Wars of magicians - witchcraft, enchantments and crowds of unprecedented creatures. Review of the game “Mage Wars Wars of the Magicians board game cards

"Mage Wars" - cult board game for lovers of tactical planning, subtle analysis and thoughtful actions with the expectation of upcoming consequences. The project combines strategic game mechanics and an atmospheric interface designed by professional artists.

The storyline of the board game “Mage Wars” takes place in an unusual arena, where instead of the usual knights and gladiators, magicians, sorcerers, priests and druids fight.

A huge fairy-tale universe filled with many unknown mysteries and secrets!

Prestigious awards and nominations

• 2013 Golden Geek Award- nominee in categories Best game for two players and Best Card Game
• 2013International Gamers Award- nominee in the category Best strategy for two players
• 2013 Origins Awards/US Game of the Year - nominee

Features of game mechanics

Despite the large selection of heroes, only two players can take part in the gameplay, which is somewhat unusual for this type of game. Each character has his own magic scale, individual characteristics and combat strategy, which are controlled using a spell book. In one game, each player can collect up to 40 spell cards, which provides extremely wide tactical possibilities.

In addition to attacking spells, some of the magicians have the ability to summon creatures that can directly participate in battles. Also in the game there are various curses, blessings and random spells that can bring both harm and benefit at the same time.

Video review of the board game Mage Wars

A couple more facts

To make it more convenient for players to keep track of existing spells, the developers have provided special game albums with slots for cards. A non-standard addition pleasantly simplifies the game and gives it a certain atmosphere of seriousness of what is happening.

The publishing studio of the unusual magical universe has not stopped supporting the board game to this day. Until now, the official website hosts presentations of various additions and expansions for the game “Mage Wars”, making each battle many times more difficult and interesting.

Who will like it

Due to the abundance of game content, role-playing game It belongs to the average level of difficulty, so during the passage, even an experienced player will often need to look at the brochure with the game rules.

For the most part, the game was created for an adult audience, but children over 14 years old will enjoy it no less.

Every hereditary magician dreams of becoming the most powerful wizard in the world, to be the master of all imaginable natural elements, various creatures and to possess spells of incredible power. Since a great many warlocks and sorcerers have appeared recently, the competition for the right to be called “the very best” is quite high. The best way to prove your superiority - to meet your opponent face to face and destroy him, turning him, for example, into a toad. Today on the Pink Sofa is the magic-destroying board game “Mage Wars”.

Since battles between sorcerers always bring global cataclysms, hurricanes, tornadoes and other destruction to the surrounding world, competitions between contenders for the title of “Powerful Magician of All Dimensions” are held in the most remote corner of the Earth. The place for duels is surrounded by a high wall made of special witchcraft stones that can hold back the onslaught of any magical spells. On both sides of the improvised arena there are gates through which magicians enter the courtyard. The doors close and... What am I telling you, now you will see everything for yourself and even take part!

Inside the huge non-standard box with the game there is a convenient organizer, in the cells of which there are two magic books, many tokens, wooden chips, plastic cubes, a solid stack of cards, individual tablets and an arena for fights. The warlock's booklet will help you navigate the intricacies of magical spells. The remaining space will be useful for additional sets, which, I think, will be released to the game quite regularly, emptying the wallets of fans of magic duels...

Magic is unpredictable, so equally unpredictable dice are used to activate spells. Five red hexagons are useful for attacking an opponent, and a yellow dodecahedron affects magical abilities and spells.

Wooden cylinders of two colors and black tokens of quick spells are located on character cards and reflect their state (performed by the hero possible actions or not). Red and black dice mark the magician's performance on an individual tablet. Please note - there are no blue cubes (many people look for them after opening the box). Both the blue and red players will receive one red marker.

The individual tablet shows three main values: the influx and amount of mana, as well as the character’s vitality. If this is your first time in the “ring,” then pay attention to the hint in the lower left corner of the cardboard.

The arena is huge and takes up significant space on the table. This is due to the fact that each of the twelve cells can contain several cards from each opponent. In the corners of the arena are the exit points for the magicians, marked by doors.

Magic books - main distinguishing feature games. This beautiful accessory creates the appropriate atmosphere and allows you to conveniently use card sets, keeping your army secret from your opponent. Stylish books for true connoisseurs of card games...

