if you don’t take intelligent actions in the correct order. For deep thinkers and heavy gamers, Terra Mystica is super satisfying to excel at and exercises your mental muscles.

You had better keep a backup plan in mind because other players will likely sabotage what you want to do. Albeit unintentionally, you may not get to do everything you set out for.

Final Comments

Taking on this challenge is a gratifying experience. If you are not willing to sit down for at least an hour and a half, not including set-up time, then pass on this game. It’s just not worth it.

For the rest of us, we have a great chance to sit down with friends and family for an extended period of time, all working hard to become victors of the game. There is no real cutthroat aspect, except for your plans being derailed.

It’s hard to believe, but we fell in love with this game immediately, and I’m pretty sure we kept playing it over and over again week after week (maybe even multiple times within the week).

With life moving so fast, it can be hard to find that amount of time to dedicate to a game, let alone the mental power required after a long, hard day of work. But if you are up for it, Terra Mystica is an incredible Euro game that I’m thankful we stumbled upon.

Similar To: Gaia Project, Scythe, Clans of Caledonia

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Publisher:  ZMan Games

Game(s) Pictured: Terra Mystica