What is the game about?
The game is based on Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series and brings the world of the books to life in an exquisite way. The Mistborn world features a unique “magical system” built around metals. To use a magical ability, a character must burn (i.e., use) a specific metal, with each metal granting a different power. You play as a character who can control all eight metals. However, there’s a catch: the number of metals you can use on your turn is limited. This means you must choose carefully, or you may find yourself without usable metals in upcoming turns. The game allows you to either join forces and play cooperatively against the Lord Ruler, one of the most challenging modes, or compete against each other.
Gameplay
The core mechanic of Mistborn is deckbuilding: you start with a deck of cards that allows you to gain money and use your starting metal abilities. Throughout the game, you will buy more powerful cards from the market and build your perfect Mistborn deck.
In the competitive version of the game, your goal is to reduce your opponent’s health trackers to 0 by playing cards and using their metal powers. Alternatively, you can be the first player to reach the top of all three Mission tracks to win instantly. For each game, you set up three random Mission track cards that allow you to gain additional powerful effects, including healing and dealing more damage. In games with three or more players, there is a special token that prevents players from focusing all their damage on a single player, ensuring a more balanced and equally challenging experience for all opponents.
In the cooperative version, there is a separate deck of cards that represents the actions and allies of your opponent - the Lord Ruler. It should be noted that this cooperative (or solo) mode is extremely challenging, leaving little room for error. This might feel somewhat discouraging if you find yourself unable to win, no matter how hard you try.
Appearance of the game
Mistborn looks great; the components are made of cardboard (including the metal tokens and coins). The player boards are double-layered, and there are special places where the metal tokens fit, which feels very satisfying.
Who will like this game?
If you loved the Mistborn books, this game is a must-try for you - if only for the chance to see illustrations of the characters you have been following in the books or to feel like a part of this world. If you generally enjoy deckbuilding and highly interactive strategy games, you might also find this game appealing.
Things to consider
The main mode of the game is competitive, and if you do not like direct interaction between players (e.g., dealing damage to your opponents), then this game might not be the best fit for you. Although the game offers a cooperative mode, the main villain’s abilities and actions remain the same, which may limit replayability.
If you have not yet read the books, you may encounter some spoilers (especially for the first book) in the game.
