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Epic Spell Wars: The Most Ameritrash Game in Years

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29 Sep 2015 07:39 #211552 by SuperflyPete

Wiz War? BAH! This is the real deal.

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The following user(s) said Thank You: Gary Sax, OldHippy, boothwah

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29 Sep 2015 08:25 #211553 by hotseatgames
Great review. Every now and then the game will outstay its welcome but for the most part it ends when it should. I'm now wishing Adult Swim would license it for an animated series. Mark Hamill could be the Bloodomancer. Actually he could play all the characters.

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29 Sep 2015 12:36 #211584 by Egg Shen
I've had great success with this game as well. People just tend to love it and request it frequently. It might be one of the best designed "take that" card games. It's so confrontational, but it manages to do it in a way that doesn't make people feel like shit. It has to do with the clever way the spells target players and how you get bonuses for dying quickly. Plus like Pete says, there is lots of stuff to think about. Do you go all out and hope to cast a nasty 3 card spell? Do you need to heal before everyone else attacks? It's not just play cards and see what happens. When choosing a spell you usually are thinking about a few different things based on the current state of the game.

Nice review, this game doesn't get talked about too much anymore.

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29 Sep 2015 13:29 #211591 by SuperflyPete
This Miniature market thing has kind of been detrimental to the Circus because my new job is much more of a time sink than my last. I'm going to try to do at least one a week and post it here as well.

It feels good to know that we were missed!

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29 Sep 2015 13:36 #211592 by quozl
Your Wiz-War line at the start makes me wonder how this compares. Why do you think this is better than Wiz-War?

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29 Sep 2015 15:30 #211602 by Egg Shen
For me it doesn't surpass Wiz-War because it lacks the board/spatial element. A big part of what makes Wiz-War tick is figuring out how to use the spells and board layout to best mess with everyone else. Did Jack just run down a hall with no exits? Time to warp over near him and encase him into a wall Edgar Allen Poe style. Is Max standing next to a wall of flames? Presto! Mind control and force him to saunter back and for through the flames until there is nothing left by a smoldering hat with a celestial star pattern on it. It's the combination of positioning of the wizards, items, creatures PLUS the spells that give the game a seemingly endless array of choices to make each turn.

At times Epic Spell Wars feels like the card game version of Wiz-War. Since you can combine all sorts of different spell cards it gives you that same, lets see what happens when I do this feeling as Wizzy. Given the choice, I don't think I'd ever choose to play ESW instead of Wiz-War. However, if I'm in the mood for card game where I get to chuck dice and shoot flying testicles at people...well I know what game to play.

Another thing that really makes ESW sing is the lack of rebuttal or counter cards. If I can recall correctly I don't think there are many instances where you can block incoming spells or anything like that. It gives the game some teeth and it's really one of the most confrontational games out there. Still it has this Cosmic Encounter type thing where sometimes it's hard to pick on the leader. Your cards might only let you attack the person to your left or the weakest wizard. So the gang up on the leader thing isn't as pronounced. It really makes quite a few smart choices from a design standpoint.

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29 Sep 2015 15:53 #211607 by boothwah
Love, love, love this game. it is full of buggery. I vote to drag it out whenever we have a lull between big games.

There are a few guys in my gaming circle that usually shy away from "take that" games and really any confrontational mechanics - The kind that always want to play solitaire type euros or worker placement where they can stay in their own headspace. This is good for toughening those namby pamby types up. Like the guys that think taking the last warehouse in Puerto Rico is super confrontational, or freak out when you play intrigue cards on them in Waterdeep.

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01 Oct 2015 10:04 #211687 by OldHippy
I had enough money for one more game on my pre paid credit card and this is what I chose (Flick 'em Up was the other), thanks for the review Pete. Nice work.

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01 Oct 2015 12:35 #211710 by The*Mad*Gamer
Sounds like my kind of game! On my buy list!

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01 Oct 2015 12:42 #211711 by SuperflyPete

Egg Shen wrote:
At times Epic Spell Wars feels like the card game version of Wiz-War.


This.

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04 Oct 2015 21:25 #211867 by Frohike
After reading this I saw the game pop up on a math trade and threw a bunch of trades at it. Fingers crossed.

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