Mages (as well as their wards) get injured during the game, use special properties and are subject to the effects of the opponent’s witchcraft spells. All this is marked with special cardboard tokens, which are located on character cards. What is there: rotting, burning, weakness and other ailments.

In the box you will find portraits of powerful magicians of four schools and sheets with character characteristics. It is noteworthy that each sorcerer has his own individual properties, as well as reserves of vital and magical powers.

In addition to personal skills, a hereditary magician can call upon ferocious creatures for help, cast a spell, cast an enchantment, bewitch an opponent, use items from personal equipment, and also attack the opponent with various ball lightning and fire tornadoes. There are six types of cards in total, which are recommended to be combined with each other when attacking or defending.

Some spells allow you to create four types of obstacles on the field, from impenetrable fog to a wall of incinerating fire.

At this point, the study of the components of the magic box can be considered complete, it’s time to get down to business...

Enchanted sorcerer.

A necessary retreat.

This game allows opponents to create individual sets with which they go into battle with the enemy. Each card has a special property with its own activation conditions. Since the game is based on the properties of cards, Mage Wars only has basic rules that determine the order of turns, as well as the basic principles of defense and defense. Everything else is in the hands of the players and depends entirely on the selected armies. During a fight, priority is given to the text on the card, which can radically change even the basic rules of the game.

During your first acquaintance with the “Mage War”, assemble an army according to the table from the rules. The developers have tried to balance the opposing sides, so choose any magician - each character will be strong in their own way. I recommend playing a trial round, and only then moving on to real combat.

Since the player has many cards at his disposal, the developers included two albums with transparent cells in the box. This convenient accessory will allow you to hide your army from the enemy’s eyes and quickly view available reserves. This storage method allows you to compile the necessary set at home, and, putting the booklet in your pocket, go to the tournament.

When compiling your first set, you may find that the text on the rules table and the text on the card are very different. For example: "Thunderhawk" is "Storm Falcon". Unfortunately, there are costs associated with localizing a huge amount of text.

After the armies are ready for battle, the opponents place their magicians in the corners of the arena and mark on the tablets the starting values ​​of the increase in mana, its initial amount and vitality character. Next, the player-colored "action" disc and a black "quick spell" marker are placed on the mage cards. Both chips are placed with the white symbol facing up.

Please note: magicians are initially endowed with special abilities, so carefully read the text on the card - you may need to take the corresponding token from the reserve. Before the start of the game, an “initiative” token is played, which determines the first player. In subsequent rounds, this marker alternates its owner.

The turn begins with the magician adding to himself the amount of mana indicated in the first column (move the black cube along the track). Then all wooden chips on the character and creature cards are turned over with the symbol side up, and in the same way, other special markers (previously introduced into the game) must be put into readiness mode.

It's time to plan your actions for the current move. The opponents each take two cards from their books and place them face down on the table. These are the capabilities of magicians, but some wizards have assistants. Each such assistant can use one additional spell card in the current round.

Important note: once your opponents designate the cards they want, nothing can be changed. In the current round, you are only allowed to use spell cards placed on the table!

The goal of the magician is to destroy the opponent using magic and attacking creatures. Therefore, at first it is advisable to place additional fighters on the field who can go on the attack or surround the magician with an impregnable wall of defense.

New creatures are placed in the same cell as their owner. In this case, the magician must spend an action, and the appeared creature goes into readiness mode (the wooden marker of the player’s color is turned with the symbol down). Each mage has one additional action that can be used once per turn (black marker). Once the main and additional actions have been used, the markers are flipped to the side without the symbol - the creature becomes inactive.

Active creatures can move across the field in straight lines at right angles and engage in combat. You cannot run through a cage with an opponent's warrior - you must stop moving. The attack range is indicated on the card and is basically “zero” cells. This means that the target of the attack must be located in the same location as the attacker and look his fate “in the eye.” Some characters have the ability to teleport, which allows them to free themselves from spells placed on a creature.

As I noted earlier, many creatures have special properties. This ability can only be activated if the result of the twelve-sided die roll meets the requirements stated on the card. Otherwise, nothing happens and the attack follows standard rules.

Red dice have three values ​​- miss (blank), hit (numerical value) and damage (number in the asterisk). The attacking character throws the number of hexagons indicated on his card, and the target of the attack takes into account his defense indicators and adjusts the results.

