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Mage Knight Board Game

Regular price: €253,00
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Description

For 1-4 Players
Over 2 hours to play
240 cards, 8 intricately painted miniatures, 196 tokens, 20 map tiles, 54 mana crystals and 7 mana dice
Also included are 2 game mats, 2 rule books
Combines elements of RPGs, deckbuilding and traditional board games

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Customer Reviews

Incredible Fantasy-Themed Board GameMany of those who pick up the Mage Knight board game will fondly remember the collectible miniatures game, also from WizKids. I know I did (although those memories are tainted by the downward slide into overpowered madness that marked the middle years of the game's history). For what it's worth, the Mage Knight Board Game has nothing in common with the miniatures game, aside from the name and a few select references.For how different this game is from the roots that spawned it, I must start the review by saying this: the Mage Knight Board Game is excellent. Not mediocre, or just good, but excellent. And for a game that's part randomized-tile exploration, part deck-building, part-dice rolling, part fantasy combat sim, that's an amazing accomplishment.For starters, let's look at the quality of the components. Regular board game enthusiasts will understand when I say that they are at the level of Fantasy Flight Games, and even better in many respects. The tiles used to create the game board are on solid card stock, but thin enough that they don't require too much vertical space to store (a problem I had with the tiles included in the D&D adventure games, such as Castle Ravenloft). The four plastic miniatures representing the players are pre-painted, as well as four "city" miniatures that incorporate the click-wheel design that featured so prominently in the miniatures game long ago. A very interesting, but superior, choice was to use a noticeably different playing card stock from what has typically been used for deck-building games. The cards are very flexible, but don't show signs of wear-and-tear as easily as traditional card stock (at least in my experience, I have read contrary opinions from other reviewers), like cards from Magic the Gathering. Serious gamers will likely still default to card sleeves, but to be honest the card stock is flexible and sturdy enough that it doesn't require sleeves to the extent that most other games do (basically, unless you plan for very heavy use of the game, I don't think card sleeves are necessary). The multitude of cardboard tokens are also on good cardboard with attractive, distinctive images on both sides that help illuminate their use during the game. The plastic insert included with the game holds all the components snugly, perhaps a little too snugly in the case of the cards (not enough space is available to definitively separate the types of cards, which is my one complaint on the components).So the components hold up to the standard of quality (excellence) that I set at the beginning of the review, but what about the game itself? If anything, the game system is far superior to the plastic and cardboard products within the game itself, and would be worth purchasing even if the components were of lesser quality.What sets the game apart from many others is how seamlessly and beautifully the separate systems interact with one another. Approaching the game, you will see many different systems: a combat system, deck-building system, and exploration system. The common points of intersection are the board, which is developed by interchangeable tiles that are "explored" during the game and on which monsters are placed, and the player's "deed" deck, the cards from which are used to fight, recruit allies, move, cast spells, etc. The ultimate goal of the game depends on the scenario, but typically the goal is to acquire the most "fame" (victory points). You gain fame by defeating monsters and conquering cities. Additional fame is awarded at the end of the game for certain accomplishments. With that in mind, how do we go about getting as much fame as possible?Since defeating monsters and assaulting cities is the mechanism by which fame is acquired, players need to maximize their ability to complete these two tasks. The game divides the mechanisms by which to accomplish this into "move, influence and [combat actions]." Movement allows you to get where you need to go (with different terrain types dictating the number of movement points required to move to a desired area). Influence allows you to buy units/spells/abilities (all in the form of cards) that will give you increased move/influence/combat ability in subsequent turns. Combat actions are divided into attack/block types, with a multitude of variations that make combat into a mini-puzzle that rewards thought (and without which makes the determination of the combat's true victor highly improbable). The deed deck is the source of your ability to do all these things (plus your units, which are separate), from which you draw cards that give you movement/influence/combat points to spend each turn. To further complicate matters, the game is at an even higher level divided into day/night rounds. So within a round there are multiple turns, and each player takes turns playing their turn, etc. The great thing about all these seemingly mundane (at least from my description) actions