Playing Many Minds Move As One

 

Playing Many Minds Move As One in GtG's "Spirit Island"

As I've stated elsewhere, my favorite board game of the past several years is Spirit Island, and it's not even close. So I thought I'd start digging into various strategies that can be used with each individual spirit. For anyone who has played Spirit Island before, you know that strategies have to be flexible to accommodate so, so many factors (other Spirits in play, progression of Invader actions, power cards made available to you, choice of adversary and/or scenario, etc.). In spite of that necessity for flexibility, there are still some sort of universals for the majority of Spirits in the game.

Let's start with taking a look at the Spirit below!

I never gave this Spirit much thought for as long as I've owned the Jagged Earth expansion. Not because I doubted its effectiveness, but because my only experience with Beast tokens up to this point was with Sharp Fangs Behind the Leaves, and that was only with the Branch and Claw expansion. I believe that the idea behind the Spirit design was cool, but the number of Beast tokens on the board at any given time was completely dependent on drawing into Powers that generate new Beast tokens. I had played as that Spirit once and was regularly hobbled by a lack of Powers that put out new Beast tokens. Plus, there had been enough bad experiences with Event cards using Beast tokens against players or in a way that would help players if there WERE any Beast tokens on the board to leverage that it all left a bad taste in my mouth. I had watched my friends Roger and Suf use the Spirit well in previous games, but again, it just never drew my interest. Whenever I'd flip through the various Spirits to decide which one I wanted to play, my eyes always slid over Many Minds without much thought at all. But recently, I was playing a solo game against the Tsardom of Russia adversary in which I'd be controlling two Spirits (see here), and I wanted to play something new. I figured that in trying to figure out how to beat an increasingly difficult Russian adversary, I'd be messing with different combinations of Spirits anyway. So playing one new Spirit and one unfamiliar Spirit was a good way to get experience with more elements of the game without being overwhelmed by trying to control two Spirits simultaneously. It really didn't take long for me to learn that I really enjoy the hell out of this Spirit. It's so much fun! So let's jump in!

Its set up seems incredibly limiting at first, given that you start with only 1 Presence on the board, even though you start in a space with a Beast token and are gifted a second Beast token in the same space. One of the many, many elements of Spirit Island that I enjoy is the thoroughness of the design. That thoroughness extends to the descriptions of the various Spirits on their individual boards. Many Minds is described as having "...no offense to start with, but an excellent stalling defense combined with Fear generation..." This is absolutely accurate. I was new to the Spirit, but didn't feel like I had to sift through too many different strategies or approaches in order to find this to be true. Now, be warned! This Spirit is one with which it can be exceedingly easy to fall into a sort of holding pattern of "Defend and generate Fear and hope we hold out long enough for a Fear victory." This strategy only pays off when other players are making stronger, bolder moves, and the cards (Event, Invader, and Power cards - literally all of them) come up in your favor. But it's a very useful placeholder, and that's especially true early. So don't let what reads as a limiting set up intimidate or frustrate you; especially when you take note of the fact that your Sacred Sites may also count as Beast tokens, and you start with 2 ways (one of which is Innate) to move Beast tokens, and thus your Presence, around the island.

Since I mentioned Innate Powers, let's move to those next, because I adore them!

Sometimes, the Innate Powers of Spirits aren't terribly synergistic with one another; you might have to invest more heavily in one than the other because of timing windows or Elements needed. But these two synergize extremely well together so long as players have the forethought and spatial reasoning to plan accordingly. Though, with that said, it helps tremendously that The Teeming Host Arrives is a fast Power, allowing for some serious pivoting if circumstances unexpectedly change. It's generally easy enough to have Beast elements, so it's often Air elements that you'll be seeking to ensure you can use the higher levels of your Innate Powers. I appreciate the ability to play more Power cards afforded by the Card Play Presence track, but I absolutely start the game by immediately dropping 2 Presence discs from my Energy track. This nets me an energy to spend so I can start by playing Ever-Multiplying Swarm in the first round if I'm happy with my Presence placement. If I'm not content with where my Presence is, it allows me to play one of my fast Powers and use The Teeming Host Arrives in my very first turn to move a Beast token (or 2 tokens if I lead with Guide the Way on Feathered Wings) to a more advantageous position, thus setting up a strong second turn that will let me get ahead of the Invaders early.

