Mind MGMT Review

Hidden movement masterclass.

I'm not going to bury the lead here, Mind MGMT is fantastic. There's a reason why it's so widely regarded as one of the best hidden movement games. In the game, one player acts as a recruiter for Mind MGMT moving through the city gathering new recruits to the company while the other players are agents attempting to track them down.

The recruiter is given 3 location cards where they can find new recruits and this is hidden to the agents behind their screen. Every round, they'll move to a new location and every other round, they'll add their recruits to the big board. The recruiter has a special ability, mind slip, that can be used once per game if they think the agents are too close. This will allow them to change up their movement path. They can never overlap or backtrack. If the recruiter collects twelve recruits or survives the game, they'll win.

The agents start the game with no information whatsoever. They're scattered throughout the city and on their turn they have the options to move, ask, reveal, or capture. Asking will give them some information about what the recruiter is going towards. Reveal will give the exact time that the recruiter was at a location. Capture will capture the recruiter if you're in the right spot. The agents must capture the recruiter to win the game.

That's the base game, there's also the advanced version that gives the recruiter immortals to work with and even more techniques while the agents also get some new goodies to work with. There's also the Shift System. Included in the game is boxes that can be added for each side depending on the outcome of the game that can add in new mechanics to change it up even more. There's also secret missions. There's a lot of content here.

The Good: So much. This was my first hidden movement game. I've always been skeptical of them because I wasn't sure I'd enjoy the cat and mouse mechanic but I love it. It doesn't matter which side you play as, the game is always a tense time. The feeling of cornering the recruiter is indescribable but on the inverse, when you make a move to completely trick the agents it's so satisfying. Even the app driven solo mode is nice. It's a great way to learn how a recruiter could potentially think while learning the mechanics of the game as an agent. It's hard to mention this game without mentioning the overall art style. Matt Kindt, who also is the artist for the comic, has created such a wonderful world.

The Okay: Not really a complaint but man this is a weird one to teach. Because you're essentially teaching a group an entirely different game from what you may be playing if you're the agent it can be a struggle to grasp it.

The Not So Good: My biggest, and frankly only, complaint about the game is the rulebook. It is really difficult to follow and understand. There are different color systems for the basic and advanced game which makes it a little tricky to follow. It also, doesn't really feel like it follows the same style as the rest of the game. I definitely would recommend either playing the app version or watching a video before your first real game.

Final Thoughts: Mind MGMT is everything I could ask for. It's a ton of fun, it's beautiful, and it's super unique. No two games will play the same and once you finish you'll want to reset the whole game and start over. I don't think I've ever had the same feeling that this game has given me time and time again. The Shift System is an incredibly unique feature that keeps the game fresh for both sides. Mind MGMT is in my collection to stay.

Thanks to Off the Page Games for providing me with a review copy.