Mechs vs. Minions and a Terrible Lava-Filled Situation
Take a ride through a wall of enemies and meet a familiar foe in the sixth mission from Mechs vs. Minions.
Had enough Mechs vs. Minions yet? Never! I’ve been going on and on about the campaign for weeks now, but that should speak to its enjoyment level. It’s exciting to unlock new schematics and work through unique puzzles with every mission. The difficulty level feels just about right, too, which is always a plus! Follow along with another mission!
Spoiler Alert
Look away now if you want to keep Operation: Missing Link a surprise! Included below are spoilers for the content and overall puzzle. Even the photos may give away some of the secrets, so come back when you’ve finished it yourself!
Game Overview
Game Name: Mechs vs. Minions
Publication Year: 2016
Designers: Cantrell, Ernst, Librande, Saraswat, and Tiras
Artists: Danny Beck and Tysen Henderson
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Looking back at this mission as I write up this post, I just realized how hilariously perfect this title is. “None Shall Pass” is a well-known line from an absolutely fantastic movie. I’ll get into that a little later on…
Top secret sealed envelopes are just so much fun to open!
Raise Your Ax
I suppose it’s rare to make a toast at the moment, but the boss minion interpreted it a little… Violently? His raised ax wasn’t exactly a joyous sight as the mechs lined up!
How lovely to meet this guy again! And to think that this mech was stolen. I wonder if we’ll recover it in time?
This mission introduced some lava-ridden terrain, complete with pits of lava and spiked barriers. Ouch!
My mechs had to survive and make their way to the far edge of the play area. Not exactly easy with so many obstacles, but I was ready to give it my best shot.
The Line in the Sand
So there wasn’t any actual sand here, but there was a definite separation between the grassy area and the awful, oozing lava. Did someone plan this? Suspicious…
The crystal shards added on another layer of difficulty. All 4 needed to be destroyed before success could happen.
The funny thing is that I lined everyone up slightly incorrectly at the start. The direction each mech faces can be chosen, and I should have had Ziggs facing the right.
Oh, well! The best part about the game is how one mistake won’t lead to failure. At least, usually. Ha!
Shiny Crystal Shards
These beautiful gems weren’t too difficult. Corki and Heimerdinger went on a productive, destructive streak.
Meanwhile, Tristana raced off to the final area to keep it clear for the others. It was a good plan in practice, but everyone seemed to forget about someone…
The boss! I had enough movement to constantly deactivate the rune shields, yet no one hung back to whittle him down and limit his command line’s strength.
At one point, Corki and Ziggs had a single shot to damage the boss before his gun went off. Success! For the moment.
A Literal Nightmare
All of the crystal shards were gone. The minions were under control. The boss was still powerful, yet didn’t have a lot of opportunities to do much damage. I had it!
Then, I believe I ran into an extremely rare situation. The boss had the command that allowed him to move to the closest space adjacent to a randomly chosen mech.
That happened to be Tristana, who was muddling around in the lava after a minion damaged her. Oh, no!
She needed to backtrack across the lava. Only that led to constant damage. Which way to go?! There was nowhere.
Between a Rock and a Hot, Hot Place
I feel like I may have played the rules incorrectly to run into this situation. I went after maximum movement early on and had active schematics to go in almost every direction. As soon as a particular shield went down from a single point of damage, someone else was poised to step on another rune right away. Good strategy, no?
When the boss moved into the corner, he also kept rolling movement that was impossible. Was he supposed to move through boulders? It seemed plausible, but I found nothing to state that this was an option. So… Trapped.
Tristana literally couldn’t move. She kept rotating, taking more damage, and doing nothing. No joke: I think this debacle added on about an hour of gameplay. An hour! Circling back to my reference to “None Shall Pass” above, this felt like Lancelot’s entrance just before the wedding. You know. Oranges, drums, and running seemingly in place.
Of course, I refer to the masterpiece known as Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Everyone assumed Tristana was on her way. I mean, she was technically moving in place. Ha ha! At long last, Corki left the safety of the winning zone to go tow her to a better position. It took forever, but Tristana was finally ready to join the others in victory!
Session Overview
Play Number: 12
Solo Mode: Included in the Base Game (Cooperative)
Play Details: Operation: Missing Link (Mission 6)
Required Play Space: 52″ x 34″
Setup Time: 10 Minutes
Play Time: 3 Hours
Outcome: Win
This was, indeed, a grueling sort of slog. I triumphed in the end, though, and it was well worth the effort. Who else gets stuck in lava for an hour?! There’s my new claim to fame. Ha ha! I was a little worn out, yet this was still great!
%
20 Plays
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
10
Originality
Design & Theme
10
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
8
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
6
Continue the Conversation
Do you enjoy playing Mechs vs. Minions? Have you ever run into an odd situation that seemed impossible to get out of? This was the only time I felt somewhat exhausted after playing, but I blame Tristana’s horrible luck. Besides, it all worked out! I found a solution… Extremely late, but I did it. Ha! It’s now coming down to the home stretch!
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