is that they take place in an evolving fantasy world (evolving based on how you explore it). You will find monasteries, mage towers, mines, magical sites, ruins, keeps, cities, and more as you explore the world and seek to strengthen your character. The excitement of turning over a tile to see what options I've just uncovered is still a major part of the game, and a major reason why I continue to play this night after night, and will choose to play it over computer games (my typical after-work "decompressant").From the previous description you can already tell that the sheer number of rules and exceptions to those rules becomes an issue when you start playing. This is compounded by the use of two rulebooks, one a walkthrough book designed to get you started, the other the official rulebook (but designed so differently that you will have difficulty clarifying rules when you have a question - this is my main issue with the game, actually). Luckily, the game is simple enough at its core that after just a couple of games you should have the hang of it. What's more, is that once you begin to play the game, you also understand the interactions between the systems and how beautifully cohesive it is. The game experience is truly wonderful, being described by some as solving a puzzle each turn. And, as the use of the word "maximize" in the preceding paragraph should have tipped you off that in many ways it is a puzzle. You are solving the problem of how to maximize the acquisition of fame with a randomized hand of cards. But that probably makes the game sound too much like work, which it most certainly is not. The game is awesome - the systems, once understood, make it well worth the effort to go through the steep learning curve for the first couple of games, and even more impressively, the game is a blast to play both solitaire as well as 2-player. My conclusion? If you like Fantasy-themed games, board games in general, computer RPGs, or are just a straight-up nerd like me, buy this game. 5Complex and challengingIf I'd realized how many different components were involved, I probably would have been intimidated. Map tiles, character pieces, tactics cards, basic action cards, advanced action cards, spell cards, artifact cards, unit cards, wound cards, contol tokens, level/command tokens, skill tokens, several types of monster tokens, mana tokens, mana dice...and I suspect I'm forgetting something.And yet it works. Yes, it's complicated, and I think I'd be happier with a little lighter version, but I can cope with it. That's not to say that I'm likely to be playing it without the rulebook close at hand, but after a first game with a more experienced player last week, I ran the introductory scenario solo and managed to survive, find the objective, and feel reasonably confident that I followed the rules. And did that while feeling challenged, which is not something I usually get from a solo game.If you're looking for an easy, beer-and-pretzels Euro game, this isn't it. But if you want a fantasy game where you're in control, not just following a flowchart, but you have to juggle several resources to succeed, this may be what you're looking for. 4Great, but very involved game. Not for the casual Friday night Jenga crowd.Great game. Very complex. This is not for the light of heart or casual game night. The game pieces and board are nicely crafted, good quality, and look good. I like that you can play solo games which are essentially 'beat the clock' scenarios wherein you have 'x' turns to complete a mission. Playing with a group of folks who know how to play is probably the best because you can feed off their hands and though not actually working together, co-op assures that the mission will be completed before the time runs out. It is imperative you do the test game first. Don't just jump in and start playing or you will most certainly hate this game. All new players should do the same. This is clearly stated in the instructions which you should read thoroughly before playing. I also recommend watching a youtube review prior to buying. This is not a game for everyone, and likely for more experienced, and 'intense' board gamers. 5Best purchase I made for this young hobby. ^_^Earlier this year, I just got into the hobby and I felt like I wanted to get something relatively difficult yet rewarding. At first I was intimidated by the feedback reviews gave this game, but I gave in. For 2 full weeks, the game was sitting on my shelf because I was still intimidated but making the foam insert for the game made me appreciate all the parts more and it slowly got attached to the components. I just started playing the game last week and my first game took 6(4) hours trying out the first scenario thrice (I stopped midway twice trying to correct some mistakes everytime). The sun was already up when I finished and it was probably the best weekend morning I ever had.Insanely immersive and beautiful! <3 5An excellent single-player gameThis is an excellent game to play single player. It is complicated, and probably would bog down with multiple players. However, for a single player experience, it is well balanced with numerous concurrent ideas and interesting decisions.The production quality is very high, with numerous good miniatures and cards with a good touch-feel.