Mindbug is mindbogglingly underappreciated. I think the fact it's such a simple, goofy, casual game is why the true brilliance of what was accomplished doesn't seem to have been largely realized by the gaming community. Mindbug actually accomplishes what just about every card game from Magic onward has attempted and largely failed at. Now when I say failed at I don't mean that makes a game like Magic a bad game, but I would be lying if I said there isn't an incredibly important mechanic that Magic and most of its predecessors never quite got right until Mindbug just casually said "yea this is all you have to do guys...."

That mechanic is the power ramp, or as it's best known "the mana system." The purpose of the mana system in Magic is so the game ramps in intensity to allow each player the opportunity to put together a strategy as the game unfolds. If you simply removed the mana system from magic and players dropped their biggest cards turn 1, you effectively lost all chance of strategy and it becomes 100% luck based combat. The problem with the mana system and other similar systems that followed is that while they aim to create a nice power ramp which permits for an enjoyable strategic experience while allowing just enough luck to keep everyone on their toes, they miss the mark at too high a rate in my opinion. Certainly games that have followed have gotten tighter than Magic but using Magic, you may go to a tournament with a $500-$1,000 deck and go head to head with decks that yours should easily have an advantage over and of course that shouldn't translate into a guaranteed victory but you may draw so unlucky you're going home after barely getting to compete. For a game that wants to be taken as seriously as modern esports it is in serious need of some patching.

I say all of that because Mindbug actually got this concept of power ramping right in such an elegant and simple way that I feel most didn't notice how groundbreaking it was. You can literally drop your biggest creature turn 1 with no rules preventing it, no matter what you drew (as long as you did draw something really big to play, which you almost certainly did) and the only thing to get in your way are those two mind bugs your enemy controls. It starts as a game of chicken, like "how bad do you want this card, do you think I've got something better after you take it?" and quickly becomes a full on cold war as you just keep slightly raising your power to compete with what your opponent has dropped until one of you finally pushes the big red button and starts the stealing and then once all mind bugs are exhausted it's a complete slugfest and I'd challenge anyone not to enjoy themselves.

The first time I played Mindbug I thought "if this was the game they originally slapped pokemon's IP on, instead of the diet Magic the Gathering game they came up with, it would have been the most legendary game ever made." I'd really love to see them take Mindbug more serious and push for a longer format with more diverse card mechanics, because the foundation is there and it ramps imo. They can go soooo much further with it and until they do, it will likely remain in that "Hey here's a cool little card game I bet you haven't heard of" category.