Minos Strategos

This is another fantastic game by BrainGoodGames. I'm a big fan of their other games, and this one could be their absolute best. It takes ideas from all their previous games, improves pretty much everything, and makes a nearly perfect game, in my opinion. The game is kind of difficult to explain, but very easy to learn with the excellent in-game tutorial. Plus, there is a link in-game to a video tutorial which also helps greatly. The game is played on a grid, similar to Chess or Othello. It's basically a race to collect enough points before the AI collects their points. You collect points by moving your pieces into 'temple' squares. Every turn you get points for how many temples you own. Same for the AI, who is moving minotaurs to try to take these same temples. The brilliant part of the game is the card playing. You get three cards from your deck each turn, and can play one of them. You can also move one unit one space, or add a new unit to the board. The cards are basically different kinds of attacks and unit spawning, based on the patterns you have your units set in. It is a very unique and wonderfully fun game mechanic. You can pull off some very cool moves by setting up your forces in the proper pattern, then unleash one of your cards for mega damage or tactical paradrops of units onto key spaces. It's a wonderfully addictive game, with leaderboards, different play modes, e.g. card drafting, no timer mode. Also, a new double secret probation mode is being designed, which should be out soon. The developer is super responsive. Often new builds will appear within hours of finding a bug, or a new feature that the developer likes will be implemented super quick. All boardgame and tactical gamer fans should own this one. It's a work of art.

Only at 2 hours and I already want to praise this game. I can only compare to Axes and Acres, another great game from this developer, and this game is a big improvement. Axes and Acres (you should really try it, it 's great) had one problem: the drawn conditions could be so hard several times in a row that you got disappointed and your level went down a lot. EDIT: This issue has been fixed since patch 1.05. This game, however, doesn't have this issue. It's truly strategy and the conditions are merely decided by random locations where enemies spawn and the order in which you draw your cards from your stack. This is as close a to a real skill-test you can get. At first, I thought it was a big mistake to add a timer in this game (which you can disable), but I have found that I always get enough time to think through my strategy. As usual, the tutorial is very short (too short) and you need to try and think for yourself. I don't mind, but children of this century usually want more. You can watch some youtube movies if you need more info, but you really CAN figure it out yourself, it's not that hard and certainly not as hard to grasp as Axes and Acres. Also, as usual, the graphics are very simple (maybe a bit ugly), but you shouldn't care about that because it's a brain game. Even if it was purely ascii, it would still be great. I bought this game initially only to support the developer (in case you haven't noticed, he is a great guy, responsive to everyone, bugfixing the same day, ...) because I liked the initial thoughts I had before playing it, but I was actually expecting to not be getting into it. I was wrong. This game pulled me right in and it's great! EDIT: still though, I got a bit bored of it after 8 hours and returned to Axes and Acres which since patch 1.05 still is the best IMO.

A simple strategy game with easy to learn rules and a surprising amount of depth. Every decision feels important. [b]The Objective[/b] The objective is simple. Gather enough victory points to win by moving your stones on to temple squares. Every turn your stones are on a temple they collect points. The challenge is defending against the minotaurs. The minotaurs can gain points from standing on temples too. If they gain enough points they win. Each turn you can move or place a stone and play a card. Cards are what mix up the gameplay. Some cards give you abilities like +3 Moves or Spawn 2, but most cards let you do special attacks if your stones are in certain formations on the board. You receive a new card after every 3 games you play to keep things fresh. [b]The Twists[/b] As you rank up there are new twists added in. There are new enemies like the plague minotaur, the serpent, the golem, and the hydra that all have unique traits. Then there are artifacts which is my favorite twist. They are symbols that appear on the board that when collected grant you abilities that you can use at any point in the game. [b]Conclusion[/b] This is a very great underappreciated strategy game. It really makes you think what is the best possible decision and consider the trade-offs of each choice.

Now that I've played quite a few games of Minos Strategos and moved up a few ranks I feel confident in saying this game is another great addition to the BrainGoodGames collection of strategy games. The tutorial is a bit brief and left me with some questions. Watching a short video that is linked to on the main page of the game soon cleared up the questions I had. There is a practise mode so if you aren't sure how something works and you want to experiment, you can do so without affecting your rank. Games are quick, 5 to 10 minutes. One of the many great features is that the game introduces now features as you advance in levels - new cards, new Minotaurs to fight, special collectible bonuses, so it won't get old in a hurry. I put over 50 hours into BrainGoodGames' Axes and Acres, their games are dangerously addictive.

A well-crafted classic game with a nice soundtrack that evokes the ancient Greece setting. Chess-like, taking turns but it's "control the temples" to score points and win, not "control the center of the board" and capture opponent's pieces to win. So that's refreshingly un-bloodthirsty. Cards give it randomness and replayability, but this is not a deckbuilder. Good "work-for-brain" puzzle board to solve when you have 5 or 10 minutes to play.

Braingood game. This game has a song which is called ,,To Arms" which is one of the most badass songs that i had the pleasure to listen to in quite some time. 11/10

You basically just move a piece each turn, capture, and try to hold spaces against respawning minotaurs. You get to play a card or use another ability each turn. Simple and elegant, very challenging and rewarding, but not overwhelming either.

