Spellbook - Board Game Review - Who Says Magic Is Complicated?

[@adrenalinejunkie4788]

A really engaging and enlightening review. I like the way you call things as you see them. Best wishes from Perth Western Australia.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Thank you! Nice to hear from the Aussies!

[@bonescollector5367]

Thanks for the review Luke! We have played most of Phil Walker Harding's titles. The only one we kept was Imhotep. This game looks puzzly enough to be fun. We'll give it a try. Thanks again.

[@Sarah-wn8kz]

I really agree! I think it could be a great Christmas present for the more casual gamers and still be fun for myself! Im thinking also about buying it for myself to show my family and everyone that doesn’t want to learn a lot of rules of doesn’t like gaming for a long time!

[@stevenjudd2383]

Fun filler game. I played a demo of it at Gen Con, and everyone at the table immediately got in line to buy a copy once we completed the demo.

[@thegamesninja3119]

Gizmos, which is similar, I hold is a better gateway engine builder, after people played Splendor. SpellBook is more of an odds improver like Backgammon or Kingdom Builder than an engine builder. It is too much as a gateway, but a good evening ender for mucking with luck. Space Cowboys also has Splendor as a game under their brand with SpellBook, so SpellBook is an entirely different beast. Splendor is also engine builderish but not quite one, but a great gateway into engine building games.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Gizmos is not gateway level, no way. I wouldn't put that in front of many people, it has a whole extra mechanism on top of the already established engine building aspect. Splendor and Spellbook do not.

[@thegamesninja3119]

@TheBrokenMeeple that is why Splendor or Century are gateways to engine building, because engine builders . Being better is more suitable as fitting the category. I just do not see SpellBook as an engine builder. The progression curve undermines it working as an engine builder.

[@kerim8666]

Definitely a game which people will buy, play it once or twice first month and sell it a year later because they realise it is not hitting the table, in fact they even forget it existed.

[@TheBrokenMeeple]

Should easily hit the table given its super short and simple. It will hit the table far more than any big euro game

[@thegamesninja3119]

It is its own thing, and other more established games are better gateway games. It is prone to get lost in the shuffle, but can develop a cult following. A lot of Phil's ganes are foundational games that are great intro gateways to more detailed other Euro categories.