Terra Mystica Mobile App Review – A Faithful Adaptation

<p>As the popularity of indie board games increase&comma; so does the adaptation from tabletop to mobile device&period; The award-winning&comma; European-style <i>Terra Mystica<&sol;i> is one of the most recent games to make the leap to mobile platform&period; Originally created by Feuerland Spiele in 2012&comma; the tabletop game is rated fourth-best on <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;boardgamegeek&period;com&sol;browse&sol;boardgame&quest;sort&equals;rank&amp&semi;rankobjecttype&equals;subtype&amp&semi;rankobjectid&equals;1&amp&semi;rank&equals;4&num;4">BoardGameGeek&period;com<&sol;a>&comma; and the digital version was released last week by the developer DIGIDICED for both iOS and Android&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>When first opening the <i>Terra Mystica<&sol;i> app&comma; you are given three options for gameplay&colon; Ranked Game&comma; Casual Game&comma; or Local Game&period; A Ranked Game on an iOS mobile device uses the Game Center app to connect with other mobile players&period; The Casual Game also uses Game Center&comma; but this option allows you to invite up to four of your Game Center friends to an unranked game&period; The final option is a Local Game&comma; where you can play against one or more local or AI players&period; Currently&comma; only easy AI players are available&comma; but there are placeholders for medium and hard difficulties&comma; which are expected to be released soon&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The digital version stays loyal to the tabletop game with a few small enhancements&period; There are 14 different factions to choose between&comma; anything from mermaids to engineers&comma; all with authentic illustrations&period; The Fire &amp&semi; Ice expansion with six additional factions and two new terrain types will be added as a DLC in the future&period; Each faction has its own special ability or bonus action that the others don’t have&comma; and in the app&comma; each faction has its own unique theme song&period; Once all players have chosen a faction&comma; your goal is to terraform the environment and create the settlement worth the most points&period; You have six rounds to terraform the landscape&comma; build dwellings&comma; upgrade structures&comma; and gain power through cult worship&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;124636" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-124636" style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-124636" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;04&sol;24002355&sol;terramystica2&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Terra Mystica&comma; DIGIDICED" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"540" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-124636" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Terra Mystica&comma; DIGIDICED<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>A thorough tutorial helped me become comfortable with the app&comma; but some grammatical errors and clunky phrasing were distracting&period; This is most likely due to translation from German to English and expected to improve as feedback is submitted from players&period; A total of eight languages are available to choose from&period; For players who need a little more than the digital <i>Terra Mystica<&sol;i> tutorials&comma; a link is provided for the 20-page rule book explaining the game mechanics in more detail&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><i>Terra Mystica<&sol;i> is a massive tabletop game&comma; and although it translates fine to a mobile app version&comma; it takes a few playthroughs to get a solid grasp of where to find certain actions&comma; even with the interactive tutorial&period; In order to make the most room possible for the main playing board&comma; the menus are tiny buttons placed along the top and sides of the screen&period; There are a total of ten of these mini-menus that you often need to refer back to for information regarding your turn&period; I installed <i>Terra Mystica<&sol;i> an an iPad&comma; and I can’t imagine playing it on a phone or smaller tablet&period; There’s just too much content to fit into a smaller screen&period; However&comma; the game was Greenlit a few days ago&comma; and the DIGIDICED team is working on a Steam implementation as this review is being written&period; Although a Steam version won&&num;8217&semi;t be as convenient as a mobile app&comma; I can see myself enjoying the online multiplayer with a larger play space available in a PC format&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;124637" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-124637" style&equals;"width&colon; 960px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-124637" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2017&sol;04&sol;24003157&sol;terramystica3&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Terra Mystica&comma; DIGIDICED" width&equals;"960" height&equals;"540" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-124637" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Terra Mystica&comma; DIGIDICED<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Once I got used to flipping between menus&comma; I quite liked the mobile version of <i>Terra Mystica<&sol;i>&period; It allowed me to quickly identify which actions were available and make almost immediate decisions&period; There’s even an option to change the gameplay speed from normal to slow or fast&period; It could turn a two-hour game into a one-hour game&comma; leaving time for repeat sessions&period; I enjoyed the ease of starting a digital <i>Terra Mystica <&sol;i>game without having to set up an entire tabletop game&comma; and I’ve already played the mobile version more than I’ve played the traditional <i>Terra Mystica <&sol;i>itself&period; Most members of the board game community prefer the face-to-face interactions between people&comma; but convenience is frequently an advantage&period; I can see myself playing a quick digital game with my partner while waiting for dinner or to pass time while traveling&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Overall&comma; <i>Terra Mystica <&sol;i>fans will be happy to know the mobile version is faithful to the tabletop version they enjoy&period; There may be a steep learning curve for new players&comma; but enough instruction is provided to get them started&period; I’d recommend installing on a medium- to large-sized tablet for ease of navigation&comma; as you’ll frequently be flipping between menus&period; Convenient gameplay with the option to play against remote users makes this a great addition to any digital board game collection&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p style&equals;"text-align&colon; center"><strong>An iOS review copy of  <em>Terra Mystica <&sol;em>was provided by DIGIDICED for the purpose of this review<br &sol;>&NewLine;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;