The major difference between mystic chess and the standard chess game is that mystic chess is using coins. That is the only material that is needed to play but is not included in a standard chess set. Although the number of available coins per player can be just monitored using a piece a paper and a pen, it is much more fun to play it with real, physical coins.
The first coins I used for that were taken from another board game, called Piratoons, which happens to include exactly 40 "doubloons". Later on I have looked for coins that are bundled in a nice storage box. Bingo chips can be very cheap online, whereas poker chips are more expensive but have a cooler look. Even cooler is to have custom coins specifically designed for Mystic Chess. Ordering custom chips online (either embossed or printed) typically starts around 1000 pieces and is quite expensive. However, a friend nicely proposed to make a small batch with a 3D printer, and the results are promising.
Having more than 40 coins available allows Mystic Chess enthusiasts to play with a coin handicap. This allows players to compensate their different strengths by giving one player an advantage over the other. Typical handicaps in chess include a material handicap, which typically denature the game, and/or a time handicap, which really unbalances the dynamics of the play.
The concept of a coin handicap in Mystic Chess is simple: one player is simply given more coins to start with than the other player. I call this an off-board material advantage, in contrast to an on on-board material advantage when you have converted your coins into actual chess pieces. I started doing it with my son Paul (my other sons do not need any handicap against me...). In order to balance the game he would get more coins, and he soon asked to have all 80 remaining poker chips. This handicap method has the advantage that it does not fundamentally change the nature and dynamics of the Mystic Chess game, and it gives a very good feeling to start with 80 coins versus 20!
