Reviewed by: Peter Sarrett, Issue 1.3, Feb./March 1993

Wizard isn't revolutionary. Chances are good you've played something similar before. But Wizard's variation on the theme is simple, elegant, and deserving of a closer look.

The tiny Wizard box contains a brief rule booklet, a score pad, and a deck of 60 cards. Players are dealt 1 card in the first round, 2 in the second, and so forth until the final round when the entire deck is dealt out. After a trump suit is determined by flipping the top card of the deck, players announce the number of tricks they expect to win. The remainder of the round plays much like Bridge. The player to the left of the dealer leads for the first trick, with the winner of each trick leading the next. Players follow suit if they can (or play a Wizard or Jester-- see below) and may play any card they wish if they can't. Tricks are won by the highest card of the suit led, or by the highest trump played.

Wizards and Jesters throw a wrench in the works. They can be played at any time-- even if you can follow suit. The first Wizard played in a trick automatically wins that trick. Period. If a Wizard is led, players may discard any card they choose without regard to suit. Jesters automatically lose the trick unless everyone plays a Jester, in which case the person who led wins the trick (extremely rare-- I've never seen it happen-- and impossible in a 5 or 6 player game).

At the end of the round players tally the tricks they've taken. Players meeting their bid exactly earn 20 points plus 10 points per trick. Incorrect guesses cost a penalty of -10 points for every over- or under-trick (i.e., bidding 4 tricks and taking 2 or 6 would cost a player 20 points). The player with the highest total after all rounds are over wins the game.

Unlike most trick-taking games where you're trying to win as many as possible, in Wizard you often go out of your way to lose tricks so as not to overshoot your mark. To increase the competition, some people prefer to require that the total number of tricks bid in a round not equal the number of available tricks (the dealer's bid, always last, must satisfy this rule). This makes it impossible for everyone to meet his bid, adding to the excitement.

The real spice of the game comes from the Wizards & Jesters. You can almost always count on your Wizards as winning tricks, but as long as other Wizards are out there you can never be sure your ace and king of trump will be winners. Should you take the chance when you bid, or play it safe and figure on at least one of them getting clobbered by a Wizard? Jesters are fanastic for ducking out of the lead or preserving a trump card after someone leads a higher one.

Sure, you could make your own Wizard deck. But for $8, it's well worth supporting the manufacturer for providing such a nifty new twist on an old idea.



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The Game Report Online - Editor: Peter Sarrett (editor@gamereport.com)