The Mysterium board game is a team mystery-solving game where everyone wins or loses together.
Will you dare to cross the threshold of the Mysterium-possessed mansion?
In this article, we will discuss the purpose of the board game, the pros and cons and other characteristics of the game.
Key facts
| Created by | In 2015 |
| Type | team, detective |
| Number of players | 2-7 |
| Age of players | from 10 years |
| Duration of the game | 42 minutes |
| Level of complexity | medium mild |
| Indicative price | 42-62 € |
Mysterium board game - Objective
All players have the same goal - to solve the real mystery of the ghost visiting the mansion and to recreate the events of that fateful evening:
- What were the circumstances of this accident?
- Where could the meeting between the victim and the perpetrator have taken place?
- Which object could have been the murder weapon?
The pros and cons of the game
✅ Graphics: Mysterium features beautiful illustrations and excellent design elements.
✅ Exclusivity: In the first part of the game, a ghost spirit sends visual clues to players, while in the second part, players try to guess where the real secret lies.
✅ Promotes communication: It is a great social interaction game that requires players to work closely together, discuss and decipher clues, and solve the ultimate mystery together.
✅ It teaches perseverance: Thanks to its unique structure and different scenarios, the game presents players with new challenges each time and encourages them to persevere with their goals.
❌ Complexity: New players may have difficulty understanding the rules and nuances of the game.
❌ Duration: The Mysterium game may take longer if more players are involved.
❌ Different game dynamics: The dynamics of the game can vary depending on the number of players and can negatively affect its duration.
❌ Replaying the game becomes uninteresting: The game can become uninteresting after the first time you play it.
It all started with a mysterious letter...
"Duchy of Warwick
19 September 1922
Professor Alphonse de Belcour,
Poitiers, France
Brangus Alphonse,
During my research, I found some old newspaper clippings mentioning the tragic death of a servant of the manor almost 30 years ago.
Although the police quickly concluded that the death was an accident, rumours about the circumstances continued to circulate.
The case seems to have been rushed through, and I would bet my last shilling that the ghost living in my mansion is somehow connected to this story.
Unfortunately, he cannot manifest himself in our world long enough to talk to me.
By joining forces, we might be able to give him the energy he needs to get his message across about what is really bothering him.
So I am sending out my invitation: I would be very happy if Alma Salvador, Ardhashir, Madame Wang, Jessalyn Smith and yourself would join me immediately to solve this mystery. I look forward to hearing from you.
Respectfully,
Conrad Mac Dowell, owner of the estate".
Rules
The game is set in the 1920s.
Clairvoyants must attend a night séance on Halloween itself, when the visible and invisible worlds meet in one place and the living can contact those on the other side.
Players have a limited amount of time before the spiritual connection to the ghost is strong enough.
Once contact is made, players quickly realise that the ghost cannot directly identify its killer. He is still in severe shock and only vaguely remembers his death.
After years of wandering the astral world, the ghost has become too weak to talk about it.
Instead, he communicates with the clairvoyants individually, sending them certain visual clues, which the players share with their partners and interpret to the best of their ability.
To save precious time, each clairvoyant has to follow a different line of enquiry in order to identify and recreate the course of one of the suspects on the decisive day.
If the clairvoyants are unable to solve the task, the ghost's spirit continues to wander the afterworld and players must wait for the right time to try again to solve the mystery of this mysterious manor.
Start of the game
Mysterium board game starts by taking as many cards as there are players and placing them on the table according to their type.
Players divide up their roles - one becomes a ghost, the others a clairvoyant.
Each of the clairvoyants has to guess the possible perpetrator, then the room where the crime might have taken place, and finally the object with which the victim might have been killed.
Only the ghost knows the cards each player has, but he tries to give clues to the clairvoyants by handing them dream cards that are supposed to point to the real target.
During the game, the clairvoyants must have 7 dream cards in their hands and when they run out, they must replenish them to the required number.
All clairvoyants can discuss the cards they have been dealt, and once they have made up their minds, they place their crystal balls on their predictions.
If the player guesses, the ghost turns over a card and drops it into the deck.
The player is then allowed to guess the room of the murder and, if he guesses, the murder weapon.
When all players have guessed everything, the game reaches its climax.
The ghost then deals three cards to the clairvoyants, one of which points to a specific room and tool, and to the real potential killer.
All the clairvoyants must confer and decide who the real killer is.
The clearer the clairvoyant understands the dream cards sent during the séance, the clearer this last vision becomes for them...
After gathering his remaining strength, the ghost sends a final clue to the whole group of clairvoyants, pointing out his culprit.
In this way, they can release the ghost's soul to rest in eternal peace.
They only have a total of 7 hours, or 7 rounds of play, to do so, so they need to hurry.
