Mortality Tips

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If you have a question about the LDS game Mortality, please e-mail us at sales at mapletreepublishing dot com. We will post answers to some of the questions here.

Question: Since Mortality is fun and also shows the application of gospel principles to life, it looks like a good way to help introduce people to the gospel. How do you suggest I explain the game to them so they understand it?

Answer: In our test-marketing, we took a group of non-LDS players and gave them a copy of the rules with no other help. They had no trouble figuring them out, and seemed to be on equal footing with the LDS players we've observed. Non-LDS people didn't understand some of the terminology, but that didn't seem to get in the way of their succeeding in playing the game. So the answer to your question is that you don't need to do anything special to explain the game to them—just explain the rules. Then, as you play, and they begin to wonder about certain terminology or why the game places importance on certain things, you can explain those gospel principles to them!

Question: When I got into the adult section, I kept landing on Trial of Faith squares and I just happened to draw really tough Trials of Faith, so that I kept losing testimonies. Any suggestions for me?

Answer: Mortality is designed to mimic life: Once you get a stronger testimony, it is easier to meet the trials of life. What you need to do is use that principle to your advantage. When you don't have many Testimonies, don't take risks. Play conservatively, so that you don't get caught in that downward spiral. Use your Wisdom Cards to avoid Trials of Faith and to land on squares that will help you gain Testimonies easily. You can even use Wisdom Cards to gain more wisdom cards! Then, later on in the game, when you have more Testimonies, you want the opposite strategy: use your Wisdom Cards to land on Trials of Faith. Experience will help teach you when it is best to make the switch in strategies. To help you with that issue:

There are 30 Trial of Faith cards.

	If you have 15 Testimonies, there are only 3 of those that will gain you more testimonies. Pretty poor odds. Avoid any Trials of Faith at all costs.
	If you have 25 Testimonies, 9 Trials of Faith, or roughly one out of three, will be profitable to you.
	If you have 40 Testimonies, 18 Trials of Faith (most of them) will gain you more Testimonies. At this point, you need to decide how much risk you are comfortable with. The chances of losing are still significant, but you have a greater chance of winning.
	If you have 60, 23 of the 30 Trials of Faith will be helpful to you.
	If you have 80, 26 will be helpful and only 4 will be detrimental.
	If you have 100 or more Testimonies, there is only one Trial of Faith that will not gain you more Testimonies—the tithing one. At this point, it's obvious that the more Trials of Faith you encounter, the better off you are.

For details, see the page listing the Trial of Faith cards in ascending order.

Question: When we played it, the kids kept changing the rules. Every time a turn came for a new bishop, they would give new interpretations of the rules. Isn't there a way to have the Bishop come up for a sustaining vote?

Answer: Interesting—in all our test-marketing, we never ran into people that played the game that way! One of the fun things about Mortality is that there are so many ways to inject your own personality into the game. I guess the game allows for players, if they have a mind to, to play with the rules in that way. You can get back by using your Wisdom Cards. There is the square marked "Reorganize the Ward" that allows you to get a new bishop. Besides that, there are two other ways to get to that square: either land on the square that says "Advance to space of your choice in this row," or by landing on the "Scripture Study" square when it is already occupied. By determined use of Wisdom Cards, you can find a way to get the ward reorganized!

P.S. Smart players will learn that by being cooperative, they stand a better chance of getting helped by other players, and they won't risk annoying behavior.

Question: Can you use more than one Wisdom Card at a time, to move more spaces?

Answer: No. You can only use one Wisdom Card for each turn.

Question: Can you use Wisdom Cards in place of rolling the dice in Scripture Study, in order to gain Testimonies?

Answer: The Wisdom Cards are only for moving around the board, and if you're "wise," you'll save them for that. They're to help you avoid the risks when you need to and take advantage of them when you're strong enough to handle them. Besides, with two dice, your chances of rolling a higher number than you can get with any wisdom card are pretty good.

Question: I never had the opportunity to turn my civil marriage into a temple one. That depressed me.

Answer: Sounds like you learned a valuable principle. Mortality is designed to teach a number of lessons like that.

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Last modified: 8/16/08