Tell me alittle about this game

[darksbane]

So I noticed the ads in Scrye lately and decided I'd cruse by here to see alittle more about the game. Took the time to read through the website, cruse the message board here, and look up the google cached pages of boardgamegeek's discussion of the game (which I found pretty amusing).

Sooo, with that being said, the game looks interesting, but I'm not quite sure it is for me yet (especally since the only place I can seem to find it online is trollandtoad).

How complex is the game when you are actually playing it?

I noticed that there are unfortunately Ultra Rares in this game. Whats the distribution like? Ultra Rares = I Win Button in this game as in many others?

200 card base set is alittle small, how many cards in the expansion?

What are the best parts of the game? What are the worst?

[Keith Katsikas]

Hi darkbane!

Welcome to the Q&A forums. It's great to see new investigators. =)
I am the creator of the game, so I would feel uncomfortable answering these questions. But I know there are a few others who visit here oft who will be glad to. I will check in again soon to see what they say and help with any questions.

[rpgdirector]

I enjoy the game and carry it at my store here in Kansas. We also have it at my online store, www.sporadicgames.com

The biggest important play aspect of this game would have to be the character actions. You actually play as a character who has actions that they use to put other cards into play. This alleviates the problems of other games like "mana screw" or "twilight choke". You know how many actions you'll have each turn to put other cards into play.
The artwork on most cards is pretty good and the base set has a lot of variety, so we haven't seen any dominant deck archetypes yet.
The game is more complex to learn than most. There are a lot of things to keep track of, but after about three games you catch on pretty quick. The playmats are a big help in learning the game. I wouldn't suggest doing the tutorial game that comes in the starter, it's rather confusing.
There are ultra rares and the distribution seems good, but not great. We've been through over ten boxes in my store and there is one ultra rare we've never seen (city wall) and two that we've only seen one copy of(Dwarven Infantry, Soul Scythe). All the rest of the ultra rares we've got multiple copies of.

Overall, here's my best and worst of:

BEST
Gameplay
Artwork
Variety of deck types
Balanced Gameplay
Tournament Support
League Support
Heavily involved design staff

WORST
Rulebook
Ultra Rares distribution
Poor wording on some cards
Most of the advertisements, hehe

[darksbane]

Thanks for the responses guys,

Kieth, a seperate questions for you then, what do you personally like the most about your game? I'm always interested in hearing what a designer is most fond of in a game he created.

Rpgdirector, Your initial description gives me some hope. I have played alot of CCG's (25+ at last count of ones with a decent buy in) Most of my favorite games don't have the resources hidden in the decks to screw you with bad draws, so thats good. I also prefer a game with a central character (Warlord, City of Heroes, and Magi-Nation being some of the best examples of both central characters and no mana screw). The complexity is something I still wonder about, are there any games which this one compares to in either complexity or gameplay?

[rpgdirector]

Complexity-wise, I would say Lord of the Rings or Star Trek. There's a lot going on and a good number of phases to go through. It's good to have the playmats out so you can walk through the phases in order and memorize them. Also, the playmats have all the icons and what they mean listed on it.

Character wise, I'm not sure. I haven't played many character based games. From what little I know of other character games, it seems most similiar to Warlord.

[Keith Katsikas]

You know... that's a real tough question. What do I like most about the game? I think I would have to say it's the actions. No waiting, no mana screw. Faster game play. Allows you to focus more of game manipulation and allows you to really get creative with deck construction. Half the deck doesn't need to be filled with useless cards.

[darksbane]

Ok, I'm gonna give the game a go, another question, are there factions in the game?

[Keith Katsikas]

darksbane said:

Ok, I'm gonna give the game a go, another question, are there factions in the game?

No. However, there are some downfalls to constructing decks outside of their intended theme, but often these downfalls can either be worked out or fit into the overal scheme of the deck.

[synergy]

i think this games complexity is LOW, which is a surprisingly good thing. the first time i played it when keith demoed it at silver dragon in NH i picked up the game within one game and won. i think magic and VS really helps because magic is very complex.

i love this game and think youve done a great job with this game.

[Keith Katsikas]

Thanks for the kind words. I'm so happy to know that you enjoy Mystical Empire. I look forward get a league going at the Silver Dragon! =)