Review: Mystria

Introduction & Overview

Since the dawn of time, gaming has not been a mere pastime; it shapes the mind, sharpening our skills and reflexes. Just as mortals master chess with intellect leading the way, sorceresses find their fulfillment in Mystria. This is no ordinary contest, but a challenge of skill and intuition—a realm where power intertwines with boundless magic. Within Mystria, they weave spells drawing upon hidden forces, where every gesture carries weight in this web of intertwined strategies. Come, dare to embark on this journey into a mystical universe where wisdom, tactics, and incantations forge their magical epic.

This is how Mystria is presented to us, designed by Florian Sirieix (Imaginarium, After Us) and Benoit Turpin (Welcome To…). It was first published in 2024 by Débâcle Jeux and Ludistri in a French edition. The artwork is illustrated by Jérémie Fleury (Yamataï, Oceanos).

Distributed in Spain by Zacatrus (the game is entirely language-independent except for the rulebook), it allows games for 2 players, with a recommended minimum age of 10 and an approximate playtime of 20 minutes. The retail price is €27.99. For this review, a copy of the English and French edition from Débâcle Jeux and Ludistri was used (review copy).

Important: if you already know the game and/or are only interested in my opinion about it, you can go directly to the Opinion section. The Content and Mechanics sections are especially intended for those who do not know the game and prefer to get a general idea of how it works.

Components

Inside a two-piece cardboard box (lid and bottom) measuring 27×19×4.5 cm (a medium rectangular box similar to Forest Shuffle, though slightly wider), we find the following items:

Central Board (cardboard)
2 Sorceress Boards (cardboard)
Double-sided Scoring Board (cardboard)
8 Objective Tiles (cardboard)
Double-sided Majority Token (cardboard)
4 Scoring Tokens (cardboard)
64 Discs in 4 different colors (16 of each color) (wood)
11 Energy Drops (resin)
Bag (cloth)
Rulebook

How to Play

Mystria is an abstract strategy game for two players where each participant takes on the role of a sorceress competing to collect colored discs and assemble the best clusters on their personal board. Over a maximum of twelve rounds per player, participants alternate turns in which they are required to draft a disc from the central board. To achieve this, a triangle of three stacks whose top discs share the same color must be formed on the central board. If no such triangle is arranged at the start of a turn, the active player must perform actions consisting of sliding an entire stack to an adjacent empty space or flipping a stack completely; for each of these maneuvers performed, the player must hand over an energy drop to their opponent. Once the triangle is formed, the top disc from one of the three stacks involved is collected and placed onto any space of the personal board, aiming to create connected groups of matching colors. The game ends immediately if a player needs to perform an action but lacks energy drops to pay their rival, or when both players complete their personal boards after twelve turns. At that point, majorities are evaluated for the largest connected group in each color according to the values on the scoring board, along with secret pattern objective fulfillment, a bonus for whoever holds the overall largest group in the game, and one point per remaining energy drop. The player with the most points is declared the winner.

Key Concepts

Let us start with the Central Board. It features a hexagonal grid of nineteen circular spaces interconnected by printed lines. Three inner spaces are marked with a four-pointed star and start the game empty, whereas the remaining sixteen hold the initial stacks of discs. Across this board, players slide and flip stacks in order to form triangular alignments of discs showing the same color or symbol on top so they can draft them.

The Discs are the core components around which the action revolves. They come in four different colors and symbols (red, green, blue, and purple). Initially arranged into stacks of three units across the designated spaces of the central board, they remain grouped together during slides and flips until a valid triangle is completed, at which point the active player takes the top piece from one of the three stacks involved to transfer it to their play area.

Turning to the Energy Drops, these are represented by small translucent orange gems that serve both as action currency and the vital timer of the duel. Every time a player slides or flips a stack on the common board, they must surrender one of their energy drops to their opponent. Consequently, if a player depletes their pool and cannot fund the mandatory acquisition of a disc on their turn, they lose the game immediately, while any drops retained by the end of the match will award bonus points.

Each participant will receive one of the Sorceress Boards, which contains twelve recessed circular spaces arranged in a cross-like layout. Players place collected discs here, attempting to connect matching colors to build the largest contiguous group possible via the printed lines (keeping in mind that three specific areas lack a direct connection). At the end of the game, the player who has assembled the largest interconnected group of a single color will claim a bonus.

Next come the Scoring Board and the Scoring Tokens. Together, they establish the value of each color for the match depending on the chosen mode. This elongated board features one side for the introductory variant (with fixed multipliers of 2, 3, 3, and 4 points assigned to each color) and another side for the standard rules (with fixed values of 3, 5, 7, and 10 points contested via contiguous group majorities), using the four circular scoring tokens to denote which point value associates with each color.

We finish with the Objective Tiles, which are used exclusively in the advanced game mode and display specific geometric patterns that award bonus points at game end. Each participant receives two of these tiles at the beginning, keeping one secret and discarding the other; players must reproduce the indicated pattern on their sorceress board by filling all designated positions with discs of a single color to claim the printed victory points at the end of the game.

