Mythic Mischief
- Alan How
- Jul 1
- 3 min read
Mythic Mischief is a tactical, asymmetric board game designed by Max and Lindsay Anderson and published by IV Studio. It is set in a magical school library in which the game pits players against each other as various factions of students - Vampires, Wizards, Monsters, and more - trying to outmanoeuvre each other while avoiding the dreaded Tomekeeper, the magical entity who patrols the library.
This game moves from IV Studio games like Veiled Fate that involve a voting element into a more abstract design. Primarily aimed at two players, the game features each player trying to outmanoeuvre and out-position each other.
The game board is a 5 x 4 grid on which each player's team of three students are placed. A neutral Tomekeeper (Groundskeeper in the standalone sequel Mythic Mischief II) moves from a starting point to two more end points in each half of the game. This piece represents an enemy to be avoided by all players, and a primary object in the game is to divert him to take a route that goes through your opponent’s pieces while avoiding your own. You control this through the range of actions you have each turn and have considerable flexibility in how to do this.
Each faction of students has its own trio of unique plastic minis, any of which would be the envy of any Harry Potter Hogwarts fan. The factions all have their own action board, with options that include moving your own faction pieces, moving bookcases to block or open up routes and moving the Tomekeeper, as well as the faction's own unique actions. The breadth of options is excellent as you manoeuvre the game elements to ensure the Tomekeeper captures your opponent’s pieces. In addition you can acquire your own tomes which have been scattered across the board and these upgrade your actions.
What makes Mythic Mischief stand out are the different factions for each player. Some allow for faster movement, moving more bookcases or even jumping over obstacles in order to evade the Tomekeeper. There’s a myriad of abilities, and with a good upgrade system. The game ends when one faction has 10 points or at the conclusion of two sessions, and then points are compared for victory.
The breadth of factions - currently at least 11 from the two base games and an expansion - means that Mythic Mischief has excellent replayability. But even the two base games have four factions apiece and these provide plenty of variety. The rules are not too difficult to absorb, but I would have liked card summaries of faction powers to help speed play. Potentially there is some downtime for each player as you rethink through the options each turn, but I have found that this is good thinking time for players.
While four-player games are possible (two versus two with each player controlling one faction), my experience with this is that the downtime does kick in at this player count and you can be frustrated as your plans have to be coordinated, so I much prefer the two-player version where you exert more control. The solo version is also very good and affords a player a great way to learn how to use each faction so that you really appreciate the game design.
With a playing time of 45 minutes or so, Mythic Mischief doesn't ever outstay its welcome. This is another clever game from the IV Studio catalogue. They have already established a reputation for excellent presentation and good ideas in their designs. This game is no exception.
(Review by Alan How)
