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Welcome to the City of Myrkesh. Five districts, once divided with different goals and agendas for the city, must now stand together against the threat of destruction. Each player starts with a deck of ten ally cards and, on their turn, will send out their people to move through the city, recruit new allies and attack the monster that’s wreaking havoc.
The inhabitants of the City, although besieged, are mighty and resilient. Align yourself with the people of the 5 districts:
In the Merchant’s Row, Coin does the talking. Utilize your ability to procure cards better than anyone else, rush cards to the top of your deck and even utilize other players to broaden your card selection. Who will you barter with?
Those of the Royal Courts value flexibility and resourcefulness, utilizing both Coin and Power, Raise your levies, gain noble prestige and protect yourself from disruption. How will you show your status?
Those of the Industrial Grounds have one true motivation: Progress. Having the ability to draw cards like no one else and gaining cards that support multiple options, you will be able to adapt to any given situation with innovation by your side.
Those of the Wilds see Power as strength, and those that are weak will not last. Weather the destruction and ignore anything that would halt your ferocity. Brush off your wounds and inspire others to join your pack!
Those of the Undercity benefit from being anywhere in the city they want, utilizing speedy movement and sneaky tactics. Slander your opponents, cause their allies to revolt against them and slow down their movement so you can secure victory.
Whoever you align with, the unforgiving city will welcome you. Will you seek to have the most allies? Take on the monster before your opponents can? Or will you use the resources you have to spread your influence over the city and the people within it?
In the City of Myrkesh, Prestige is yours for the taking!
—description from the designer
- Brilliant integration of theme and mechanics.
- High complexity and depth in card effects.
- Excellent component quality, especially the dragon miniature.
- Meaningful and thematic wound system.
- Strategic depth from multi-use cards and rondelle movement.
- Many ways to build your deck and approach the game.
- Interactive gameplay with options to affect opponents.
- Daunting amount of text on cards requires reading glasses and can be overwhelming.
- Excessive focus on negative player interaction for some players.
- Rulebook has errors and omissions regarding card discards and combat resolution.
- Player aid has redundant information instead of crucial combat/rubble breakdowns.
- Game can feel overwhelming with too many elements to balance.
- Defending the city by recruiting from five factions and fighting a dragon.
- A city under assault from a three-headed dragon.
- Mage Knight
- Dominion
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Combat — Players fight a central dragon, with different attack types resulting in different outcomes and counterattacks.
- Deck Building — Players build their decks by recruiting cards from different factions.
- deck thinning — Wounds and other mechanics allow players to remove weaker starter cards from their deck to improve efficiency.
- Hand Management — Players draw a hand of cards and must decide how to best utilize them each turn, with hand size potentially affected by impairments.
- Multi-Use Cards — Every card has multiple functions, allowing players to play them upright for their stated effect or sideways for speed.
- player interaction — Cards allow players to affect opponents, such as giving them debt tokens.
- Rondelle movement — Players move around a city rondelle, with speed being a key resource for movement and accessing different areas.
- Variable player powers — Players recruit from five different factions, each offering unique advantages and playstyles.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- This game is so full of so much stuff. I mean, so much so that when I'm playing, I have to wear my reading glasses.
- the brilliant way wounds work.
- the most egregious waste of board game real estate.
- City of Mirkish is a pretty unique beast. And I really do think it deserves more of an audience because there are people out there for whom this is the perfect game and that no other game comes close to scratching this combination of itches.