This is a prototype version of the game and does not represent the final quality or look of the game.
Mind MGMT is a fantastic game. One of my favourites from 2023 in fact. It was published by Off the Page Games who specialise in developing ideas inspired by graphic novels. Bringing the ideas off the page, into games. Get it? Their second game Harrow County: The Game of Gothic Conflict recently fulfilled after a successful Kickstarter, and is gaining favourable reviews. The third game from these fans of comic/game fusions is Corps of Discovery. A game based on the Manifest Destiny comics. It has the same look and feel as the comics, as is the style with this publisher, but how does it play?
Mechanically speaking, the game is a delightful puzzle of deduction and contract fulfilment. Thematically, it is about exploration. Playing the game, you will get a sense of all of this. A classic mix of mechanics and themes. And yet, the game feels fresh and unique - albeit in a familiar way.
The game plays out in an ingenious way. There are multiple maps for each chapter, and a number of chapters available in the base game along with a few expansions in the pipeline. Each one follows the same basic core mechanics but introduces new ways to win the game. Defeating monsters, finding hidden objects, defeating giant killer plants! It's all here.
The setup: first, you must choose which map you want to play. Slide it into the game board with the cover sheet protecting you from seeing the layout. This would spoil the game.
There is then a bit of setup admin, where you need to fill each hole with a face-down sun token. I find it is best to just chuck them all onto the board and then rearrange them into the slots. When this is done, you can slide out the cover sheet, and the board is ready. Smart, right?
The game works by you working your way around the game board, removing sun tokens one at a time, trying to uncover specific terrain and items. You start at a different point for each map and have a different goal each time. But in Chapter 1 - Fauna; that I will focus on here, the goal is to find and defeat three Minotaur's. But first, you must find the Settler's Forts, so you can learn the techniques needed to slay the beasts.
But, you can't just walk around, uncovering every space at random times. As you play, each token you uncover is placed onto the current challenge, which will have between two to five spaces until it is full. At this point, if you cannot meet that card's specific requirements of items, you will suffer the consequences of a failed challenge. Generally losing resources and water. Run out of water, and you will lose the game.
So, for example, in the below challenges, for the Rainstorm card, you need to have a Shelter built after three turns, otherwise, you will lose two fires, one water, and be forced to add a Sample token to your backpack. Filling an otherwise useful space with a redundant object. More typically, as you can see in Strong Wind and School of Fish, you need to discard items that hopefully you have found and stored in your backpack, in order to gain benefits, and avoid losing water.
But try not to become too distracted with fulfilling just these challenge cards. Your challenge in this chapter is to find the Forts, learn the skills required to defeat the minotaur's, then find the beasts' lair, and kill them. Only then can you win this chapter.
Each minotaur needs a different methodology of termination. Making spears, ammos, and traps can only be done once each time. And each action needs specific items, things you have found along your path. So, just walk around and gather things to complete challenges and kill monsters. Easy right? Wrong. You can only hold six things in your bag, total. Only four before you get exhausted and start losing water for each completed challenge card. You need to plot your route carefully.
But how do you go about finding each thing you need? This is a 7x7 grid. There are 49 spaces to visit. And time is of the essence. You cannot simply run around hoping to find what you need. This is a game of deduction. Well, this is where this game moves from pretty and interesting to genius. Each chapter has an associated reference board that offers you clues as to where everything may be. At first, you will be going in a little blind, but as you start to see the lay of the land, a picture will form in your head. Puzzling this part of the game out will be make or break. This determines how much fun you will have. And I found it to be quite the split experience.
In solo, I was left adrift. Unsure where to go and often making quick guesses based on limited thinking time. It was luck-based, lacking in any kind of satisfaction, and causing me some frustration. In two-player, where I think this game shines, I was awash with joy. Puzzling this sort of thing out in my head is not for me. But debating it out loud with another person is thrilling. Genuinely. We played a game where we were down to the final move. We knew the next turn would either take our final water with a failed challenge or deliver the final resource we needed to win. We had a one in six chance of getting the thing we needed. But we used the available clues to deduce exactly where we should go. We got it right and cheered like our team had just won the World Cup. It was amazing.