Minos Strategos is one of the best strategy/tactics games I've ever played. The basic idea behind it is that you have to utilize your soldiers and ability cards in creative ways to capture temples and gain enough points before the minotaur hordes do the same. The game gives you a randomized map (temple placement, soldier placement, and minotaur placement) and a deck full of random ability cards every time you play, so each match feels unique and keeps you on your toes. You have to look at your resources and make intelligent decisions based on what you have, there's no build orders or memorized strategies. It's all about creative thinking and smart on-the-fly decision making. In addition to that, the game has a single player ranking system, increasing in challenge the better you do, so that you are always playing at a difficulty level appropriate to your skill level. Making for a game as replayable as any multiplayer competitive strategy game, but without the pain of dealing with random teammates who may cost you the game or toxic opponents you often times get matched up with. If you like Strategy or Tactics games, and are maybe looking for a singleplayer game as a break from all the team-based games out there, definitely give Minos Strategos a chance.

I simply love this game. There is a lot to think about and plan around, which can be challenging and fun. Finding yourself falling behind the AI then putting your pieces in the exact right pattern to suddenly take the win is amazing.

The main cocept of the game is that you have to score a certain amount of points using the temple squares before your enemy does. When your stone moves onto a temple square, it scores a point, and if it survives enemy turn, it scores another point. The same applies to your enemies. Aside from placing or moving your stones, you can also play cards by finding certain patterns made of your stones. After you play a few games powerups will also start appearing, which let you do certain actions when moving on them. This game, like other games by this dev, has rank system, and as you win more games, your games will get harder but you'll also unlock new features, cards and enemies. Personally I have found the progression a bit slow but you can level up your rank manually if you don't want to wait. I also found it a bit weird that this tactical turn-based game had timers but there's a mode that disables them so it's fine. Overall I have enjoyed the gameplay and would recommend this game if the description sounds appealing to you. It's also worth mentioning that this game is inspired by Tash-kalar, a board game which laso requires you to make patterns from your units, so if you enjoyed this game you will enjoy Tash-kalar too (you can play it for free online)

This is excellent, like all the rest of the BrainGoodGames games I've tried. Only complaint is that the default mode has a timer per move.

Thumbs up! This turn-based board game may not have fancy graphics, but I had fun figuring out the strategy. It looks easy at first, but the difficulty keeps increasing as you win more games. In order to win a game, you have to find the right balance between scoring points yourself and slowing down the scoring of the other side. You can’t stop them entirely, but you can delay them long enough to win. The biggest downside is that the standard mode has a timer which limits the time available on a turn. In addition, the countdown bar does not appear until the last 20 seconds, so you may not be aware that there is a time limit until it’s too late. Fortunately, the developer paid attention to those who hate timers, so there is an untimed mode available. To play without a timer, go to the bonus section and select relaxed mode.

Minos Strategos is really really fun, its hard to tell from the graphics, but its a fun strategy game

BrainGoodGames makes great digital quick ("filler") euro-games. All their games capture this sweet spot where each round of gameplay is short enough to fit even in a very busy day and yet they are so satisfying. Their single player ELO system is amazing at generating challenging random levels in no time, and the games are deep enough that time after time you realise different aspects of the game that you can improve upon. This particular game is, in a way that I can't fully express why, my favorite one together with solar settlers. A nice mixture of tactical decision making, pattern recognition, and longer term planning by setting up for cards in the deck. Once you are in the correct rank, every single game becomes challenging and every single improvement you make in your gameplay is reflected by the game. My playtime is not indicative as I play a lot more in my phone.

The AI and replayability is top notch. Very addicting, cool strategy game. Much better than Militia. Don't let the graphics dissuade you from getting. Check out the other games as well- excellent gameplay.

Another BGG game where it decides the difficulty and you have no control over it. That decision makes the game unplayable.

Singleplayer Tash Kalar with an ever-increasing difficulty. Move your stones across the board and onto victory point locations. Enemy minotaurs (and, eventually, other creatures) come in from the sides of the board to kill your stones and claim the victory point locations for themselves. Kill them and they'll respawn. An individual round only takes a couple of minutes, and if you win enough, it gets harder- more minotaurs and more score required to clear the board. You get a handful of cards that each have a strong, specific effect that requires your stones to be in a given position. You can only use one card per turn, so choose carefully. The game is both brilliant and simple, and I highly recommend it to anybody who likes tactical strategy games.

Quick to play, interesting strategic decisions, easy to understand. The UI can be a bit cumbersome sometimes, but overall okay. Compared to Axes and Acres this game gets challenging quicker, which I like.

Absolutely love this game, the best thing to come out of BrainGoodGames so far holy moly!!! After playing just an hour and trying to walk away from it, I found myself picturing the board and thinking of mock-scenarios for the next time. I can't even fathom how someone can come up with all the intricate rules that fit just so perfectly.

Another winner from BrainGoodGames. If you haven't played one of theirs before, they use simple rulesets to create enjoyable puzzle games that gradually get more difficult as you repeatedly win. They are basically a mix between Minesweeper-esque solitaire and modern boardgames. In this game you are trying to score enough victory points to win before an endless horde of baddies, with the help of some cards. The basic game feels very similar to their earlier game, Militia, though based more on Tash-Kalar than Chess.

I have been waiting for this game and it does not dissapoint! There are a bunch of different modes, the choices are interesting, and I get to feel like a baller when I make sick plays. Godd job brain good games, impressed as always ^.^

I support every single game that mentions Ancient Greek Mythology.

I bought this game but quickly got bored with it. Wouldn't recommend.

E: Actually I'm liking this one more and more, very strategically diverse and complicated.

ok