By Brandon Sanderson Mistborn series, some people have the power to metabolize metal to work magic, burn tin to physically improve themselves, or copper to calm someone else’s emotions. But the most powerful characters in the world are the Mistborn, who can use many types of metals and combine their powers to fly effectively and even see the future.
Mistborn: the deckbuilding game uses Sanderson’s clearly defined magic mechanics, allowing players to show off the power of a Mistborn by building complex combos using their metals as efficiently as possible. The goal is to either complete three missions, which provide rewards for reaching milestones along the way, or to eliminate your competition by reducing them to zero health.
Characters become more powerful as the game progresses, unlocking the ability to burn more of the game’s eight metals each turn, which are used to activate cards that allow them to go on mission paths, attack other players, or shape their deck by buying cards in the middle row or eliminating weak starting cards. Many cards have kickers that produce more powerful effects if you can burn more of the same type of metal, which promotes specialization. You can take a broader strategy by flaring metals, which effectively cools them down until you refresh them on the future turn with a card of the same type, and I feel like I don’t have enough of this strategy in the early game used to stage my deck.
A new aspect of the game is the approach to damage. In a three or four player game, one person is the target and the only player who can be attacked. It’s not all a disadvantage, as the target can damage all of its opponents when they attack. When the target is damaged, they can choose to pass the token to another player or keep it. It’s smart because it prevents players from all ganging up against the person in front on the board, but it can also be strategically held by someone playing a more aggressive deck.
I’m eager to try out some more strategies and try out the game’s co-op mode, which feels more true to the series’ plot as the Mistborn work together to take on the tyrannical Lord Ruler. The game also feels ripe for expansion, introducing more series characters and story elements beyond the first book.