Mystika 1.0

Overview

Mystika is a fantasy based board game where the magic world of Lumina comes to life through the eyes of the hero of the hour. This anointed here must face the queen of the dark world, Tenebria. She is capable of casting the kind of spells that make your teeth rattle and toes curl up. Your friends need rescuing from Luminos and certain death and you must make smart board moves to save them. Monsters will need banishing as well, so a harsh hand is needed to lay waste to all imposters and threats to freedom. Caves, crypts and castles are all depicted in glorious rich color tones. Characters move around the board. Spells and other actions create exciting visual effects which will jerk anyone out of their revere.

Installation

For the installation, first tick the checkbox to confirm acceptance of the legal terms and conditions, and that you're ready to face Tenebria... The destination folder is pre-selected but can be changed by the user. 30 MB is needed to install this game to your computer system. Once installation is complete, the setup program will ask whether to launch the game now or not. The question now is, are you tough enough?

You'll have to decide quickly because the trial is only limited to 60 minutes of game play. Then a purchase of the full version will be needed.

Interface

The game plays in a square orientation even on a widescreen display. Atmospheric music plays in the background to get you in the spooky mood. The main menu which is elegantly created offers options for Play, Trophies, Options and Exit. The Play option brings down a request to enter your player name from the top of the screen and then disappears with a “swoop” sound.

A book is then displayed which is open at Chapter 1. This tells the story of the evil queen, Tenebria. Then click the yellow arrow to proceed.

A map is then shown of the playing area and how many steps have to be achieved to win.

The object of the game is to get 3 matching items together to break through and move around the board. An instruction tutorial card is shown which explains more. This can be turned off when you're done.

Then you play the game for real.

Pros

• Atmospheric board game with lovely sounds and good use of colorful graphics
• Simple to understand; good for kids and adults to play together
• Includes good and evil characters in age old storytelling tradition
• 6 worlds
• 60 levels to play
• Only requires DirectX 8 and 3D graphics card which many computers have
• Mystika II is also available
• App available for Windows and Mac

Cons

• Only a 60 minutes limited trial
• Designed for square monitors

Conclusion

For anyone who enjoys a bit of fantasy game play and board games, then this fun title could be right up their street.