We’re huge fans of Mindbug here at Card Gamer, and one version of the game which seemed to pass us by is Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom. Is it worth playing? Let’s find out!
What is Mindbug?
Before we get into what’s new in Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom, let’s cover the basics of the Mindbug series of games. Mindbug and its expansions (all of which are standalone titles, each with the ability to mix cards with other titles in the series) are two player, small box card games. In each variation of the game, players take each other on with their own deck of weird and wonderful creatures, and they have the opportunity to take control of an opponent’s newly played creature using their Mindbugs, twice per game.
The gameplay is deceptively simple; each player is dealt a deck of 10 cards, with all other creatures going back in the box for this game. Then they draw 5 cards from their own deck to form their hand, and set their life counter to 3 (don’t forget to grab the 2 Mindbug cards which match the Life Counter either!). Each turn, players will either play a creature from their hand or attack with a creature.
Playing a creature means it goes into their play area, though the opponent can take control of a creature when it’s played (if they have an unused Mindbug), and the active player draws another card, then receives another chance to play immediately.
Combat is really straightforward; the active player declares which of their creatures will attack, and their opponent chooses whether to defend. If they don’t, they lose 1 life. If they do defend, they choose which creature is the defender, and the power value of each card, shown in the top left, is compared. The highest number wins, and the loser is sent to the owner’s discard pile.
Keyword abilities add a very thin layer of complexity, and the abilities on offer do differ depending on which Mindbug version you’re playing. Though simple, Mindbug’s mechanics offer a surprising level of strategic nuance, and a wealth of options on each turn. We’ve found each version of Mindbug to be hugely compelling, and each one offers something different to fans of the series.
What’s New in Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom?
One of the first things you’ll notice is the inventive designs of the creatures in Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom. They’re all inventive fusions of animal and food (not always fruit, it should be noted); exactly as you’d expect, given the theme! There’s also the addition of the Fast and Harvest keywords, which we’ll take a look at now.
Fast is a new keyword which allows a creature to attack on the turn it’s played; of course, if a creature with Fast is “Mindbugged”, then the new controlling player gets to attack with it immediately, if they choose to.
Harvest is an ability which kicks in after all Octonite tokens have been removed from a played card. When a creature with Harvest is played, the card’s Octonite symbol shows how many tokens need to be added to it, and 1 token is removed at the beginning of the owning player’s turn. Once all tokens are removed, the ability triggers, and these can be super powerful effects which may turn the tide of the game, or even deliver an instant win!
Both of these elements, along with the game’s usual suite of keywords, add a great deal of new wrinkles to the standard Mindbug gameplay, necessitating new ways to deal with your opponent’s creatures across the course of any one game.
Is Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom Fun to Play?
As we mentioned in our introduction, we’re huge fans of the Mindbug games, and Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom is another excellent addition to the series. The new keywords offer yet another set of mechanics for players to use and deal with, and being able to mix and match cards from this expansion with any other means that owners of more Mindbug titles can create their own, custom selections of cards with the mechanics they want to use (or exclude!).
Harvest and Fast don’t add a great deal of complexity to the game, but do increase the number of strategies that players will need to adapt to; Harvest is a great way of adding “timers” to Mindbug, and Fast can be devastating with the right timing. The excellent visual design, as well as the good quality of cards and components add to the now-expected, great production values of this version of Mindbug too.
The Card Gamer Verdict
The Mindbug games share a solid foundation of basic mechanics, so each each expansion adds its own, separate layer of gentle complexity in isolation so as not to be overwhelming, either to experienced players of the series or absolute newcomers.
This means that Mindbug: Battlefruit Kingdom still feels really accessible, and just like other versions of Mindbug, it still has the feel of a much bigger card game despite its small size and relatively low price. If you own multiple Mindbug titles already, you might not find enough here to justify picking up another, however.
That said, and certainly in isolation, we still feel that, just like the other Mindbug titles, Battlefruit Kingdom is one of the best two-player card games available at present. We’re especially excited to mix its cards with other games in the series, to create our own, custom decks of misfit creatures and mechanics.
Want to check out reviews of other games in the series? The best starting point for newcomers is the original Mindbug, but we were also huge fans of Mindbug x King of Tokyo, which is a clever hybrid of both games!
