cptmusket

Epic Spell Wars is a very simple game to learn and play. Each spell has 3 components, a source, delivery, and quality. You can build a spell using up to one of each of these pieces. Also, each part of the spell has an element attached to it. The more of the elements that match the more die you get to roll when the time comes to give your opponents extra damage. You can end up picking up treasures that boost your game along the way. The goal is to be the last Wizard standing on Mt. Skullzfyre. Kill your opponents to gain the last Wizard standing token. Get two and you’ve won the game! Very simple playing.

The artwork and names of the spells are a lot of fun. Gore-nados and Testikills are two of my favorites along with the Double-downer treasure. If you are looking for something serious to play the name should have warned you otherwise. This game is NOT for the hardcore or serious gamer. It is lighthearted fun.

Even though you are killing each other off the game never seems to get personal as Munchkin or other stab your partner games can be. First, you are against everyone so you want everyone else to die. Second, spells tend to target a specific person in relation to your physical position or health. It never seems as if the group is picking on an individual for no reason Third, there is a lot of luck involved (die rolls, draws, etc) which lightens some of the blame. This keeps the game fun and not personal. Also, death is not the end as Last Wizard Standing cards are given out for each round someone is dead. These give a boost in the next round or damage an opponent in the current game for sweet sweet revenge.

The game is best taken in small rounds until there is a winner. It probably cannot fill a whole night on its own. It is a great way to end an evening with a fun bang or to fill time between games or while waiting for the pizza to show up. Also, don’t forget to set up the Mt. Skullzfyre prop. It is half the fun!

This is a fun deck building game that revolves around fighting rather than building up a bureaucracy (Dominion) or flailing hoping that the right card shows up on your turn and not another player’s (Ascension). It takes strategy and thought to build up a good army. The aspect of light in the dungeon is very interesting and a fun twist.

The only downside is that there is little interaction between players. However, this seems to be the norm for deck building type games.

This game is great and easy. You are mice and you try to get out of the dungeon. You fight rats, roaches, centipedes, and other icky things I don’t like thinking about living in my home. It is straightforward and easy to get the hang of. It reminded me a bit of a Gauntlet board game. I had the pleasure of demoing the game at GenCon with Colby.

You start in a room with your other mice friends. The goal is to clear the room of the enemy and then get out. If you wait too long the cheese wheel begins to fill up and rat guards will appear giving more enemies to kill before leaving a room.

The mice take on the forms of the standard dungeon crawlers. Hunters, healers, tanks, and mages.

There are several stories to play through which changes the game as you play. In the demo we ended up in a sewer and had to find a fishing hook to climb out. I got pinned up in the sewer and slowly went down the drain until I was swept away. The multiple scenarios add length and staying power to a game that may get boring if it just repeated itself. I do not know how many stories there are to play, but like most board games, it leads the way to future expansions.

The plastic models used are really well made and add to the experience.

It is a fun romp but some older gamers may pretend they are too cool to play as mice. Younger gamers may be enthralled by the idea of being mice instead of zombies. This makes it a great game to play with your children, younger game players, or friends who aren’t too cool to have a good time.

Ascensions is how I learned to play a deck building game. I picked it up at GenCon the first year of its release due to its ease of play and initial level of fun. You basically buy heroes with runes that are more powerful than your beginning hand and strengthen your deck so that you can kill monsters and buy better stuff. Really simple but fun. However, after ten or more plays the game starts to get old. The strategy that always works is to buy mechana constructs. Whoever does this will probably win with the most points in the end. I am not a fan of the art style but others may like it a lot.

Pick this up for a casual game that’s fun and easy to teach others. For a more in depth deck building game try out Thunderstone for fighting and Dominion for city building.