Tactical Mind

Genre: Turn-Based Strategy / Board Game

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local)

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Review:

(Note: This game is included in Puzzle Games Bundle (5 in 1) along with Archaica: The Path of Light, Island Maze, Mushroom Quest, and Tactical Mind 2)

Tactical Mind is a Turn-Based Strategy game that is presented as a Board Game, with abstract figures on a board of squares of hex-shaped spaces. Players are tasked with managing resources and producing units while taking out enemy units, with the goal being guiding one of your pieces to the enemy’s crystal and attacking it – doing so wins the match.

Player’s units are called “pawns”, and during a player’s turn, each of their pawns can perform one action. They can upgrade themselves or a neighboring unit, they can create a new pawn in a neighboring space, they can attack a neighboring unit, or they can de-power a neighboring unit and leaving it inactive in the next turn. Upon upgrading a pawn to a fifth level, that pawn gains an additional ability to move to an adjacent space once per turn, as well as the capacity to use all other abilities an unlimited amount of times in a turn.

Doing any of the above requires energy. Every pawn collects energy from adjacent crystals based on the level of the pawn and how many crystals are adjacent to it. Pawns that are de-powered (either due to an enemy move or by using an ability on the prior turn) do not collect energy. And to make things more interesting, the energy cost of every move increases for both players whenever it is used, meaning that the more you use a move on a given turn, the less likely it is the opponent will use it.

It’s a solid set-up, and it seems to combine elements of classic games like chess and checkers with more modern strategy games. It definitely seems like it could have a classic feel, and this is thanks in part to a presentation that feels like it could have come straight out of the film Tron, with glowy red and blue highlights on slate game pieces against a black background.

However, this presentation comes with a few issues. Firstly, whenever a piece is de-powered, it loses the colored glow it has, meaning that de-powered pieces look similar to each other, which is needlessly confusing. In addition, the game features a subdued soundtrack that’s not very compelling, and this is coupled with an almost complete lack of sound when using pieces. It seems strange to have the presentation of a board game, but not hear the clack of pieces as they are placed or moved, or to see pieces attacking each other with no sound whatsoever. The only sound the gameplay seems to make is when players attack the enemy’s crystal and end the game.

There are issues with the gameplay too. Firstly, this is a game that really could have used online play, which isn’t present here. The game is also lacking any use of the Switch’s touchscreen, which is disappointing in a game that seems ideally suited for it. Since it’s a $3 game, I can let that slide, but what I can’t so easily forgive is the first-turn advantage.

Whoever plays first in this game has a huge advantage, being able to produce or upgrade pieces and as such raise their energy cost for the other player before they can even make a move, while also setting themselves up to collect even more energy on their second turn. The player who goes second is given some extra energy to start with as a compensation for this, but it doesn’t seem enough to offset the advantages the first player got. The result is that playing this game at any difficulty other than easy feels unbalanced, as does playing the game in multiplayer.

Tactical Mind had a lot of potential for an inexpensive Board Game-style Turn-Based Strategy game that had a classical feel of something like chess, but that potential is wasted on multiple game design problems both in the presentation as well as in the overall game balance. Players looking for a unique and simple strategy game on the Switch may find this to be worth the $3 asking price, but most are better off spending more for a better game.

tl;dr – Tactical Mind is a Turn-Based Strategy game in the style of a Board Game, where players gather energy from crystals and build up their pieces to attack the enemy’s crystal. It has a simple design that had a lot of potential to feel like a classic strategy game, but it’s marred by numerous design issues, from presentation problems to game balance issues. Some may still feel it’s worth the $3 price tag, but most will be better off saving that money for a better game.

Grade: C+

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