A miss is also a miss in the magical world, so the “empty” cubes are put aside. Numbers with an asterisk penetrate any defense and cause damage (place the required number of tokens on the map). The usual numbers are added together, and the resulting result is subtracted from the defense indicator of the attacked creature. Anything not absorbed by the defense deals damage (add tokens). As soon as a creature receives a critical number of markers, it dies and is removed from the field.

You can enhance the attack with witchcraft, which causes additional damage to the target of the attack. These are quick action cards - their effect immediately spreads to the victim, and the spell is discarded.

You can also use witchcraft on your own warriors, giving them the opportunity to escape an attack or adding strength to the character in battle.

The mage can take certain equipment with him to the arena that gives him additional features. Each item is located on the magician’s body and takes up space. Only one object can correspond to one body part. During the battle, you can also use traps, bind spells, cast enchantments and much more - it all depends on the cards that are in your booklet.

The ultimate goal of the opponents is to destroy the opponent's magician card. Since mages are strong creatures and have high vital statistics, damage is taken into account on the tablet by moving the red die. After the death of the magician, the remaining creatures on the field can only survive until the end of the current round, which gives them a small chance to avenge their owner. The winner celebrates his triumph with thunder and lightning...

By rotting your opponent in the fire.

A beautiful and exciting card game for two players, allowing for large-scale tournaments and local competitions between Mage Wars fans. The basic set will most likely be released with many additions and hundreds of boosters - there are all the prerequisites for this, given the growing popularity of the game.

The quality of the design deserves special praise - spectacular pictures and literary text inserts on the cards create the atmosphere of a battle between real magicians. You don't just lay out a card from a booklet on the table, you cast spells, create creatures and send them into battle. And for a successful attack it is necessary to think through combinations, take into account reserves and wisely place forces on the field. There is a place for tactics and strategy, and preparing kits before the next batch is a separate game process. After all, the success of the battle directly depends on how competently you calculate your forces and plan your actions on the field.

My first acquaintance with the game took place at Igrocon. Then a trial game was played, in which certain mistakes were made, since we incorrectly interpreted some points of the rules. However, I immediately liked the gameplay for its idea and depth. Now that the box with “Mages” was in my hands and I was able to slowly “feel” the mechanics, I can say with confidence that “War of the Mages” has a great future. If you are a fan of card games, then be sure to check out this dueling fantasy game.

War of the Magicians can be recommended to children aged 12 years and older; there is no point in starting the game earlier, since the abundance of combinations will most likely not fit into the head of a young magician. But young people, as well as experienced and novice players, should enter the arena at least once (or better yet, twice) and fight with opponents in a magical battle. It is noteworthy that it will take you about half an hour to learn the rules, and several days to understand the game. The developers have come up with so many things that it will not be easy to master all the card material...

By the way: this is a great tournament game. Opponents can create their booklets using cards from the expansions, and then surprise their opponent with an unimaginable combo that sweeps away everything in its path. In a word - take risks and enjoy the game!

Are you ready to feel like a real magician and enter the Arena to experience the capabilities of other magicians?

Mage Wars is a tactical board game that combines the best mechanics of card battles and miniatures games. Battles take place in the arena and each of the magicians represents his own school of magic. The player has at his disposal a book of spells with magic cards that he can put into play. Each mage belongs to a specific school of magic - each with its own unique set of spells and strategies.

On your turn, you can cast any spell, which opens up rich possibilities for strategy and tactics. Fierce creatures, formidable weapons and destructive spells are at your service. Summoned creatures are able to move around the arena and attack each other or the enemy magician.

In addition to damage, attacks also cause various effects, such as Burn, Corrode, Stun, Paralysis, Trauma, and so on. Creatures that take too much damage will be destroyed. In addition, they may fall under the influence of curses or spells.

As the creators of the game say, this is not a collection game, but a game with a huge variety of cards, their combinations and the ability to create your own style. “Mage Wars” has already gained recognition and popularity among the global community of players - new characters and cards appear regularly, large additions are in the queue and tournaments are held.

Equipment:

• playing field;
• 2 spell books;
• 322 spell cards;
• 4 magician cards;
• 4 mage ability cards;
• 2 mage status cards;
• 8 status dice;
• 20 action tokens;
• 2 quick spell tokens;
• 9 attack dice;
• twelve-sided effects cube;
• initiative token;
• 3 ability tokens;
• 7 defense tokens;
• 6 readiness tokens;
• 20 status tokens;
• 24 damage tokens;
• 8 mana tokens;
• rules of the game.

