iOS, Android, PC/Mac/Linux •
I haven’t spent a lot of time singing the praises of Digidiced‘s digital port of the euro-game masterpiece, Terra Mystica. Not because it’s not a great port or the game itself isn’t my cup of tea, the reality is that the game is just too damn confusing. Yes, I’ve played it on the tabletop, but I’m not sure I ever got my head around TM’s wheels-within-wheels design that seems complex for complexity’s sake. Seriously, there are so many different rules, ways to play, and mechanisms that it’s a very hard game to truly understand without many, many playthroughs. And all complexity happens even before you take into account the 14 different races, each with their own tweaks to the base rules. On the tabletop you can take your time to figure out just what the hell is going on, but the app comes at you full speed. There are tokens flying, actions being taken, and points being scored and I JUST CAN’T HANDLE IT.
That said, one of my 2018 resolutions was to conquer this beast because I know there’s a fantastic game underneath the rules spaghetti. I’ve been playing it on my iPad quite a bit in the last few days and I’m slowly coming around. On April 5th, however, my job just got a little more daunting. That’s the day Digidiced is unleashing the Fire & Ice expansion for Terra Mystica and I just might give up.
If ever there was a game that didn’t need an expansion, it’s TM. We don’t need more rules! Luckily, the expansion keeps new rules to a minimum unless you’re playing one of the six new races or terrain types.
Adding 6 more exciting new races to the realm of Terra Mystica and two totally new terrains!
The competition gets even tougher as mysterious Yetis, cold hearted Ice Maidens, travelling Riverwalkers, adaptable Shapeshifters, devoted Acolytes and powerful Dragonlords shape the lands to their will. These all new factions bring deep tactical options and new strategies to the digital table. Volcanoes and Ice will also let you reshape the face of the world!
That’s not all you get with the April 5th update, however:
- hard to master: Enormous depth and interesting decisions without being too complex to understand [unless you’re Dave, then it’s akin to quantum physics, apparently -ed.]. The best strategy always wins!
- replayability: always changing and challenging game experience with new combinations. You want to try all 20 fantasy races! An ideal game for hardcore gamers!
- two new maps!
- challenging developments: only strategy and tactics count – not luck!
- game replays: Analyse your best games or learn tricks from the pro dwellers
- multiplayer: Challenge the best players across all platforms (PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android, WindowsPhone) world wide or play against your family and friends
- five computer opponents
- newest update: This game uses the newest rules edition of the board game (map specific VPs, turn order)
- languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese (simplified), Italian, Russian, Korean and Japanese
The expansion will be available for all platforms and, as shown above, all platforms will be able to play each other in online battles. Now I just need to learn six new races and their powers and the new maps and…oh, god, make it stop.
- Terra Mystica for iOS Universal, $10
- Terra Mystica for Android, $10
- Terra Mystica for Windows Phone, $10
- Terra Mystica for PC/Mac/Linux via Steam, $15
Are either of the new maps better for smaller numbers, like 2-3?
I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure they’re the same size as the original map. The only difference is the inclusion of the new terrain types and the rivers are in different locations.
It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the physical version, however, so I could be wrong.
Yeah, that’s what I though, but I didn’t know if digital made any changes.
The press release doesn’t give any visuals, just words. So, I’m not sure…
I can try to poke around and see what I can find.
Do you know if there was a 2-player map ever created (official or fan-made) for TM?
There was not an official 2-player map, and I don’t know that there was actually an unofficial 2-player map, either; rather, on the BGG boards people have recommendations on which spaces to cover on the board, or something like that. I do know that the sci-fi remake, Gaia Project, has a modular board and people want something like that for TM.
Honestly, don’t give it much effort. I’ll see what the boards look like when I get the expansion, which I will do when it releases.