That is enough to get started.

Preparación de la Partida

Place the central board in the middle of the table between both players.
Each player receives a sorceress board.
Form stacks of 3 randomly drawn discs and place one onto each space of the central board, except for the spaces marked with a star, which remain empty. Stacks may not consist of 3 discs of the same color.
Place the scoring board showing the side with values 3, 5, 7, and 10.
Randomly choose the starting player.
The starting player takes 6 energy drops, and the second player takes 5 energy drops.
The second player assigns one scoring token of each color to each of the four spaces on the scoring board, setting the value of each color for the game.
Place the majority token next to the board showing the 3-point side.
Shuffle the objective tiles and deal two to each player. Each player secretly inspects their two tiles, keeps one hidden until the end of the game, and discards the other face down.

We are ready to begin!

Game Flow

A game of Mystria unfolds over a maximum of 12 rounds. In each round, players take alternating turns, starting with the first player.

On their turn, the active player proceeds as follows:

Draft a Disc. To take a disc from the central board, the player must form a triangle of three matching-colored discs atop adjacent stacks. To achieve this, the player may perform as many actions as desired (or none, if a triangle is already present), handing 1 Energy drop to their rival for each action carried out. The available actions to manipulate stacks are:
- Slide a Stack: Move an entire stack to an empty space connected orthogonally or diagonally along a line.
- Flip a Stack: Invert the complete order of a stack without changing its space (the bottom disc becomes the top disc).
  - Whether moving or flipping, the stack must always be manipulated in its entirety. As soon as a triangle is formed with 3 matching top discs, the player takes the top disc from one of those three stacks. If a valid triangle is already formed at the start of the turn, the player may directly claim one of its discs without taking actions or transferring energy.
Place the Disc. The player places the drafted disc onto any empty space of their Sorceress board, taking into account the printed connections between spaces to build the largest possible group of adjacent matching-colored discs (or fulfill their objective card in the advanced variant).

After this, the turn passes to the opponent.

Game End

The game ends immediately if a player lacks enough energy drops to execute a mandatory action to draft a disc on their turn, losing the game automatically. Otherwise, the game concludes once both contenders have placed their 12 discs onto their respective player boards. When tallying a player’s final score, the following are evaluated:

Color Majorities (Scoring Board): players compare the size of their largest connected group for each of the four colors. Whoever possesses the largest group in a color scores the value assigned to that color on the board (3, 5, 7, or 10 points). In the event of a tie in a color, neither player scores those points.
Secret Objective Tile: each player reveals their objective tile. If they successfully reproduced the indicated pattern by covering all its positions with discs of a single color, they score the victory points printed on the tile.
Absolute Majority Token: 3 victory points go to the player who formed the single largest group of any color in the game. In case of a tie, no one scores these points.
Remaining Energy: 1 victory point for each energy drop the player retains in their reserve.

The player with the highest total score is declared the winner. In case of a tie, victory goes to whoever preserved more energy drops.

Variants

Introductory Mode. Secret Objective tiles are omitted. During setup, the scoring board shows the 2, 3, 3, and 4 values, while the Majority token is set to its 5-point side. During final scoring, participants do not compete for color majorities as in the advanced mode; instead, they multiply the size of their largest contiguous group of each color directly by the value assigned to that hue. Energy and the majority token score as normal.

Personal Opinion

I have always believed that relying on stacked structures on the board carries inherent risk when it comes to the gameplay experience. While visually striking on paper and capable of condensing significant three-dimensional information into a compact footprint, it introduces fine-motor physical demands that not all players manage with equal dexterity. A slight tremor, an accidental sleeve brush, or a clumsy adjustment can send the whole arrangement tumbling and ruin the board state.

Beyond this physical hurdle lies a substantial cognitive barrier whenever the stacked components vary. Reading the board becomes far more cumbersome, forcing players to inspect the composition of every single tower to avoid overlooking critical pieces buried underneath. Evaluating the available options ceases to be an immediate visual read and turns into a rather tedious chore.

Several examples spring to mind (which I will touch upon during this tocho-review), but in general, I remain skeptical whenever I encounter designs built around this mechanism. Today we are looking at another title relying on such a setup. Let us see, then, how Mystria fares on the table.

Mystria transports us to an arcane realm where two sorceresses test their cunning and power in an ancient battle of wills. Far removed from mundane violence or the clash of standing armies, magic manifests here as a refined exercise in precision, channeling arcane currents to assert supremacy in a world where mysticism permeates everything. It is an intellectual contest between spellcasters striving to demonstrate sharper intuition and absolute mastery over arcane energies, reenacting a legend in which every gesture carries as much weight as the most elaborate incantation.

Games unfold over a maximum of twelve turns in which players alternate manipulating the central board and transferring discs to their player area. To claim a piece, the active player must maneuver the existing stacks—sliding them to adjacent empty spaces or flipping them—until forming a triangle featuring three discs of the same color on top of the piles.

