Mercurial

About the game

What is Mercurial?

After an arduous journey through the otherworldly land of Valanyr, your caravan finally arrives at Camp Trinity — a young, thriving settlement built atop a ruined kingdom once decimated by an ancient cataclysm. Like many here, you were previously a mage of low renown now seeking a better fortune. The cataclysm altered Valanyr's Elan to be fertile but mercurial, rendering the rules of spellcasting different from whence you came. Here, the usually separate elements of nature fuse readily, allowing for new and unknown spells to be created. You'll have to start from scratch, but unknown means new discoveries to be made, and a thriving settlement means opportunity... Mercurial is a card & dice-manipulation game themed on spellcrafting with combo & engine-building mechanics. Learn magical Alteration techniques to control the chaos of your elemental dice, and use these elements to combine lesser magicks into new and unknown spells. Your combined spells can either inflict ruin, restore life, or something more — use them to perform heroic deeds, ranging from helping your allies defeat dangerous beasts, to finding a path for stranded travelers lost in the strange land of Valanyr. In Mercurial, each player has varying capabilities and starting resources, with their differences offering a unique path to power with every journey. Delve into the fantastic world of Mercurial, and discover a new age of spellcrafting. —description from the designer

How it plays

Mechanics

On the shelf

Categories

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

• How do setup and the first turn work in Mercurial?
• When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
• How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?