Owing to the fact that Many Minds has so much interesting stuff going on and does it all well, it can be easy to forget about your special rule, Fly Fast As Thought. At least, it has been easy for me to forget about it. "When you Gather or Push Beast tokens, they may come from or go to lands up to 2 distant (rather than adjacent only)." This is the kind of thing that really sets Many Minds apart from Sharp Fangs: there's a lot of flexibility in movement here which allows Many Minds to cover far more ground far more easily than may appear to be the case at first glance. Generally speaking, if you're not using both Innate Powers every turn, you're missing opportunities that might bite you later. Maybe you don't actually need the defense that Beset and Confound the Invaders provides. But it gives you Fear regardless of whether or not you need that defense. And if you're planning well, there really shouldn't be a turn during which you don't have two Beast tokens in a space with Invaders. If that's the case, you're either absolutely mopping the floor with the Invaders or you're woefully out of position. I don't know that I play a turn with this Spirit in which I don't move at least one Beast token to prepare for the next turn; if you're able to plan two moves ahead while playing as Many Minds, this is a Spirit with bonkers Innate Powers that pay serious dividends.

Another mistake that's easy to make with first glance at this Spirit is that you won't have enough Energy to hold your own. But in answer to that concern, I need to point out two things: 1) you really need to trust that R. Eric Reuss knew what he was doing when he designed the game, and 2) take a look at the starting Powers for Many Minds before drawing that conclusion. They're pictured below!

Spoiler alert: they're all good. As I mentioned, it's easy to overreact to how little income Many Minds is likely to bring in for a bit, but 4 of their 5 starting Powers are free to play. And Ever-Multiplying Swarm is worth way more than the one Energy you'll pay for it nearly every time. I kinda want to start there, actually, even though it's the power you may feel less inclined to play early because it doesn't offer you Air or Water Elements, is a slow Power, and is the only base power that costs Energy to play. Unless you draw into a Power that generates Beast tokens, you'll be counting on this to build up your power base both for your Innate Powers and starting Powers. It's essential you plan for this, or you'll find yourself behind and starving for Beast tokens if Event and Power draws don't break your way. Timing isn't always easy, I know, but the more frequently you manage to play this Power, the more exponential gain you'll see from both of your Innate Powers as well as your starting Powers like "Pursue with Scratches, Pecks, and Stings" and "A Dreadful Tide of Scurrying Flesh." Both Powers are free, both give you at least 2 Elements you need for Innate Powers (3 in some cases!), and both have pretty powerful effects. They each generate Fear pretty easily, and they can really save you from some ugly Builds or Ravages. But both are hobbled if you don't use Ever-Multiplying Swarm enough to really populate the board with Beast tokens. Again, user beware!

I'll admit that "Boon of Swarming Bedevilment" and "Guide the Way on Feathered Wings" are the least interesting Powers to me, but they're absolutely useful. Both give you 2 Elements you need for Innate Powers (see? Told you that you should be using your Innate Powers every turn!), both are free, and they can provide some utility. I will use Guide the Way more often when I need to move multiple Beast tokens to multiple destinations in a single turn, but the real utility of the card is in moving Dahan with it. Couple that with "Beset and Confound" and you can easily wipe out Invaders during the Ravage phase while Defending the Dahan you brought in. Boon of Swarming Bedevilment obviously sees more utility in a game with more players, as some Spirits will benefit from this Power more than others. But if nothing else, it can give you Elements you need while allowing you to push off a Reclaim for one more turn if you don't urgently need any of your Power cards.

Speaking of Reclaim, let's discuss the three Growth options granted to Many Minds.