Player roles
Mysterium is an asymmetric card game in which players take on one of two distinct roles but share a common goal.
Players play different roles:
- The ghost hands out cards to help the clairvoyants make the right decisions to move the investigation forward.
- Clairvoyants receive cards from a ghost and use their intuition to try to interpret the messages it sends correctly.
Clairvoyants
Conrad Mac Dowell
Citizenship: Scottish
Speciality: Clairvoyant
He is a wealthy Scottish nobleman of the Clan MacDowell, with ancestors going back 17 generations. At the age of 18, he inherited his grandmother Moira's crystal ball. Despite promising academic achievements and the prospect of a brilliant military career, he chose instead the path of the Seer.
Alphonse de Belcour
Citizenship: Fran
Speciality: Numerologist
Alphonse studied mathematics and, shocked by the news of his brother's death, he dropped out. Later, he realised that the secret properties of numbers could be exploited by those who could interpret them.
Alphonse's research into numbers has enabled him to decipher hidden messages written in major texts around the world.
Alma Salvador
Citizenship: Spanish
Speciality: Spiritism Session Specialist
Alma was orphaned at a young age and grew up in a convent. At the age of eight, she was playing with a watch chain and discovered she had the gift of Spritism. When the nuns found out about her unconventional activities, they expelled her from the convent for witchcraft.
Her ability to find anyone's soul enables her to earn a living, and she also helps the poor to track down missing relatives. Her charitable nature led her to accept Sir Conrad's request to help save a lost soul.
Ardhashir
Citizenship: Osman
Speciality: Magician
The talent for clairvoyance, in the Ardhashir family, has been passed down from generation to generation. The powerful Amajliye talisman, which has been in the family's possession for centuries, mobilises and strengthens psychic powers.
While the family traditionally served the Sultan, Ardhashir chose a different path and set out to explore the wider world.
After years of travelling and honing his craft, he returned to his homeland and started practicing clairvoyance with his talisman. Since then, he has earned a considerable reputation among influential people from all over the world.
Madam Wang
Citizenship: Chinese
Speciality: The oracle of I-Ching ideas
At an early age, she learned about the I-Ching secret society and left her family to use her gift of clairvoyance. She was thus able to devote herself to the study of this ancient text and progressed rapidly.
She specialised in communicating with ancestors and researching past lives. But political upheaval was brewing in China, and leaders sought to outdo their rivals with her help.
Madame Wang was disappointed to see her gift being used for political gain, so she decided to leave and travel around China, helping people along the way.
Jessalyn Smith
Citizenship: American
Speciality: Tarot Card Specialist
In New York, she regularly gathered from Tarot cards to your friends. When one of her friends lost her daughter, she decided to organise a séance to connect with the spirit of the child.
She found out that she was a clairvoyant, and since then, many residents have turned to her for help. Word of her gift spread, and before long, people from all over the country were coming to her to contact their deceased loved ones.
What is in the game kit?
The Mysterium board game set contains clairvoyants, spirits and other components needed for divination.
| Components of a clairvoyant game: | |
| Intuition chips in different colours | 6 |
| Character cards, one for each player | 6 |
| Different coloured markers for levels of clairvoyance | 6 |
| Clairvoyance tokens | 36 |
| Components of the Spirit Game: | |
| Ghost Cards | 54 |
| Culprit tokens | 6 |
| Crow markers | 3 |
| Game board | 1 |
| Ghost tokens | 6 |
| Dream Cards | 84 |
| Other game components: | |
| Progress boards (character, place, object) | 3 |
| Clock table | 1 |
| Hourglass | 1 |
| Clairvoyance trail and progress board | 1 |
Game tip
That's how you can build a strong spiritual connection with a ghost and win the game:
- It is recommended to play on an easy difficulty level for the first time, and the role of the ghost should be played by a player who is already familiar with the game.
- The ghost can choose to play without saying a word. For example, it can confirm a psychic's premonition by tapping on the table: one tap means "yes", two taps means "no".
Summary
The Mysterium board game creates a mysterious mood in which players have to decipher the circumstances of the death of a servant who worked at the manor and determine how he was killed, who the murderer was and where it happened.
The game brings together Dixit and Cluedo mechanics, giving it an intriguing atmosphere and unique gameplay style.
It is certainly an emotional and addictive game that creates a close cooperation and a detective-like atmosphere.
What is the objective of the Mysterium board game❓
The common goal is to solve the mystery of the real ghost visiting the mansion and to recreate the events of that fateful evening.
How many players can play this game❓
The game can be played by 2-7 players.
Mysterium board game - what type❓
This game is classified as a team-based, detective game.
What is the duration of the game❓
The game lasts approximately 42 minutes, but the time depends on the number of players.
What is the recommended age of players❓
The rules recommend that the game is played from the age of 10.