In that regard, it's sort of like a deeply thematic Sudoku. And I am all in for that! As you can see above, we know in this map, there is only one wood per column and row. Wood will be orthogonal to water. As is water and rock to mud. It's sort of like algebra too, in that way. If A is B, but only when B is C, etc. I don't fully understand algebra. It just sounded smart. But playing this game sure does make you feel clever as you play. Getting those big decisions right, finding what you need just when you need it by noodling out the available clues - it's a great feeling.
The other chapters all offer clever twists on the base game's mechanics such as in Chapter 2, where the hunt for the minotaur's is replaced by a clever pathway goal. Here, you need to find specific land types in a set order to gather crew and resources to fight a giant mutated flower! It adds another level of suspense to the timing of the game that elevates it to another dimension. There still may be some monsters to fight along the way, but the challenge now is about tracking the "end-of-level" boss, getting the tools you need to defeat it, and taking it down before all is lost. It feels more like a linear progressive ramp-up in tension compared to the ups and downs of Chapter 1, which suits my style a little more. And it's incredible how different each chapter feels from this small change.
Corps of Discovery is a game that appears to embody discovery and adventure.
And it does. But the heart of this game resides in the deduction and overall efficiency puzzle. This is why I describe it at the start as feeling unique but in a familiar way. It does not necessarily do anything new. But the entire production is impressive, the execution of each composite part so seamless, that as you play Corps of Discovery, you will feel like you are discovering a new game each time. Which leads me to my only concern with this game.
Knowing where things are on each map is a problem. This is why the game goes to such effort to stop you from seeing the map during set-up. But after a few plays, could you not memorize the location of the key items and areas? Well, no. I don't think you could. First, there will be plenty of maps to play, learning them all will be tough. Each map is double-sided, and there are multiple chapters, and expansion maps are also planned. To simply play the same map over and over just to learn it, well, sure. It's possible. But would anyone really do that? I don't think so. And if they do, that's their choice, and a different way to play the game I suppose. But the game as is, provides enough variation, enough maps, and enough prevention of seeing the maps before you play to make this problem irrelevant.
Designer, Jay Cormier commented on this point, "we'll be offering new maps to download and print at home - so we'll have unlimited maps!!" I don't think learning the aps will be an issue!
"Corps of Discovery" is a brilliant board game. I usually fall for games on the first play as the new and exciting is overpowering me. I often cool a little in games 2-4 as I try to learn the strategy. And then settle on my final thoughts around game 5 onwards, as I can then play the game with the new game excitement, or the early game confusion. "Corps of Discovery" was very different. I really did not enjoy my first few games. Not as I struggled to learn the strategy or rules. No. It was simply as I chose to play it solo. I am happy playing games solo. But not this. This is a shared experience game. Like "The Mind," the joy in "Corps of Discovery" comes when you make a bold but correct decision and the team benefits from this. As a group, this feels wonderful. In solo, this fell flat for me. When I then moved onto playing this game with a second player, the curve of excitement and enjoyment leapt up unexpectedly to a ten right from the off. And has not gone away yet. I now must pass this game onto another person to preview, and I do so with mixed emotions.
I cannot wait to see what other people think of this game. But I also want it back on my shelves to play again and again. I want to try the other chapter. I want to try this with other people. It is a fantastic game and one that will live long in my memory, until I can get my hands on it again! Until then, you can find more info on the game here. It is alsop worth noting that as part of the Kickstarter, they will also be offering deluxe editions of MIND MGMT and Harrow County during the Corps of Discovery campaign. The publisher offers those games via their website, but can only ship within North America. SO now, European fans can easily get hold of these games too.