cover
designer Coral Mosbo
Thomas Mosbo
publisher Avalon Hill
released 1982
players 2-6
playing time 120 minutes
rating none

Wizards

Quick look by Moritz Eggert

There are many things about this game that don't work. It's a multiplayer solitaire game with little to no interaction, most of the events are governed by dice rolls, the game can drag quite a bit (especially with many players), it is difficult for anyone to win with few players (the game - or evil - can win), very easy to win when played with many (the ratio "necessary successful tasks to thwart evil/ number of players" remains fixed which is obviously a design mistake), and so on, and so on...

But somehow it doesn't matter, as rarely there has been a game with so much totally indulgent charm (an afterword to the rules even states that playing the game actually creates the game world for real somewhere, and that our world can - vice versa - be saved when playing it as well). If you understand the rules (which are poorly organized) you can actually find a lot of tactics in the game - it's not the dumb dice fest that you first think it will be. Where the game wins you over in the end though is in the atmosphere department - for some reason the "Wizards" world REALLY becomes real, and rarely has there been a game where winning really makes you smile BENEVOLENTLY instead of gloatingly. A rare fantasy gem of the early 80's this has to belong in any fantasy gamer's collection.

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