“Mimic”
Players: 2-3
Age: 8+
Time: 20-30 min.
Cost: $14.95


“Mimic” an engaging, strategic card game

By MICHAEL ERB
merb101@gmail.com
www.newsandsentinel.com

“Mimic” by Funmaker Games is a set-building card game where players try to complete patterns of cards. There are five different animals – lion, giraffe, ostrich, zebra and elephant – in three colors – red, blue and green.

Sets are created by playing two matching pairs of cards. For example, a line could be a two blue zebras and two green lions, or a blue zebra and a green lion followed by a blue zebra and a green lion, etc. Each pair must match in animal and color and must create a pattern.

Each player has black cubes that are placed on the final card in a line whenever a set is completed. The object of the game is to get rid of as many of your cubes as you can, thereby claiming the most sets. A card with a cube on it can no longer be used to create a pattern.

The game begins with a center start card and is played on an imaginary 7x7 grid. This means you can only go three cards out from the center start card before the line turns, with a card being played above or below. When a set is complete a new start card is placed on the line, so the board quickly begins to fill up. A line only “turns” when it hits the border of the playing field or another card, so you begin to have lines curving back on themselves, or being able to use cards already on the board to complete sets.

Players only have five cards in their hands and can play two cards per turn. Cards can either be drawn from a stack at random or chosen from a line of cards laid out face-up.

There is another twist as well: Power cards. Each player begins the game with a set of monkey cards that allow them to perform different tricks, such as taking an extra turn, laying an extra card or scoring an incomplete set. You can use each card only once during the game, so when you choose to use the card is as important as how you choose to use the card. You can change the number or availability of the power cards to scale the difficulty of the game, and change the number of cubes available to change the length of the game as well.

“Mimic” is designed for 2-3 players, but really shines in one-on-one competition. It is an easy game to learn, but has an amazing amount of depth and strategy for such a simple card game.

Though “Mimic” has an animal theme, the theme really is just tacked on to what is otherwise an abstract card game. This doesn’t take away from the game, though, because the artwork is beautiful and the theme might draw in some players who otherwise wouldn’t be into a card game like this.

It might take a game or two to get used to the “borders” of the imaginary grid and the movement of cards, but once you get the hang of things the games go really fast. Especially in two-player games, the level of thought and strategy is surprisingly deep, even though it really is a simple game to learn. Several times I have played knowing I was going to win in 2-3 turns, only to have my opponent suddenly complete their sets. I would compare it to a game of chess, but, personally, I would choose “Mimic” over chess any day.

For more information on “Mimic,” visit www.funmakergames.com. For more game reviews and discussion, visit my blog at http://merb101.livejournal.com.