Every single one of these maneuvers comes at an energy cost. Thus, after each slide or flip, the player hands an energy drop to their opponent, turning every move into a continuous concession of tactical breathing room to the rival, requiring players to weigh the exact cost of each sequence. Once the triangular pattern is achieved, the player takes the top piece from one of the three stacks involved and slots it into their individual board, seeking to group elements of the same shade via printed connections.

The match can end prematurely if a player cannot afford to draft a disc with their remaining energy drops, suffering immediate defeat. Otherwise, the game concludes once both contenders have filled their personal boards, leading to an evaluation where the largest interconnected groups of each color are compared, scoring points along a designated track, supplemented by a bonus for the single largest overall group, unspent energy drops, and a secret personal pattern.

Right, that gives you more than enough context to dive into what Mystria brings to the table. The first thing that must be stated is that, unlike most designs featuring stacked components, Mystria plays like a textbook pure abstract. All information is laid out in plain sight for both contenders from the outset, removing any influence of chance and placing the entire trajectory on the decisions made across a shared board, where every slide or flip alters the rival’s possibilities.

This gives rise to the combinational calculation so characteristic of abstract games, compelling you to weigh every step to avoid squandering energy drops while remaining vigilant about what setups you leave behind for your opponent. Picture a turn where you need a blue disc and notice that sliding a stack to an adjacent space and flipping another nearby completes the triangle in your desired color. That costs two drops handed directly to your rival; yet if removing that top piece exposes a red disc that instantly completes another connected triangle, you will have handed them their next draft for free. Because of this dynamic, it often pays to seek alternative routes, perhaps spending an extra drop if it allows you to secure another useful piece without serving up a gift to your opponent.

Indeed, this flow of energy drops stands as one of the game’s pivotal mechanisms. It is a zero-sum economy where every spent drop enters the opponent’s reserve, making movement efficiency a relentless priority. Every turn resolved while spending fewer drops than your rival represents a minor victory that restricts their options, aiming to drive them into a tight corner where they may fail to resolve a turn and grant you a sudden-death victory.

Decision-making, of course, goes far beyond finding the cheapest path to grab a piece. At the start of the game, the second player establishes the scoring hierarchy for each color. As a result, contenders engage in a fierce majority struggle where simply gathering discs is not enough; one must fight to dominate the groups of the most lucrative colors. This initial asymmetry steers your priorities, frequently forcing you to shoulder a higher drop expenditure if it secures an edge in a high-value color.

Rounding out the design is the secret objective tile. Chosen by each player at the start, this target requires gathering at least four discs of the same color to replicate a specific pattern on the personal board. The brilliance lies in the fact that the individual grid does not feature a uniform topology, given the gaps between adjacent spaces. Fulfilling the pattern not only dictates which pieces you must urgently chase on the central board, but also critically impacts the structure of your primary clusters, forcing you to avoid choking off scoring potential in the most valuable colors by leaving no room to expand them.

Perhaps the only issue I find—beyond a somewhat tedious setup that is practically unavoidable in games requiring stacked elements—is the analytical weight preceding the very first move. Before even kicking off the game, players are thrust into a non-trivial board evaluation, scrutinizing every stack to assess which colors hold positional advantage. It is a process that slows down the opening moments, though admittedly it does not severely hurt the overall play experience.

Otherwise, we are looking at a visually appealing abstract game with engaging decisions and relatively streamlined combinational calculation, even if it demands a visual acuity not typically required in the genre. Then again, not all abstracts need to feel identical.

Earlier I mentioned that there are titles where initial stacked setups work against the play experience. Take Mandala Stones (read the tocho-review here). It is a game as striking as it is cumbersome, ultimately failing to deliver decisions as captivating as those achieved by Mystria. Furthermore, it plays within a very tight timeframe, which greatly enhances its replayability.

Turning to production, the cardboard components feature adequate thickness and punch quality. The recessed personal boards are a welcome touch, preventing discs from sliding out of position. The plastic drops are functional, though they might have benefited from slightly more volume. Meanwhile, the wooden discs with single-sided printing are sufficiently large and clear. The rulebook is well structured and leaves no room for ambiguity.

Aesthetically, the game embraces a contemporary animation style. Character design pairs stylized, expressive proportions with a notable level of detail in clothing, golden filigree, and ornate patterns. Additionally, incorporating architectural borders and golden arabesques over deep blue backdrops lends the presentation a refined, mystical aura.

And let’s wrap this up. Mystria is an abstract strategy game where manipulating stacks of discs to form triangular patterns triggers drafting opportunities for individual boards. The entire framework rests upon a zero-sum energy economy where every move grants tactical leeway to the rival, transforming each match into a duel of precision where action conservation is just as vital as threatening your opponent with starvation. The gameplay delivers a relentless tug-of-war, seasoned with the tension of majorities constrained by secret patterns that demand meticulous placement. Working against it is a sluggish opening caused by a demanding board read as players decipher three-dimensional information. However, its snappy combinational calculation and punishing interactivity more than compensate. For all these reasons, I give it a…