Kitkanan

I got this game at Christmas and played for the first time this week. The first thing I must say about this game is the that the quality of the Art on the cards is simply amazing. Fernanda Suarez did an incredible job in rendering a fantasy setting that as a lot of potential and that looks and feel different from most of the other card game I own.
That being said, let’s jump into the review of the game play itself. It’s a pure PvP game that can be played by 2 to 4 players. There is absolutely no co-ops option. So if PvP is not your style, this game is not for you. Out of the box come 6 pre-made deck that are ready to use. I would recommend using those for your first few games. They are diverse enough in play style that it will give you a good idea of what you like to play before you jump into constructing your own deck. There is also a draft option which I have not tried yet but that looks interesting.
What differentiate this game form a lot of other card games is the fact that it contains dice that act as your Mana pool. It adds a layer of strategy to how you will play your cards, but it also adds a layer of pure luck of the role as you might be stuck with not being able to play you most powerful abilities.

All in all , after having played several games, I really like the mechanic of the game and how the different character give a different feel to each game.

Intro: Welcome to Mage War! I’ve bought this game after reading several reviews that were praising the game play and mechanics. Also, after browsing the Boardgaming Website and watching the tutorial video, I was really intrigued by the setting and the Mage book concept so I decided to give this game a go.

Learning: Like I mentioned above, the tutorial videos that are available on the game site and on YouTube are a perfect starting point to learn this game. It goes through a quick intro and then displays a real time 5 round game (or at least the first 5 rounds). I would really recommend you watch these before you read the instructions manual as it will make for an easier walkthrough.
The rules themselves are not extremely complex if you are already familiar with a lot of the standard terms and logic of most of the LCC game out there. After 1 or 2 games, you should be quite at ease and the pace of the game should pick up.

Competition: this game is design for a “duel” type game for two players to face each other in an arena (board). Although the game is scalable to be played by 4 players in teams of 2 or free for all, I would suggest you play a couple of duels and get comfortable with the different mages and all of their ability before you go that route.

Replayability: Very high potential for replayability. Once you have mastered the basic concepts, the games let you customize your mage by actually building your own spell book. The starting game comes with 4 different mage (each with their own unique ability) and that you also have the opportunity to expand the game with several extensions that contain other mages.

Strategy: One of the great things about Mage Wars is the strategy that is involve in the game play. I think the best way to describe it for me is a mix of Stratego (remember that game!) and MTG. So you have to plan your move on the board and plan which spells to make ready. Best thing is to plan one according to the other depending on the different strategy you have decided to go with. So for example, if you are playing the Warlock which has aggressive offensive spells, you want to plan your moves to be able to put you in range to cast those. On the opposite, if you are playing the healer, you might want to stay back a bit and send you creature forth to slow your opponents down to build your defenses.
This also speaks again to the replayability of the game. There are so many possible of combination of Mages/Strategy that I doubt you would get bored!

The turns: Very good turn based system that allows both mages to alternate their actions starting with the mage that has the initiatives. All of the active mage/creatures on the board have to act before the turn come to an end. Once this is done players exchange the initiative and repeat the same steps. Of course it’s not as simple as that but it’s very effective at keeping player focus and engaged. Because you alternate between each mage/creature, you never have to wait very long before actually taking an action.

Length: first few games are longer because you need to get used to the spells in your book. This is crucial for you success! Once you are familiar with the card and what they can do, the planning phase because a lot quicker at the pace of the game becomes much more interesting. Game usually last around 60 minutes once you are comfortable with the rule

Final Thought: Very good game in my opinion. Give yourself the time to learn and be willing to even play your first couple of game with the open card concept to facilitate the learning curve. Once you’re in… you’ll be hooked for several gaming night!!!

Being an experience player with both Role playing game and Card Games I was very curious to try Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. Being used to heavy rule booklets, I was pleasantly surprise to see that the rule manual for Pathfinder was short and sweet. It is pretty well written and clear enough to give you a good understanding of how the game is going to play out.

The set up of the game is also simple. It does take a bit of time to do your first setup but once you get the hang of it, it becomes simple pretty quickly. The game play itself is also pretty simple.

What made me fall for this game right away is really the excellent mix of the role playing and team action involve as well as the complexity of managing you deck of cards.

Let’s go in more details for these points;

1- Role playing aspect: You find here several core elements of a good role playing game. First you have the character aspect. Without being to complex, it does give you the ability to evolve and level your character as you play and advance in the adventure. The different classes available for play are also distinct enough to give a good feel of what your role and responsibility will be during the game. The game is also balance enough to not limit any of the character to be just what the class would indicate. So for example, even if you are playing a cleric, you can do a lot more that just healing and provide bonuses to the other players.
The second aspect of the role playing that is there for me is the interaction between the players during the game play. Pathfinder is a co-operative game and communication amongst the players is very important if you are to succeed with the quests. Whether it be trading items to make other character more powerful or teaming up to explore dungeons, if you are willing the game as the potential to unlock some very good role playing for the adept.

2- Cards Aspect: as you would think, the Cards play a major role in this game. When you play your first game and follow the manual to build your character deck, you will quickly realize that there is a lot of potential here. Indeed, as you become more familiar with the game you will get the opportunity to build your own character deck (bear in mind that you still have to follow some character guidelines).
Your deck of cards is also very important, if you ever run out of card to draw, it means that your character dies. Hence the strategic approach to the game. It will define how you play your character.

Overall, a very good game that nicely brings together two very popular type of game. The balance between the two elements is in my opinion the strong point of the game. The only week point in my view is campaign mode versus the single game. The campaign mode will allow you lots of possibilities and create good flow for game progression. On the other hand, if you are looking to play a quick game with friends, you might find that you are limited to the first few scenarios. Although there is a good replay value, the game really takes on its full meaning when you evolve the characters.