Duration: 14:37

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Mana Collect (or "Manakore"), to put it simply, is what you would get if you made a competitive game of Minesweeper and threw it in a blender with anime tropes, hexes, strategy, special powers, and a (slightly) more involved story. Originally a Doujin game developed by Tazigen Clock back in 2013 and localized by Fruitbat Factory for Steam, the game is great (local) versus fun and has a few neat single - player modes, though anything dealing with facing the computer (especially in Story Mode) is highly frustrating on any difficulty other than easy. The problem (besides character balance) is the computer is psychic and will quickly snatch up every space on the map without having to even think of the adjacent hexes, and will seldom ever miss, even on the lowest difficulty... the A.I. doesn't really "ramp up" either; there is no difference in how each opponent operates other than how they utilize their special skill. There are a few rules to how the game is played, but they are better explained through the game's tutorials, which are tacked on to the other half of this video. The saving grace is that each map is a little different and marks are generally in the same areas, so you can hold your own with enough practice,. The game is easy to learn, but does not ease you into it at all.

Basically, the goal is to mark precise spots on the map to collect Mana, which can be stored up or collected at will to build up power to attack your opponent or defend against attacks. The longer you go without collecting, the more rapidly you build up power, but the greater the risk; if you miss a mark by clicking the wrong spot, the power you're accumulating is lost, so you have to be careful and there's a fine balance between collecting and going straight for an attack. If you mark all the spots on a map within a specified time-frame or before your opponent does, you'll gain a "Full Collect" (which makes short work of your opponent if you can pull it off). If you take too long, you'll automatically collect, making a Full Collect impossible. Special powers vary from character to character but range from slowing you down, stopping you altogether, tripling attack power, restricting where you can move, etc. The game has a small cult following among Korean gamers.

This is a video showing the game in action. You can get the game at:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/335200/ManaCollect/

Enjoy.

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