Mind MGMT is one of the gnarliest hidden movement board games out there, and it's currently discounted by 38% on Amazon, down to just $36.99. Up to four players take on the role of Rogue Agents, racing against time to hunt down the hidden final player, the Recruiter, and derail their covert mission to recruit psychics for a beyond-top-secret US spy agency.
Like all the best board games in the hidden movement genre, Mind Management is an asymmetrical blend of deduction and psychology. The Recruiter plots their movements in secret on a duplicate board hidden behind a screen, while the four Rogue Agents are left scratching their heads and layering up what few clues they can glean onto a shared board. The Rogue Agents have to track down the Recruiter before time runs out, and before the Recruiter can recruit a dozen civilians to their cause.
The core mechanics are pretty standard for hidden movement games - the Rogue Agents don't know where the Recruiter is, but they have a variety of tools to squeeze information and work out where they've been, when they visited a location, and finally attempt to collar them.
The Recruiter can't move into any space that contains a Rogue Agent, but they do have four Immortal bodyguards which are out in the open on the main board. These meat shields can block the Rogue Agents' investigations, and muddy throw false trails about what the Recruiters' plans really are.
That's already a fair amount for most hidden movement games, and I haven't mentioned the unique psychic powers that both the Rogue Agents and the Recruiter have, or the psychic dolphin, and that's before you get to the 14 Shift packs. These are a great little legacy and balancing mechanic. The losing player in any game gets to unlock one of the Shift packs for their factions, each of which provides an optional set of tools they can bring into future games - we won't spoil what they do, though!
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