1. Your Reclaim action is pretty weak, probably because your starting Power cards are so dang cheap and because you start with 5 instead of 4. It does net you new Power Cards, but I'd rather pay the 2 Energy to get a new Power card instead whenever possible (that's coming up here shortly!). Do it when you have to, but just be wary that not everything become such an emergency that you're planning on playing "A Dreadful Tide" and "Pursue with Scratches" every turn. You may hold off Blight with those two cards and your Innate Powers, but you'll never gain any ground. You can afford to give up a Blight or two from time to time. Especially because your Sacred Sites count as Beast tokens per your special rule, "A Joining of Swarms and Flocks;" you should be able to get your Presence out of a threatened space pretty easily before it gets Blighted.
2. Your second Growth option is to add 1 Presence up to one land away from where you already have Presence, and then add 1 Presence to one land wherein you already have Presence. While this isn't as sexy as your third Growth option (we're getting there, I promise!), it's the one I use most frequently. I need to get to that first Air Element on the Energy track before turning my attention to the Card Play track so I can quickly string together Powers and affect basically my entire board between my card plays and my Innate Powers. "Beset and Confound" gets ridiculously strong at the higher levels, and the quicker you have that at your disposal as an option, the more flexible your play becomes. More flexibility means more viable options which translates to more creativity and likely a bigger impact on the game than simply being able to tread water against the Invaders. This is, again, why I insist that you need to play "Ever-Multiplying Swarm" as frequently as possible and utilize "The Teeming Host Arrives" every turn - by leveraging your incredible Presence mobility every turn, you set yourself up so that adding Presence per this Growth option feels like the boon it is rather than worrying that such a Growth option will root you in one spot.
3. Your third and final Growth option is to add a Presence and a Beast token up to 3 distance away from where you already have Presence, gain 1 Energy, and Gather up to 1 Beast token into a land up to distance 2. See? I told you: sexy.
   

            There's a lot of great stuff going on here, for sure. I've gotten lucky each time I've played this Spirit                 and drawn into dirt-cheap powers that also happen to work within my machinations. But getting that             1 Energy in addition to regular income can be a life saver depending on your plans. Gathering that                 Beast token may allow for you to use the Beast token with a fast Power, then move it with Teeming             Host, then use it against elsewhere during the fast phase, which I appreciate. But adding a Presence                 AND a Beast token?

            

                Contrast that with Vengeance As A Burning Plague, which can add a Presence or a Disease                             token? Oh man, it's everything. Admittedly, the circumstances are different because the Spirits are                 different, right? Plus, that particular Growth option also gains the Vengeance player a new Power                 card. But still, it's obviously very attractive to add both instead of either/or. It's a Growth option                     with a lot of upside and you will definitely use it! It's just my (limited) experience that the sexiness                 wears off after using it a couple of times when it's deployed poorly. Because when you crunch the                 numbers, how far ahead did you come out? That's always the question, right? It looks amazing on                 paper, and it works well in-game. But just about everything you do here amounts to things you                     can do in other ways. Not all at the same time and not for free, obviously, but timing this out to                     leverage it properly so it's not your "go to" Growth option is, in my opinion, is where you find the                 freedom that Many Minds really affords the more experienced players.

I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoy playing as Many Minds Move As One! It never really drew my eye, despite seeing it used well by some of my friends. I never doubted it could be effective, I just didn't bother learning much about it and it was never on my radar as a Spirit to try out. "It uses Beast tokens - been there, done that." But it plays so very differently than Sharp Fangs and it's far more flexible than I anticipated! So many of the Spirits that use tokens in-game (Vengeance As A Burning Plague, Sharp Fangs Behind The Leaves, Thunderspeaker, etc.) feel like they rely so heavily on those things more or less breaking their way with some token/Dahan movement at their disposal. But they rarely feel as responsive as Many Minds does. This Spirit really can turn on a dime if the user can play a dynamic game. Many Minds gets sluggish if the user is not paying attention at the wheel, because you'll get caught behind a turn or a Beast token short. But if you're constantly bolstering your resources in anticipation of spending them, then I think this Spirit really hums. Unlike some other Spirits, you can't just build the machine and watch it go to work; you've really gotta do what you can to keep it lubricated and humming along. If you lose track of getting Beast tokens out there for any sort of period of time, your engine will absolutely seize up on you, and you might not even see it coming.

Maybe it's just the glamour of a new love, but Many Minds Move As One has absolutely vaulted up there into my favorite Spirits to play alongside Heart of the Wildfire and A Spread of Rampant Green. If you haven't yet, give them a try! They're particularly useful while battling against The Tsardom of Russia Adversary!