REVIEW: Mysterium (PC, iOS, Android)

I have an affinity for board games. Games like Lords of Waterdeep, Pandemic, 7 Wonders, and so on. When one of the games I enjoy get a videogame adaptation, I’m usually right on top of it. Some of the best adaptations include the iOS version of Lords of Waterdeep and Puerto Rico. Others, like Ra, aren’t as well translated. One game in particular, 7 Wonders, seems to be in an eternal beta.

However, one of the less likely board games to get a videogame adaptation is Mysterium. The game can best be described as a cross between Clue and abstract picture game Dixit. The theme of Mysterium is that one player is a murdered ghost, and the other players are psychics at a seance. The ghost sends the psychics clues related to their own murder, but the clues come in the form of wildly abstract pictures that Salvador Dali would be proud of. Using those vague clues, the psychics have six game turns to determine who killed the ghost, with what and where.

The game manages to represent the board game well, which lush, moody 1920’s art deco graphics. The single player campaign is basically an extended tutorial, framed in a story where the player spends time as both a psychic and a medium channeling a ghost. The game features multiplayer modes, including a Blitz mode that promises a faster game.

The game plays best with other humans, because playing with a computer requires the player to do a sort of reverse Turing Test in figuring out either what the computer ghost is trying to say or, even more difficult, figuring out how to find out what connections the AI will make. For example, putting 4 yellow cards may not influence the computer to select the yellowest option in front of them.

Playing with other humans is a pleasure, as always. A co-op game, you’re not going to find hostile players. The interface is good enough to allow players to communicate with each other, advising which evidence they should vote for or against. Mysterium is one of those games that never fails to present a compelling session.

It’s unfortunate, then, that the population of Mysterium players is very low; matchmaking is poor, and it’s very hard to coordinate with strangers to start a game. Gamers are lucky to start four player games (1 ghost, 3 psychics), and the game really sings with far more psychics than that. Tn fact, I was never able to get a game of Blitz going.

For fans of Mysterium, this game is a must-buy, but it’s advisable for players to coordinate scheduled games to avoid the dearth of online players out there. The game is currently only available on PC, iOS and Android — hopefully, word of mouth will get more players to enjoy this faithful adaptation.

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Users Pwn MetaCritic Review SubmissionsUsers Pwn MetaCritic Review Submissions

Although we’ve found Metacritic a userful resource for game reviews, many folks have gone on a user submission rampage to discredit games that haven’t even launched yet. Their first attack was on LittleBigPlanet followed by Resistance 2, now their hitting Gears of War 2.

While Gears of War 2 has a Metacritic score of 94/100 the user’s have reviewed it to be a 3.5 out of 10, with a bright red box around the user review due to its low nature we’re sure. Although users are free to give their own honest representation of the game from their perspective, Gears of War 2, as of the review dates, hasn’t been released yet – these reviews are bogus.

This style of attack was popularized in Spore, when Amazon got nailed with poor reviews of the game because Spore’s “Draconic” DRM made people angry. However, it’s more reasonable for people to voice their opinion on a known issue with a game; Gears of War 2 review spamming is just mean.

We use Metacritic as guidance when we do our gaming podcast to understand what games are rated in the industry, but we don’t use user reviews as our main guide. There are plenty of folks out there that may utilize these reviews in more seriousness because they may feel journalists reviews are tainted by advertisers or “the man” and want the common gamers opinion.

The common gamer cannot possibility be reviewing Gears of War 2 before the title has arrived. This is bogus. Metacritic has this to say:

“My advice for our faithful users is to focus your attention on the Metascore for this game and not the thousands of user votes, most of which have been submitted before said users have played the game. This is a gaming community, and if people want to stuff the ballot box, there’s not much I can do at this point. When we upgrade the registration requirements for participation on the site in the near future, this type of thing won’t happen. We’ll post the full legitimate user reviews upon the game’s release. As always, thanks for using the site.” (1up)

So, to those looking for holiday gaming gifts, keep this in mind while you start hunting down games you’ll want to buy.

Episode 512: Heating UpEpisode 512: Heating Up

As Fall approaches, more info on exciting games are starting to trickle in. That, and Jonah talks about how he’s going to Power Morphicon to cover stuff for his upcoming new show.

Otherwise, the news this week includes:

  • Patrick Stewart will narrate My Memory of Us
  • Jagged Alliance: Rage! announced
  • Deep Silver’s Outward coming February 12
  • Dark Souls coming to Nintendo Switch on Oct. 19

Let us know what you think.