In modern production processes, ultra-small values are operated. AND...
The spectators froze in anticipation, the air above the arena seemed to be so tense that it could be cut with a knife. The opponents came face to face. The battle of magic has begun...
These are not the first lines of the novel Nika Perumova and a board game Mage Wars! Forget wand-waving kids, in the cardboard arena Mage Wars players will have to face forces much more powerful. Ready to command forest animals and demons from the underworld? And what about the ability to crush the enemy with waves of fire until he is left with a handful of ash? Ready? Then let's start!
And who are the mages?
Mage Wars- a tactical live card game, where two, or maybe three, or four participants take on the roles of various adherents of magical schools. Players are invited to choose a character from a list of classes, which is quite common for such games:
- Beast Master. Commands various animals, of which there are plenty in the starting deck, and can strengthen them in various ways.
- Priestess. As usual, a specialist in healing, to whose aid all kinds of holy knights, angels, archangels and great-great-archangels come into battle.
- Witch, with a firm hand holding various demons of the underworld on a refractory leash and not shunning all kinds of vampire-ghoul help and curses.
- Wizard. One of the most difficult classes to master, able to manipulate other people's creatures and mana. And with the right mana management, generally set up the entire opponent's game against him.
Endless battles in the fantasy world
Mage Wars- the game is not for beginners in the world of board games, which, although indirectly, can be judged by 52 pages of rules, but in the course of preparation for it, the game is mastered quite quickly. On top of that, the first lines of the rules read: "Spells work exactly the way you think they should work, and the effects they create make sense."
In general, understand the device Mage Wars It will be quite simple, the main thing is to be able to reason. Game mechanics will seem familiar to fans Magic: The Gathering or Card Game of Thrones: Summon and conquer, as well as shower your opponent with spells and set traps.
The number of living creatures and spells, even in the basic version of the game, is so large that its high replay value is not in doubt. The same can be said about the ability to combine spells belonging to different classes. For example, you can easily assemble a team of Demons and Archangels, bravo supporting each other. Such a mage will receive a certain penalty when building a deck, but the result may be worth it.
The gameplay from round to round noticeably accelerates, partly due to the fact that the possibilities and actions of the players are quite cyclical and are remembered from the second round, and partly due to the rapid consumption of spells (this is again about the combinatorial component of the game), then how to choose each subsequent one becomes easier.
Each round consists of two stages: preparation and action. At the first stage, players replenish their mana reserves, prepare spells for the next round, and resolve existing bonuses and penalties. Such penalties could include burning your creature, for example. Let's say your Tropical Fox can continue to burn for several rounds if the Imp Pyro was particularly cruel to it and rolled the appropriate effect die result when it attacked.
At the second stage of the round, the creatures fight and throw spells either at them or at each other. Of course, this is the most enjoyable part of the game :) Only the process of choosing the next spell, which is a special sacrament, is inferior to it.
What is in the box?!
Among the distinguishing features Mage Wars, which give the game an extraordinary charm, I would like to separately note the two spell books that come with the kit. Players will have to fill them with suitable cards, and during the game, imposingly, and maybe furiously, leaf through their books in search of, say, Adramelech, Lord of Fire. It's a real treat, believe me :)
Game components are made quite high quality: thick cardboard near the field and tokens, engraving on dice, and spell books reliably protect cards from abrasion. The organizer inside the box is designed for additional cards, of which there are already plenty of add-ons. The fantasy design of the game is quite pleasant and is made at the level of cards from Magic: The Gathering, which cannot be said about the fonts on the cards and in the rules. They somewhat spoil the overall pleasant impression, which, however, does not affect the gameplay in any way.
"Wars of Mages" is a cult board game for those who like tactical planning, subtle analysis and thoughtful actions with the expectation of the upcoming consequences. The project combines strategic game mechanics and atmospheric interface designed by professional artists.
The storyline of the board game "War of the Mages" takes place in an unusual arena, where magicians, sorcerers, priests and druids fight instead of the usual knights and gladiators.
A huge fairy-tale universe filled with many unknown mysteries and secrets!
Prestigious awards and nominations
- 2013 Golden Geek Award- category nominee Best game for two players and the best card game
- 2013International Gamers Award- Nominee in the category Best two-player strategy
- 2013 Origin Awards/U.S. Game of the Year - Nominee
Features of game mechanics
Despite the numerous choice of heroes, only two players can take part in the gameplay, which is somewhat unusual for this kind of game. Each character has its 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 overly broad tactical options.
In addition to attacking spells, some of the magicians have the ability to summon creatures that can take a direct part 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 Wars of Mages
A couple more facts
To make it easier for players to keep track of available spells, the developers have provided special game albums with slots for cards. Non-standard addition in a pleasant way simplifies the game and gives it a certain atmosphere of the seriousness of what is happening.
The studio-publisher of the unusual magical universe has not stopped supporting the board game to this day. Until now, presentations of various add-ons and extensions for the Mage Wars game are taking place on the official website, making each battle many times more difficult and interesting.
