Review of Mysterium

    Mysterium is a game about mystery and discovery that takes the subjective realm of dreams and applies it to a murder investigation that takes place in the Victorian times. With a mix of light-Lovecraftian Horror, mysterious images, and hilarious psycho-analysis, Mysterium is a great game for examining how we communicate without words. Players take one one of two roles, the Ghost or the Investigators. The player who takes on the role of the Ghost knows exactly what pieces of the puzzle each investigator needs to find, however is unable to communicate to those players using anything but the evocative paintings on cards that represent dreams each investigator has. The cards are vague and unconnected to most of the things the ghost is attempting to communicate, but include enough potential clues to help the investigators discover the answers for their characters.

    The hardest part of this game is the limits placed on communication. As the ghost, it is nearly painful to watch players misinterpret the cards you gave them and pick the wrong answers. Being able to give no other input, the Ghost is unable to communicate their intentions and therefore is forced to just sit and hope their dreams are interpreted accurately. Though this is frustrating, this is what makes the game fun and also speaks to an important aspect of leadership. As a leader, it is sometimes impossible to communicate exactly what one is thinking so that everyone else understands it. This is rarely as obscure as interpretative dream analysis, however communication is vastly important in a leadership role, and it is sometimes very difficult to know that everyone is on the same page as you. Mysterium makes this painstakingly obvious which is helpful because it is often easy to forget that other people may have different interpretations of what you are saying.

    This is a game that I would highly recommend to nearly everyone, however if you are easily frustrated by misunderstandings, or dislike being in the dark about solving mysterious this game might not be for you. My friends Sean and Noah would like this game as they both love solving mysteries as well as being able to communicate through non-conventional methods (such as the dream card mechanic).