Plaid Hat Games is once again diving into the Mice and Mystics Universe, but this time the brave little mice are taking to the skies. Tail Feathers is a new standalone experience set in the same whimsical universe of Mice and Mystics and its accompanying expansions. While the game is standalone, you will actually be able to use some of your miniatures from the previous game in Tail Feathers, a nice boon for longtime fans. Being an ardent fan of the series myself (you can catch our review of the original game here), I couldn't be happier to have another chance to dive into this universe.

Alright, enough gushing. Here is how it works. Tail Feathers' predominant gameplay hook revolves around your flying steeds and their mice pilots. The goal of the skirmish or campaign you choose (there are several included) is to take down your opponent's tree by any means necessary. The main way you do this is by launching birds from your base towards your opponent's tree, avoiding ground forces, opposing birds, and even defense units like ballistas along the way. The game includes 5 birds and 5 pilots out of the box, and each one is interchangeable, as each pilot and bird has different strengths and weaknesses. Since movement to and fro is such a big part of the experience, each bird miniature is articulated and able to be tilted a variety of directions. This affects the direction you veer in through the course of the movement phase.

The game highlights its aerial battles in a number of ways, including swoop attacks that can hurt or take out a pack of ground troops or sabotage an opponent's mission, and death spirals, an additional rule that once enabled locks your bird into a hard melee encounter any time you cross another bird's flight path. This can result in wounds against your unit or your opponents, wounds for both of you, or worst case scenario, can result in both of your birds being removed from play. If that weren’t enough, you also have ground forces at your disposal, which can make their way across the board either by way of friendly bird unit or via floating leaves. Once they make their way to the tree, you have a variety of options depending on what cards are in your hand. As with the other Mice and Mystics games, all of the units, cards, mechanics, etc, seem fully ingrained in the world that Plaid Hat has created, and I can’t wait to see more of the game in action.

You can pre-order the game now, which will release later this year.