Video for the board game Mage Wars

The review competition has a second participant. Meet the reader by name Victor talking about Mage Wars, and mostly good. In his opinion, this is a rather complex board game, but very interesting.

In a nutshell: Mage Wars - New for 2012; A dueling game about the battle of magicians in the arena; Card game without a deck; A tactical game with miniatures, but without miniatures; Cool art, complex rules.

Now in more detail point by point.

The game box says “Customizable strategy game,” which can be translated as “customizable strategy.” The BGG website has a separate rating of customizable games; this rating includes games such as Netruner, Warhammer 40,000, Dungeon Command, Magic The Gathering- games in which players prepare a deck and/or army of miniatures in advance according to their strategy preferences. Some of these games are collectible (Warhammer 40,000, Magic The Gathering), in order to play them, each player must find and buy those cards and miniatures that he wants to see in his army/deck. Other games are less demanding of the player (Netruner, Dungeon Command); in order to fully play them, you just need to buy a box for each player, and then buy additional add-ons. Mage Wars belongs specifically to the second type. In all Mage Wars expansions, there are enough copies of each card for every possible strategy, which is not true for all games of this type. The base box allows you to play with the recommended sets of cards, but you won’t be able to fully customize spellbooks for both players—you’ll have to buy a second base.

According to the developers, Mage Wars is designed to be played as if magic really existed. Those. The magic here is quite “realistic” compared to many other games about the battle of magicians. The main realistic feature of Mage Wars is the books. The player does not draw random spell cards from the deck, but selects the ones he needs from his spell book.

Spells come in six main types, similar to the types of cards in MtG: equipment, creatures, enchantments, constructs, attacks, and just spells. The charms deserve special attention. Enchantments here, as in MtG, are cards that are attached to something after being played (to other cards in the game or playing areas), but they are played face down, i.e. they are placed face down in the game. Then, at any time, the player who controls this enchantment can reveal it and use the effect written on the card. Effects on enchantments can be permanent, which last as long as the enchantment remains in the game, and one-time effects - enchantments with such effects are discarded immediately after opening. The mechanics of playing a spell behind the scenes introduces an additional psychological component and room for bluffing into the game. With this mechanic, you always have a chance to surprise your opponent. I think this is a really interesting find.

As I mentioned above, spell books are created by players in advance. The total value of all spells in the book should not exceed 120 training points. Different spells have different values ​​depending on the level of the spell and the mage's adherence to the respective school of magic. There are only 10 schools (6 main and 4 elements). The magician's card lists which schools of magic he is trained in, usually one or two. If the spell does not belong to a school on this list, it will cost twice as many training points for it. In addition, each mage class has exclusive spells.

On this moment there are 8 different classes mages: Beastmaster, Warlock, Wizard, Priest from the base; Forcemaster and Warlord from the first expansion, which is called “Forcemaster vs. Warlord"; and the addition that was released just the other day “Druid vs. Necromacer.” In addition, a small addition was released in the summer, including alternative maps mages for the Beastmaster and Priest classes, with unique abilities. I dare to suggest that Arcane Wonders (the name of the Mage Wars publishing house) will continue to release a box every 3 months and alternate between 2 new classes and 2 alternative ones.

At the very beginning I wrote that Mage Wars is tactical game with miniatures, but without miniatures. What does it mean? The game uses a playing field (arena), where the battle actually takes place. Mage cards and summoned creatures move around the field and fight with each other, while creating the impression of a game with miniatures. If you look at the Mage Wars page on BGG, you will see the word “Miniatures” in the category list :)

Even though the pull random cards absent from Mage Wars, there are dice that determine the amount of damage an attack does. Damage to creatures is indicated by tokens. In general, the game has a lot of large and colorful tokens to indicate different effects and states in which creatures can exist. The best thing is that the tokens have the text of the rules associated with the effects of these tokens printed on them, something I have never seen anywhere before, and I was very impressed.

In Russia, many describe Mage Wars as a mixture of MtG with Berserk; abroad it is compared to MtG and Summoner Wars. I can’t say anything about Summoner Wars, since I haven’t played it, but it doesn’t look much like Berserk. Personally, I see a lot of similarities between Mage Wars and Dungeon & Dragons.

