Unconscious Minds Components Overview and Impressions
Unconscious Minds was a game I’ve been really interested in since it was released, and I thought that GenCon 2025 was going to be my chance to play it in the GenCon Game’s Library. Unfortunately it wasn’t available there for play, but Lucky Duck Games was nice enough to send me home with a copy for review. So of course, it was one of the first games I had to unboxed!
The production of Unconscious Minds is a mixed bag for me, mostly positive but there are a few things I wish were done differently. There is a lot of cardboard in this game – 5 punch-boards in total – and thankfully the pieces came out of the punch-board very easily. No rips, no tears – exactly what I want when I’m punching and sorting a game. Consumers also have a ton of bags available to them to sort out tiles and store them in the box, something you don’t always get. I give the design team even more kudos for providing so many bags that I could split up the Level 1 and Level 2 notebook tokens into their own bags, which makes setup much easier since it reduces any need to sort tiles.
The player pieces are phenomenal as well. Some are just generic discs – like the coffee green cylinder – that perhaps I feel could have been made a bit better, but as they are used to track progress on dual layered boards, I can forgive them for that. The player meeples themselves are screen printed, which is a fantastic touch and included in the base game. Screen printed pieces are becoming more and more common in base game releases, so I’m glad to see this here.
Player boards are dual layered and are actually laying pretty flat compared to other dual layered boards I’ve used. Often, the glue used to hold the dual layered boards together causes the cardboard to warp (generally between the factory and the consumer) so I’m glad to see that isn’t a problem here. I’m not sure if I just got lucky with my box, or if more care was taken to make sure these boards were flat throughout the drying period.
I love the colors and graphics throughout. Some tiles are a bit boring to look at, but some cards are beautifully detailed, and all of the boards look really neat. The game has a darker tone to it, but I think this just helps the somewhat unique player colors pop more than they might have.
After-all, the game theme calls for a darker, more moody-specific feel, and I think they have nailed that perfectly. I do, however, see this being a problem if you are playing in an area with less than ideal lighting.
Off the top I noted that the production was a mixed bag for me, and so far everything has been really positive. I’ll reiterate again that this is a great production, and I have no issue with any of the game pieces. It is the storage solution that leaves me a bit mystified.
For the most part, Unconscious Minds is a bag-everything-up-and-toss-it-in-the-box sort of system, and while I always prefer an insert, and think it should be standard in 2025, I get it. Inserts cost money, and this production was probably already not cheap. To keep prices down, an insert was eliminated.
That said, the player pieces do come in their own little tray, and that try is fantastic. It even has a notched out section on the top to keep the smaller dual-layered player boards in place. The thing is, there is nothing to keep those player boards from just coming out should the box get jostled or put on its side.
To that end, I’m not sure why there was a choice to create a quarter insert, when the obvious goal was just to toss everything else in the box. While the tray is nice, I’ve gone to just put those little player boards in a large baggie and toss it in with everything else.
Overall, though, this is an impressive looking game and one that will definitely turn a few heads at board game night. I’m looking forward to seeing what the gameplay offers soon, so stay tuned for our full review!
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Article By Adam Roffel
