Mind Up: Review
Information:
Mechanics: Hand Management, Simultaneous Play, Set Collection
Age: 8+Player Count: 3 - 6 Players Time to Play: 15 - 20 Minutes
Game Designer: Maxime RambourgGame Artist: Christine AlcouffePublisher: Pandasaurus GamesYear Published: 2023BGG Weight: 1.25Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the publisher.
Game Designer: Maxime Rambourg
Introduction:
Mind Up is a trick-taking adjacent game that has players getting into their opponent's head, in pursuit of getting the coloured card they are aiming for. Each turn there will be a card display equal to the number of players. Each player will choose one card face down, these cards will now be ordered in ascending order underneath the display then each player will gain the card they are underneath. Scoring depends on the column each card goes to and the points on the card. The cards won each round become the player's hand for the next round, so each round after the first players will know each player's hand, giving them the chance to understand each players potential.
Card Anatomy:
Number Cards:
The number cards contain five colours and values ranging from 1-60, where there are twelve of each colour. Some of the cards will contain either a negative one, positive one or positive two points.
Scoring Cards:
The scoring cards come in values 1-5. These will determine the multiplication of the column of cards during scoring. Each scoring card will multiply the value by the amount of the cards in the column during scoring. Each player will have their own set of five scoring cards.
Bonus Objective Cards:
These bonus cards are for advanced players. They allow an additional way to score a small amount of positive or negative points. There are a couple of ways to use these cards, such as revealing one every round or having a couple revealed for the whole game.
Setup:
- Shuffle the number card deck.
- Make a row of cards in the centre by revealing the number of cards equal to the player count.
- Arrange these cards in ascending order, do this every time cards are revealed in the middle like this.
- Deal each player their set of five scoring cards.
Round Setup:
- Deal seven cards to each player, creating their hand for the first round.
- In rounds two and three your hand will be made up of the cards in your scoring section with one more card added from the number deck.
- One player will shuffle and create a row of scoring cards, and each player will rearrange their scoring cards to match this order.
How to Play:
The game consists of three rounds. After the row of cards in the centre is revealed each turn, every player will play one card from their hand face-down. Once everyone is ready these cards will be revealed. The cards will then be displayed underneath the centre row in ascending order. Players will add the card they won to the scoring column with the matching colour or to the first empty scoring column. Players continue this way without drawing cards until all the cards are played in the round. Once that occurs, score each column by multiplying the scoring value by the number of cards on that column and then add or deduct any additional points on the cards.
Rounds two and three are set up by every player taking their scored cards into their hand and drawing one new card. Before the round starts it is good to look at your opponent's scored cards to get a feel for the range of cards they have. This is useful for the next round when planning for the cards you want. At the end of the game, all three rounds are totalled and the highest value determines the winner.
Final Thoughts:
- Engaging to try and outmaneuver your opponents by knowing their range of number cards and the cards they should be going for.
- Objective cards add a good bonus but may not be as worthwhile as scoring cards on your scoring column.
- The colours on the cards feel random.
- Round one can sometimes feel not as fun as the other two rounds but the objectives help with this.
- I am unsure why there isn't a way to play this at two players with a dummy player.
Mind Up succeeds in giving the players a way to mentally tangle with the other players at the table while still being a light and approachable card game reminiscent of classic card games. Every turn a player determines which card they want, whether for the objective, the bonus point on the card or to add it to their high-scoring column. They then have to look and see what others are hunting for, this is when you get into the minds of your opponents (especially in rounds two and three). Based on the knowledge of yours and your opponent's cards, should you change your tactic to hinder others or excel with that information to gain what you desire? I very much enjoyed this game and highly recommend it, especially for family gatherings as the game itself is light and feels like a classic card game. The challenge just comes in reading the room.
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