Mindbug is an effective and compelling card game designed by, among others, one of the creators of Magic The Gathering. Mindbug is not a game where you have to keep an eye on card prices on Cardmarket in WallStreetBets-like fashion, but it does contain all the elements that make TCG games like Magic great. To sum it up briefly, Mindbug contains an extraordinary amount of tactical depth for a small pile of cards.
In Mindbug, players can play a card from their hand or attack with one of their played cards. Players have two mindbugs available to each person at the beginning of the game. They can use these mindbugs to steal just-played cards and use them for themselves. Cards have an attack value, but most cards have special properties that are usually described with keywords on the cards. Each set introduces new special properties and thus tactics.
Several sets are available, but the Crowdfunding campaign that is live currently on Gamefound focuses on fruit. Battlefruit Kingdom and Battlefruit Galaxy are stand-alone sets that you can combine with each other, but of course also with previous Mindbug sets.
The sets introduce “octonite” features. Some cards enter the playing field with a number of chits or are assigned chits over the course of the game. These chits are used to activate special properties.
Kingdom contains cards that are “Fast” and can be used immediately after play. Cards with the keyword “Harvest” receive a number of chits that are removed from the cards during the course of the game. When there are no more chits, powerful and useful properties are activated. Fast is for the impatient players among us and Harvest for the patient players, and together these properties make for interesting new modes of play. In Galaxy, creatures with “Charge” can move chits to other creatures and activate powerful properties by spending chits.
The campaign also introduces a small expansion set that allows players to play Mindbug as a team. 2 vs 2. The set includes cards specifically designed for this team mode. In this game variant, players on the same team share a life, but each has their own deck. The mindbug allows you to take cards from an opponent, but a mindfrog allows you to use cards from your team member. An interesting new game mode that makes Mindbug evolve even further.
Interested? Check out https://gamefound.com/en/projects/marvin-hegen/mindbug-battlefruits
