As one of the most powerful wizards of our time, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you how wizards have worked hard throughout time to harness the greatest powers and learn all the secrets the universe has to offer … but I’m gonna tell ya anyway. It’s been quite impressive to watch over all these years. But the reason you, and the rest of these magical beings, have been transported to this unknown battlefield is so that we can finally reveal who is the strongest of them all! In your older ages, I’m sure it’s difficult to remember what every spell does, and that’s all the more fun for us! Let the battle of the Witless Wizards begin!
What Is It?
A light and simple card game for 2-4 where players equip themselves with attack, defense, and specialty item cards to out-magic their opponents in battle. However, each turn players must not only keep an item but also give an opponent one, before starting up a battle.
Players only choose to keep or give one card at a time, so they must choose wisely in order to get ahead and, ultimately, eliminate the competition. Last player standing wins!
Who Is It For?
I’d recommend this one to kids, ages 8 and up, because it’s light and easy to play, and the bright colors and fun art are very inviting. It’d also be great for families on game night. It’s kind of a silly theme, so if you like that, this should appeal to you.
If you enjoy luck (card draws and dice) as well as take-that (deciding what, if any, card others get and battling to eliminate players) then this might be for you and your group as well.
Contents + Quality
Player Boards – Pretty average , thin cardboard quality. I like that they have unique art even though there’s no differences between the characters.
Cards – Average quality. There’s 5 sets and you only use 3 per game, so there’s some variety there which is nice. Abilities are clear overall, and there’s some clarifications for a few as well. Art and color schemes are both fun.
Stamina Counters – Simple, red translucent pieces. Average quality.
Concentration Cubes – It kind of bothers me that they’re called “cubes” but are gems, but it’s not a huge deal. They are the average quality small plastic gems you find in a lot of games, so they’re nice. Green translucent color.
Battle Die – Average plastic die. I like that they used swords are the faces instead of just pips or numbers. Printing is clear on all sides.
Rules – Good detail, examples, and pictures to guide you through learning. Everything is clear overall. Only thing that was confusing at first was the mention of an FAQ at the back of the book, but it’s not there and is instead printed on a few of the cards, which is just more inconvenient than being in the rulebook in my opinion.
Box – Fine size for what’s in it. The boards and rules sit pretty much right at the top when on top of the insert, so it’s kind of hard to get them all out without just flipping the box over.
PROS
- Quick and light gameplay
- Easy to learn and teach; smooth gameplay
- Cute theme and art
- Card variability game to game so it’s a little different each time
- I like that you can see more than one card at once by paying concentration cubes, because it adds some light strategy
CONS
- FAQ on cards instead of in the rulebook
- Fair amount of luck that seems hard to mitigate; one game I didn’t see a weapon and wasn’t given one for half the game, so it was frustrating not being able to effectively battle. Once you run out of concentration cubes, if you don’t get more cards that get them for you, you might not be able to see extra cards to help with that
- It’s easy to gang up on a player and boot them from the game so player elimination is also a con for this one
Final Thoughts
I think it’s a super cute and light game! Personally I would recommend it to groups of kids, or groups with kids because I just think the art and theme would appeal to them a lot. It’s a great filler game as it’s usually pretty quick. But, I can also see some players having a bit of AP with deciding what cards to keep or give to others, so keep that in mind. Overall smooth gameplay and a fun battle game without being too serious.
My Final Ratings:
Overall Game – 6/10
Aesthetics – 7/10
Difficulty – 2/10
Replayability – 5/10
Additional Information:
Designer – Chris Marling
Publisher – Drawlab Entertainment
MSRP – $24.99
BGG
BGA
Website
*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*
