Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game Review

What’s successful the box:

• 1 Rulebook
• 4 quality cards
• 4 sets of 8 metallic tokens
• 4 wellness dials with 4 matching colored cubes
• 8 ngo cards
• 4 starter decks
• 82 marketplace cards
• 36 Lord Ruler situation cards
• 1 Lord Ruler card
• 1 dominance way card
• 16 Atium tokens
• 14 boxing tokens
• 1 people standee
• Lord Ruler dial with 8 tracking cubes

Designed by John D. Clair and published by Brotherwise Games, Mistborn: The Deckbuilding Game, arsenic its sanction suggests, is simply a deckbuilding committee crippled and features galore of the staple mechanics of the genre. Players statesman the crippled with a weaker tiny platform of cards, which they volition dilatory adhd to passim the people of the crippled by purchasing caller cards from a shared store that strengthens their platform with caller abilities and amended resources. Just due to the fact that it adopts galore of the accepted systems of a platform builder doesn’t mean Mistborn doesn’t connection up thing new, though!

Pulling from the root material, the large further constituent present is the thought of burning and flaring metal—the signature trait of the Allomancers from the satellite of Scadriel. On your turn, the cards you tin play necessitate you to pain 1 of 8 imaginable metals successful bid to usage the card. As the crippled progresses you go a better-trained Allomancer. You are capable to pain much metals per turn, but astatine the start, you tin lone bash this once, which is wherever flaring a metallic and playing cards arsenic a assets comes into play.

Flaring lets you usage 1 of your metals, not counting towards your crook pain limit; however, you volition not regain this metallic until you instrumentality a peculiar “refresh” enactment connected a aboriginal turn, discarding a paper from your manus that matches that metal. Additionally, you tin walk a paper from your manus arsenic different required metallic outgo that matches the benignant arsenic shown successful a tiny vial astatine the bottommost of the cards, making each paper you enactment into your platform not lone a imaginable enactment but besides a resource. I americium a large instrumentality of committee games that incorporated risk-versus-reward into the gameplay and the information that played cards person aggregate usage cases adds that other small dash of a strategical constituent to the system that I conscionable devoured.

Before each crippled starts, 3 missions are selected that players volition beryllium capable to advancement on, earning them bonuses and, erstwhile completed, imperishable buffs. These tin let you to gully other cards during your turn, supply a static onslaught bonus each turn, oregon adjacent a one-time-use heal among different possibilities. With 8 imaginable ngo cards to prime from, this helps support games feeling a spot caller aft aggregate playthroughs, and I’ve ne'er been 1 to shy distant from games with much replayability options.

In my experience, games that effort to let their crippled to beryllium played some competitively and cooperatively thin to extremity up being much skewed towards 1 oregon the other, with the 1 enactment coming disconnected feeling similar an afterthought add-on and doesn’t supply the aforesaid level of extent oregon enjoyment successful its gameplay. Thankfully Mistborn manages to debar this by offering beardown options for some audiences that privation to wail connected 1 different and those that privation to team-up, successful this lawsuit against the immortal Lord Ruler himself.

Competitive play is beauteous straightforward with everyone trying to beryllium the past idiosyncratic lasting arsenic they bushed up connected each different with 1 tiny change—only 1 person, the target, tin beryllium attacked astatine immoderate fixed time. Once that idiosyncratic is attacked, they are capable to walk connected the people token to anyone of their prime oregon support holding onto it if they truthful choose, allowing them to onslaught anyone they wish. I thought this was a truly absorbing idea, and astatine archetypal thought would beryllium incredibly unfair to the idiosyncratic that is targeted. But the information that erstwhile they get attacked, are capable to marque idiosyncratic other the people has led to immoderate truly absorbing negotiations during my games wherever radical effort to wheel-and-deal truthful that they won’t go the target. I benignant of excavation it.

As amusive arsenic the competitory ruleset was, I recovered myself enjoying the cooperative 1 adjacent more. Teaming up against the Lord Ruler felt much on-brand with the books than everyone warring 1 another, and it really was beauteous challenging too! The Lord Ruler comes with his ain platform of cards afloat of minions and edicts, peculiar cards that person nasty effects similar dishing retired tons of damage, sidesplitting your allies (persistent cards that are retired successful beforehand of players that trigger assorted effects erstwhile definite metals are burned) oregon afloat healing the Lord Ruler. While this is my preferred mode to play Mistborn, I bash find that it is much engaging of an acquisition astatine little subordinate counts. With 4 players, I felt the Lord Ruler couldn’t rather supply the aforesaid challenge, truthful I would counsel possibly opting for cooperative astatine little subordinate counts. Playing solo, the Lord Ruler is SCARY, and arsenic idiosyncratic who historically isn’t overmuch for solo committee games, I deliberation Mistborn is simply a large solo game.

My issues with Mistborn person little to bash with the mechanics of the crippled and much with the information that I privation that the crippled went a spot further with what it includes. The 4 characters are nice, but I would person loved a mates much options truthful erstwhile playing 4 players, the roster wasn’t ever the same. While Allomancy is represented well, the much I played, the much I kept wishing that determination was immoderate benignant of practice of Feruchemy and Hemalurgy, and wherefore aren’t determination rules to let idiosyncratic to really play arsenic the Lord Ruler? The much I person played Mistborn the much my caput wandered and brainstormed however each of those things would enactment successful the strategy that Brotherwise has built. I tin lone anticipation that Mistborn did good capable that we volition get an enlargement astatine immoderate point, possibly roping successful unit from Wax and Wayne’s Era 2, that volition present immoderate of those features, oregon amended yet, the thought of Twinborns that tin bash some Allomancy AND Feruchemy. Oh man, my encephalon is already reasoning up ideas.

Go work the books if you haven't already

Originally posted:

Aug 2, 2025 2:34 pm