Abraca…what?
At the feet of the tower of a legendary archmage, greedy wizards have gathered. They channel their power, weaving mighty spells to oust their competitors and finally lay their hands on the magic tome that their ancestor left behind. But... what is this? The fireball fizzles! Instead of a freezing blizzard, there's only a gentle spring rain!
It seems their greed is blinding the most powerful magicians! Or is it the mysterious power of the cursed tower that confuses them? Be that as it may, they will have to gather their wits and think calmly to cast their spells safely and ascend to the top!
Abraca... what? is a family game of deduction and spellcasting. On your turn, you try to cast one of the spells you have in front of you — but it's harder than it looks because only the other players can see which spells are available to you! So with cunning wit, clever logic, and a little luck, you have to determine which spells to use against your competitors. Watch your magic words, though, because if you try to cast the wrong spell too often, you'll lose the game!
Each player has a hand of five spellstones, but each player can only see the spells the other players have, NOT his own. Players shout the name of the spell they want to cast, and if they have the corresponding spellstone, the effect will be triggered. If they don't have the corresponding stone, they will lose some life. It is possible to increase the accuracy of spellcasting by deducing the likelihood of having certain spells: the amount of stones of a given spell is known and players can always see the spellstones of other players.
Players continue to try casting spells until a player is knocked out or someone uses all of his spellstones. When the round ends, players may move up the tower according to their result and the first player to reach the top of the tower wins the game (this will take more than one round).
Note: The official web site is not available in an English-language version, though the game's initial release is in English, German, and Korean.
images © Divedice, Korea Boardgames Co.
User Reviews (2)
Add a Review for "Abraca…what?"
You must be logged in to add a review.
- Themes
Magic - Mechanics
Deduction, Memory - Designers
Gun-hee (Gary) Kim - Game Families
Spiel 2014 releases - Official Game Site
🔍 Abraca…what? - Price (MSRP)
$39.99
One thing that really describes this game might be, “a competitive version of Hanabi”. In this game, each player will receive 5 spell tiles (there are 8 kind of spells in the game and each kind has a number of spells based on the value shown on the spell), that they do not look. So, the spells are facing outward to other players. Just like Hanabi.
The goal is to be the first person to get 8 points. So in their turn, players will try to cast a spell from their tiles, if the spell they’re trying to cast is among their tiles, they successfully cast the spell and the spell effect is resolved. After that, they can decide whether to cast another spell (the catch is the next spell must be equal or higher value than the previous spell) or end their turn. When they end their turn, they refill back up to 5 tiles. If they managed to cast all their spell in a single turn, the round ends and they get 3 pts. If they failed to cast the spell, their turn ends and they lose a life. If they lose all their life tokens (each player starts with 6 life points and trust me, it’s easy to lose all of them in such a short time), the round ends and they don’t get points, other surviving players get a point.
There are 8 kind of spells and each of them has different effect. Mostly revolving taking life points from other players or getting their life points back.
The game relies heavily in the spell deduction element, which is interesting not knowing your own spells but know what others have in front of them. Aside from the other spells in the central or removed or in the secret stone space. The deduction aspect works differently based on number of players since there are different setup from number of players. The game can be played from 2 up to 5 players. In 2-3 players game, there are 6-12 spells removed from the game, this makes the deduction process more difficult, since not all the possible spells are laid out in the table.
I like how the conflict takes place while deduction in progress to get points, so you can do leader bashing with this situation, though the spells mostly targeting the player next to you.
The secret stone also gives extra excitement to the deduction process based on partial information, since not all players can know the information given through the secret stone. So it’s like I know my secret stone value but I don’t know the others and they know theirs but not mine kind of thing.
It’s fun, hilarious and plays very quick. While there’s a small logic thinking in it, the deduction really gives your brain a little exercise, though there’s a small hit of bluff element, but not really essential to the game play.
Love this to play with non-gamers, casual gamers and also family. Interesting enough though the replay value is not particularly high due to it’s game experience tends to be the same after several plays. I think the game is best played with 4 or 5 players. Haven’t try it with 2 players, but in three, the deduction element is not very strong, due to the unused spells. If you like a small game, plays quick. easy to grab and fun with take that element that is not core to it’s gaming experience, this might be perfect for you.
The components are good, above standard with the spell plastic blocks, unique and stand out over the table.
This is a fun game for families since you can play with a little or a lot of strategy. It relies more on luck than tactics but it is possible to play smart. Each player is a wizard that needs spell stones (domino like tiles) in order to cast a spell. The trick is that you can’t see your own spells, so must deduce what is available to you based on what the other players have. There are 3 spells #3, 5 spells #5 etc, each with specific actions unique to that spell. Any spell you DO cast will case damage to another player, and the round ends when one player has lost their ‘life points’. The good news is everyone is restored to full health for the next round, and you can play again. With young ones you might only want to play a few rounds, but the game is quite fun for longer attention spans and can be used as a spring board for storytelling element (role playing optional!)
Well made plastic components with good card stock boards.
Easy to learn.