[I originally posted this review on my website in 2000. -- Brian]

I've noted before (as have many others) that Richard Garfield names Cosmic Encounters to be the inspiration for Magic: The Gathering. The similarity is easy to see, you have rules and then you have [cards or powers] that break the rules.

What's amazing, is that not many people have compared Wiz War to Magic. I never even thought of it until I was thinking about which games I won't sell (I'm keeping Wiz War). Let's see.

* You are a Wizard trying to kill other wizards,
* You have a hand of cards that you can play mainly during your turn, but also as counterspells or reactions.
* You can (in some versions) summon monsters and have them beat up on your opponents for you.

It all sounds very familiar now that I think about it.

But Wiz War came first.

In Wiz War you each player (up to 4, or six with an expansion, or even more if you really want to buy extra expansions and make a few new counters) plays a Wizard. You are in a dungeon made up of squares. One big square per player. Each part of the dungeon has twenty five spaces in a five by five grid. It's a closed universe, so if you step off one side of the board you enter on the other, but you can't walk through walls. There are some weirder wrap-arounds for an odd number of players, but the net result is that the layout of the squares is 'fair,' despite appearances, the player in the center of a cross formation isn't really in the middle of the other four players.

Each wizard also has two treasures, that start out diagonally adjacent to the wizard's home space (the center of the board). Of course, since it is a dungeon, there are a bunch of twisty passages and walls, and the occasional door. You win if you get two treasures (from other wizards) onto your home space. You also win if you are the only player left alive (each wizard starts with 15 hit points).

A players turn is as follows:

* You announce how far you are going to move,
* You move and play as many spells as you like (but only one attack) and other players respond with counterspells,
* You may (optionally) pick something up,
* You draw two cards.


Movement is simple. You get to move three spaces, but may play a single number card to add to that movement. Once declared, you start moving. You can cast spells at any point while moving. Some spells are not directly aimed at killing your opponents (although that can be a pleasant side effect), but are more 'environmental' or just beneficial. Things like creating annoying thorn bushes, turning invisible, magically attracting treasures towards you, re-arranging the layout of the dungeon and whatnot. But where the real fun is in causing pain and suffering to your opponents, and in that case you get fireballs, turning people into statues, and all sorts of horrific spells.

Most spells have a simple effect, but the duration (or damage) is determined by playing an additional number card. If you don't play a number card, it is assumed to be a '1'.

If you can't or don't want to attack an opponent with a spell, you can punch them (if you are on the same space) for a point of damage. Hey, you are a wizard, not Conan.

Many spells require Line of Sight to the target (opponent or space), which is simply checked by tracing from the center of the squares. It's usually fairly clear. A typical trick is to step one space around a corner, lob of a particularly nasty spell, and then duck back behind the corner. The middle of turns are creative.

Once you are done moving (and casting) you can pick up an object, which ends your turn (except for drawing cards). You can only carry one treasure at a time though. Dropping objects is free.

The game really is fairly simple. There are a few 'categories' of spells that have additional rules, though. There are spells to create monsters, which count as attacking for that turn (at least, we play that way. I haven't really read the rules in years). Monsters can't attack the turn they are created, but can move and attack (on a later turn) independently from their creator. Most monsters can hit for a point or two a turn, and take a few points to kill, but they are all different, of course. The Troll regenerates, some monsters move faster or hit harder, the wraith can walk through walls. There are also the 'stones'. These cards are items, and kept face up in front of their owner (but still count towards the hand limit). Stones usually have a continuing effect, such as adding one to all number cards you play, or preventing the first point of all attacks against you, or letting you see through a single wall every turn. Finally, some versions of the game include wands, which are items that have charges (based on the number card you play with the item the first time you use it). Earlier versions of the game have some other items, whose name I can't recall.

The real joy of this game is that there are so many possibilities. There are probably 250 cards in the my set (that's with expansions and home-made cards). Apart from number cards (which range from lots of twos to a single six), I don't think any card is repeated more than once (and most aren't repeated). The expansion set adds more cards. Most are appropriately themed, standard spell names that any player of Magic or Dungeons and Dragons would recognize. Some are silly. If you get bored with the basic games and get lucky, you can find blank spell cards and make your own.

This is truly a game that never repeats and that is rarely dull. Occasionally you will wind up turned into a statue (or locked in a closet) for several turns. [I do personally believe that walls and doors should have a lower number of hit points to minimize the likelihood of that.] But most of the time if you are imprisoned it is because of careful play of an opponent. Some spells are much more powerful than others, but hey, this is one of the games that defined Beer and Pretzels gaming. [Just so you know, I think that the games that defined it are Wiz War, Cosmic Encounter, Junta and Illuminati].

You can plan ahead, but it usually doesn't help. The spells are frequently powerful enough to alter the course of the game quickly. Interestingly enough, the attack spells are usually not very powerful if they cause damage (since most spells cause damage equal to the number card played). Shooting a lightening bolt for 3 hit points may not matter nearly as much as rotating one square of the dungeon, or making a treasure so heavy your opponent has to drop it.

But the hit points do add up, and players have to worry about being eliminated. There is a second way to be eliminated, which is to have both of your treasures on other players home bases (different players, of course, since if both of your treasures were on one players home base, that player has won). So wizards have to play some defense, and frequently you'll see a wizard detour to pick up his own treasure and put it someplace safe.

Overall, this is a game about the brilliant unexpected knife thrust. I vaguely remember the ending of a game several years ago when it was my turn and each of the other players was poised to win on their next turn and I won by casting a spell that let me look at another players hand and cast one of their spells, which won me the game. Everyone has a story like that.

To everyone's shock I won on my turn. It involved playing my entire hand, part of it for a burst of movement, partially to see through a wall to another player, cast an attack spell which switched the location of our home bases, and then run over to my (new) home base and cast a spell to drag a second treasure over it. Or something like that.

Sometimes you don't win the game with plays like that (I would have been out of luck if my opponent had a counterspell), and often these amazing turns happen in the middle of the game. But Wiz War is never boring for long.

Good review Brian, but I wanted to point out in his defense that Richard Garfield has credited Wiz War as the primary inspiration for Magic on a few different occasions.

Junta defined Beer & Pretzels gaming? ... I take it you were in for a bit of a 'session'?!?