Mysterium is going to be a hauntingly fun “who done it” game unlike any you’ve played before. Will you be able to crack the clues the ghost is giving you? Come find out!
Mysterium is a 2-7 player game designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko. Originally a polish game called Tajemnicze-domostwo, now published by Libellud, Mysterium is a fully cooperative game that plays in about 42 minutes.
In Mysterium, most of the players are Mediums with various psychic talents and are trying to solve a murder that took place 100 years ago. During the time of Samhain which is Halloween for most people, when the spiritual realm comes closest to the physical realm, the psychics are able to communicate with the ghost of the murder victim.
One player will play as the Ghost and has seven hours to visit the mediums with visions to get them to guess the potential person, location, and murder weapon. Since the Ghost has been dead for some time their memories aren’t that great so each Medium has their own set of potential murder suspects. The Ghost may never talk or gesture and can only communicate via tarot-like cards with various vague imagery. Based on what the Ghost is focusing on in the cards they hand out will point the Mediums to the right path. The players will have seven hours to complete this task before dawn breaks and the two realms drift too far apart to communicate. The time is represented by a beautiful cardboard standee of an ancient clock. Each hour you move the hour hand closer and closer to daybreak. Mediums can gain Intuition points for guessing whether their teammates’ choices are correct or not.
Once the Mediums all figure out their murder suspect groups successfully then the Ghost has a moment of clarity and can point out the true Murderer, Room, and Weapon. Then based on how strong the Mediums Intuition was, they will see more of the three cards that point to the true murderer.
One of the coolest features of Mysterium is definitely the Atmospheric artwork, it is so beautiful and sets such a thematic tone to the gameplay. It is also a lot of fun trying to get players to guess the correct cards based on the most abstract images. It truly helps to know how the Ghost player’s mind works and their personality. The components are very nicely made as well each player has a crystal ball pawn to represent their choices each round and the Ghost hides behind a screen similar to a dungeon master in role-playing games, which is adorned with thematic artwork of the haunted mansion.
I playfully introduce this game to new players as “Spooky Clue”. And is an excellent gateway game as it is very lightweight complexity. I’d definitely recommend playing a higher player count. Like they say, the more the merrier.
If you enjoy cooperative party-style games that can host more players then this game is a great choice for your game night group.
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About the Author: Christopher Guyton
