WizWar: A Study In Great Board Game Design

[@seamusoblainn]

This is what this channel is about (i watch in another device). No Top 5 gimmicks but deep natualistic material from anecdotes to mechanics to insights into personalities and processes. Grear stuff. Will try and recreate the game till i can get a copy of it

[@MythrilZenith]

"Simplicity doesn't have to be boring and repetitive" A lesson that far too many game designers are forgetting. Being adjacent to a burgeoning fan game community I get to see a ton of individual and small teams design their first games, and it's rather upsetting to see how many people just want to jump straight into complexity and combos and high difficulty while taking for granted the importance of simple core gameplay mechanics.

[@MattPritchardOfficial]

Your comment @ 6:53 is especially important, and should be on the minds of *anyone* who makes a multi-player game. Ask this question: Can a newcomer to your game with 'ordinary' skill have success against people who have been playing for a long time? If they can't, or their success is consistently very minimal, they will quickly determine the game is no fun (even if it is fun to play when all are on the same level), and stop playing it - never to return.

[@RoboCG]

Did you ever make a PC game prototype as a board game to test if it's fun asap or it doesn't save much time if you're are skilled enough in programming?

[@jace_albers]

Normally you just setup a barebones game mechanics system and a small level without textures with a board game you cant test the game mechanics

[@BessyJennett]

THIS is what legos are for

[@PauloRogerioDePinho]

I think I understand: This game has a number of dimensions: like the board, the tiles, cards, monsters; and you, as a player, can interact with any or all of them in multiple ways. So this game has a huge set of permutations on your decisions, which makes playing it different each time.

[@koalabrownie]

One of the (now former) Dice Tower guys, Roy Cannaday, really loves this game. Think they printed a new version fairly recently

[@Ryan_Mercury]

Your passion is truly heartwarming. Thank you for introducing me to WizWar.

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

Here's the maid. "MAID FROM HELL - Attack, L.O.S. Summons a Maid to clean up the dungeon. The maid moves in a straight line (roll randomly for direction, if she can't move straight ahead) with a move of 6 until she comes across a token (no players, treasures or monsters), such as a Thornbush or Slime. She stops her move there and cleans up the token (remove the token from the board). She is not affected by the effects of the token. The next turn she moves straight ahead again. The maid is NOT under the control of the caster, except to determine her initial heading, but moves at the end of the caster's turn before the next player. The maid can take 5 points of damage and does not have an attack." ...it's basically Toriel from Undertale XD

[@CaseyChristopher]

Wiz War is one of my all time favorite games. I have a stack of 4th and 5th edition versions. Both have the brown box like you show here. The 4th editions just have a brown bottom where as the 5th editions have some images of the contents. One has the Expansion 1 contents as well.

[@Brillobreaks]

Putting me in the mood for Dokapon Kingdom.

[@clifcorcoran9917]

Wizwar is a really fun time.

[@EstrangedEstranged]

If anyone wants to play a similar game in computer form - you can try Chaos Reborn

[@WentBerzerk]

Tim, I had a dream that you made a video where you were dancing around in your room and singing silly songs. When can we expect such a video? 😄

[@MisterEnsayne]

Makes me think of the arcade game Wizards of Wor which was almost like a Pac-Man with guns (wands).

[@flamingburitto]

Hey Tim, it's me, part of everyone. I was curious, what are you doing these days? 😶 Like will you work on a big game project like Outer Worlds again or even something smaller?

[@realzero557]

This game sounds really fun but doesn't seem like it's being printed anymore :( I like the idea of beer and pretzels games though, are there any others that people reccommend?

[@DanielScutt]

We often play MTG like this. Just have fun, who cares who wins. Sometimes it gets to the end of a game and you realize two players are neck and neck and suddenly the game gets really serious out of nowhere. Lots of fun. Mystic Market. Fun for older kids and up. Not very complicated. Make matching potions for points. Dragon's Realm is simple. I play it with my youngest a lot, but we used to play it amongst us adults. Masmorra is a fun mix of co-op and versus. You take turns being the "anti-DM". Looterz (card based recruitment and combat). Dungeon Drop (drop beads all over your table and make shapes for points). The 5 Minute Dungeon stuff. Munchkin can be simple stupid fun, or you can take it seriously and go hard. I have so many board games it's actually kinda hard to remember specific games. * Should have added Fluxx. Fluxx is so much fun.

[@Lwilibert]

There is a new version

[@lipnoodle117]

If anyone can find the additional cards Tim Cain made for Wiz War, let me know.

[@CainOnGames]

Here you go: www.gamecabinet.com/rules/WizWarCards3.html

[@deltapi8859]

Got to get that game now ...

[@MyCatsHeadBlewUp]

There are great games. Serotonin pushers, consistently fun. Generally the best in this category provoke creative spirits, fuel artistic endeavors or a new way of looking at things. Abstractions, profound environments, implementations of logos. Best game I played this year, played quite a lot. Never played so many games in my life. A distraction, for the chaos waiting at the harbor. One game, gameplay was fun, environments compelling. Wasn't the best in this regard but the ending hit a note. Despite these other great games, towering in some aspects, my best game was the one that brought me back to ground level. A place of contemplation. Feeling.

[@olwiz]

Now im curious to know the name of some games you mentioned

[@pcraft8785]

Days of fo1 and fo2 will never return. Gaming world is dead and filled with zombies.

[@PaintsAreOp]

Those days never return because the world has moved on and you're older now. The gaming world is very much alive and filled with super mutants.

[@DanielScutt]

There are tons of great indie games. The "golden age of gaming" might be behind us, but as soon as you recognize that it was really "the golden age of AAA devs" the sooner you'll begin discovering the "the golden age of indie devs".

[@pillarnexustheancientgladiator]

I love board games, so I'm always happy to hear more about the games that others have discovered and enjoyed. I have played G.O.O.T.M.U.; I remember the person who had it and played it with us wanted to make a graphic-updated version with more of a dungeon look, but it never happened.