Firstly, the action system of Mage Wars is very similar to DnD. The game is divided into rounds in which players take turns activating their creatures (one creature at a time until all are active). When activated, the creature can perform full action(full action), or movement and small action (quick action), or two movements. In most games where players activate cards to indicate activated cards players rotate those cards (MtG, Berserk, Dungeon Command...), in Mage Wars there is no dedicated direction, and turning the card simply does not make sense, instead it uses wooden markers that must be flipped over, and at the beginning of the round flipped back. These markers look great and are a pleasure to use - another successful trick.

Secondly, the game has an effect die (d12) for rolling various checks. When a creature attacks another creature, it can inflict some effects on it, such as poison or stun, and the probabilistic nature of these effects is tied precisely to the effect die. In addition, the player uses the effect die to make saving throws for his creatures that are disoriented after being stunned, stuck in quicksand, etc.

The Mage Wars rules are very complex and are 30 pages thick. It is almost impossible to remember all the key words and exceptions, and you constantly have to refer to the code. In this case, individual cards can have up to eight keywords. In addition, the number of options in the game is simply off the charts, because players have access to all the cards from the book at once. Thanks to this, the first game usually lasts about 3 hours, players just look at the books and don’t know what to choose. But it is the books that make this game different from others. Each round you need to play something that will bring you closer to victory and some answer to your opponent's strategy. For this reason, unlike other card games, a typical book in Mage Wars contains cards for several possible strategies and effective, focused responses. Such a book allows you to play very flexibly and change strategy on the fly, while in card games a successful deck must be completely versatile and consist entirely of synergistic cards. Mage Wars has a high barrier to entry, but it all pays off after a couple of games, when you begin to understand what to play and how to play.

What can you say about the popularity of the game? Additions are released quite often (once every 3 months). In the overall rating on BGG, the game ranks 28th, and in the customizable rating it ranks 2nd, right behind Netrunner. Publishers support the community in every possible way, hold tournaments, and give out promo cards for participating in tournaments or for pre-ordering add-ons. There is also an Ambassador program where anyone can become an agent promoting Mage Wars in their city. For their activity, ambassadors receive T-shirts, promo cards and other goodies. Just recently, Mage Wars was localized in German and Chinese, and in January-February 2014, localization into Russian is expected, oddly enough. I hope it will take root with us and we will play our own tournaments!

Imagine if magicians belonging to different philosophies and schools of magical craft could meet in an arena in a battle to the death? How would an illusionist fight a druid? Would a sorcerer defeat an animal whisperer? Who will win - the priestess or the wizard?

The Mage Wars game will help answer these questions. Each mage uses his own spellbook (which can be modified if desired) to defeat his opponent. Summon powerful creatures to fight for you. Unleash destructive spells on your enemy's head. Use ancient mystical artifacts, magical weapons and armor. All this awaits you in battles in the Mage Wars arena.

Mage Wars - tactical board game - combination card game and games with miniatures, which brought together best elements both genres. The battle takes place on the playing field of the arena, divided into square areas - “zones”. The magicians, in whose role the players act, begin the game in opposite corners of the arena.

Each player has a Book of Spells in his hands, from which he draws spell cards, introducing them into the game. This allows you to feel like a real magician, turning over the pages of your mysterious tome in search of suitable magic. The selection of spells for your book is based on a point system. Powerful sorceries and magic from other schools of magic are worth more points.

On his turn, the player has the right to cast any spell, which opens up rich possibilities for strategy and tactics. Many spells—creatures, weapons, enchantments—are placed on the board and become game objects. Creatures are able to move around the arena and attack each other or the enemy Mage. In addition to damage, attacks also cause various effects, such as Burn, Corrode, Stun, Paralysis, Trauma, and so on. Creatures that take too much damage will be destroyed. In addition, they may fall under the influence of curses or spells.

Each Mage belongs to a specific school of magic - each with its own unique set of spells and strategies.

For example, an animal whisperer will try to set his pets on the enemy, strengthening them with the charms of the forces of nature. The wizard is a master of meta-magic: his element is to reflect, steal, redirect or destroy the enemy's spells and his mana. In addition, the sorcerer is a professional in the field of teleportation. The sorcerer skillfully handles curses and destroys enemy creatures with fire spells. The priestess is a skilled healer and expert in protective spells.

The developers promise that new additions will go on sale every few months, adding to base game new Mages, spells and abilities.

The Russian edition of the game has been on sale since January or February 2014.