Who will like
Due to the abundance of game content, the role-playing game belongs to the average level of difficulty, therefore, in the process of passing, even an experienced player will often need to peep into a brochure with game rules.
For the most part, the game was created for an adult audience, but children over the age of 14 will like it just as much.
Let's start with some dry data:
- The game is designed for 2 players. Of course, you can play in the 4th,
but without an additional set, this is not the best idea. - The duration of the game is on average 40-60 minutes (the first game is three times longer)
- The threshold for entry into the game is not the highest, but not for beginners either.
And now more! And so, "Wars of Mages" is mainly a duel game, which, if it can be played by more than two, then only in pairs.
The game meets us with an abundance of cards, chips, tokens, a couple of tablets for tracking the state of magicians, a huge (but only before the first game against the Master of the Beasts) field and two spell books.
Books! Excellent graphics performance of the game, good localization and Books of spells that make you feel like a real magician, with his magic tome!
At the beginning, you choose a magician for yourself, there are 4 of them in total, and here you have to think carefully. Each magician has his own tactics, in which he is especially good.
If you choose a Sorcerer for yourself, your opponent will have to oh how hard it is, because he will have to not only fight off various kinds of demons, but also constantly fight curses. Yes, and the Sorcerer himself is far from weak and may well rush into battle with a fiery whip at the ready.
The owner of the animals does not lag behind him. Our friend, a Greenpeace man, is a master at summoning a large number of different creatures, simply by flooding the opponent with them. With all this, he does not shun a good fight.
There is also a Wizard in the game, he is universal and, unlike the two previous comrades, he specializes in magic, trying to stay away from the fight.
Not without the fair sex - the Priestess. She, accompanied by very strong (and therefore not cheap) fighters, erecting temples and hanging reinforcements to the right and left, is in no way inferior to her "colleagues".
Here we have chosen a magician, got everything we need:
It's time to collect a book of spells, the game itself has already begun. You form a deck for yourself, and at the same time the tactics of the game. During the fight, you have access to any, even the most powerful spell from your book, but keep in mind that they are all one-time, so before you magic something, it’s better to think again, especially since you can only read two per turn spells.
And above, I voiced only the beginning of the game (on which, by the way, a lot depends). In general, we can talk about this game for quite a long time. This is a very high-quality dueling game, with a strong tactical component, excellent balance and beautiful design. Of the global shortcomings, perhaps only one can be distinguished here. Cubes.
Cubes got us here too. You can perfectly calculate everything, hang a number of strengthening spells on your basilisk, and then order it to attack the cursed enemy ferret and ... by the will of the dice, your basilisk will break all its teeth on it, because you did not roll a single damage. After that, a happy (why would it?) ferret will start to bite your mage painfully on the heels. But, despite this, the game does not lose interest. 4.5 out of 5 in my personal rating. In other words, a must have for those who love high-quality fighting games. Welcome, my friend, to the harsh everyday life of magicians
Are you ready to feel like a real magician and enter the Arena to test the capabilities of other wizards?
Mage Wars is a tactical board game that combines the best mechanics of card battles and miniature games. Battles take place in the arena and each of the magicians represents his school of magic. The player has at his disposal a spell book with magic cards that he can put into play. Each mage belongs to a particular 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 of strategy and tactics. Ferocious creatures, formidable weapons and destructive spells are at your service. The summoned creatures are able to move around the arena and attack each other or the enemy mage.
Attacks in addition to damage also impose various effects, such as Burn, Corrode, Stun, Paralysis, Injury, and so on. Creatures that take too much damage will be destroyed. In addition, they can be affected by curses or spells.
As the creators of the game say, this is not a collectible 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, big additions are in the queue and tournaments are held.
Equipment:
- playing field;
- 2 spell books;
- 322 spell cards;
- 4 mage 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 die;
- initiative token;
- 3 ability tokens;
- 7 defense tokens;
- 6 ready tokens;
- 20 status tokens;
- 24 damage tokens;
- 8 mana tokens;
- rules of the game.
Place the playing field on the table. Each player chooses a mage. I draws the appropriate mage card and ability card (the ability card does not need to be used in tutorial mode). He also chooses either red or blue and takes 10 tokens of the corresponding color. In addition, each player banked 3 black status dice, 1 red status dice, and 1 black quickcast token. Place your mage card in the corner zone closest to you (marked on the game board with a door). In tutorial mode, use only half of the field (see page 4). Place one of your action tokens and a quickcast token on your mage card - the white symbols should be at the top, as shown in the picture on the left.
Place the status card in front of you. Place the black dice on the starting values for mana gain, mana pool (all mages start at 10 mana), and life (starting values are shown on the mage card). In tutorial mode, all mages have the same starting values (see page 4). Place the red die on the "O" value of the life bar. This die shows how much damage the mage has received.
Choose your spell book. If this is your first game, you will need to build yourself a book (see Spellbook on page 4). Place dice, condition tokens, and other game tokens within reach.
Both players roll the effects die. The one with the highest score gets the initiative token: he will act first during the first round of the game! Now your duel can begin!