----Upon reflection several years later, I lowered the star rating to 4. It is still an excellent game. However, in practice, the game is just a bit too big and unwieldy to set up and take down to make it to the table that often. Therefore, seeing how non-frequently it is played, by definition it can't be 5 stars. 4Grand, patient, and meticulous fantasy from Vlaada Chv til when things aren't getting too bogged down with modifier accounting.4 1/2 out of 5 stars. The rules may seem daunting, but the rule book is very well laid out and understanding Mage Knight seems to be mostly about retaining a lot of data (and of course the pertinent exceptions) more than anything being unclear or hard to comprehend, though the combat is cluttered and my least favorite thing about the game. The variables in each turn are cool and the limited progress on the board and the acknowledgement of terrains and time of day give nice sense of scope. At it worst, which is the combat part, this game has the same problem of playing a high level character in an RPG: too much time dealing with modifiers (resistance, blocks, types of attacks, types of defenses, enhancements, etc.) and not enough time in the world making character-driven decisions.Yet ideas like wounds limiting a player's options (hand size) and resurfacing if not properly tended (in the next round in a new deck) and the alteration of day and night and the handling of the units are all very good conceits, as is the ability to explore certain sites deeper or chose to forego such explorations while sticking to a different agendum.Mage Knight is not as good as my favorite game, which is Cave Evil by a significant margin, but I appreciate the well conceived solo mode of this thing. Grand, patient, and meticulous fantasy from Vlaada Chv til when things aren't getting too bogged down with modifier accounting. 5A deep masterpiece of card play and explorationOne of the best card manipulation/deck building games there is but also the deepest. This game is not for everyone and takes multiple plays to learn and much, much more to master. It can play solo or with others and the amount of discovery not just on the board but in card combos seems never ending. There is a basic rules tutorial book that helps you learn how to play while holding your hand each step and even that is engaging. Do not miss this game if you enjoy deep thinking strategy. Not recommended for those under 12. Not for theme but complexity. 5Great experience if you have the time and patienceMuch to love here: the epic sense of adventure, the immersive theme, varied and interesting enemies/encounters, the puzzle that is just playing the cards on your hand, the thrill of executing a killer combo, seeing your mage knight becoming more powerful after every round.However, the game often becomes very frustrating, as you will draw the wrong card at the wrong moment, fall one point flat from taking out an enemy, or find out you just lost the one mana token you needed not to waste your entire turn. Just a couple of such bad turns and you are done, since the game is truly unforgiving.So Mage Knight is definitively not for everyone: it is hard, long (for us it was over one hour per round with just two players), has a very steep learning curve, and the cooperative mode is barely so. If you are very patient, you might be able to play enough to learn how to navigate the challenging and often uncooperative landscape that is this game, but two coop blitz scenarios in and we had to admit that we were sadly more frustrated than entertained. 4A very good but lengthy gameI bought this game because the gameplay seemed like it was very interesting and I liked the combination of a fantasy theme with deck building, exploration, and combat. The game executes all these aspects very well, but the fun it provides usually isn't enough to overcome the length or complexity.Basic Play - At the start of the game, you pick a character and get a set of cards, skills, etc. Each character starts with a deck of 16 basic cards that do things like move, attack, block, give influence, or generate magic. 1 of the 16 cards for each character has been replaced (a different basic card for each character) with a personalized character card that is more powerful. The game is split into day and night with each day or night representing one round of play. You will roll some dice that represent mana that you will share with the other players and you can use one of those dice per turn. There are ways to get mana crystals that stay with your character card until you decide to use them, and you can use as many of these crystals as you want on a turn. You will then pick one of 6 day/night cards that grant you a special power and determine the turn order for the current day/night. You will start with 5 cards in hand and use those cards to move around the board, discover new tiles, battle enemies, use influence to hire allies or get new advanced cards/spells. Each card has 2 parts. The top half of a card lists the normal use of the card, e.g. Movement +2, while the bottom half of a card lists what it does if you choose to power it up, e.g. Movement +4. Not all of these are the same, some might give movement +2 for the top half but list Ranged attack +3 for its' powered up portion. Any card can also be played sideways to increase a basic action (attack, block, movement, influence) +1 even if the card wouldn't normally increase this action. As you go along, you will level up, which gives you access to advanced cards, allows you to pick a special character based skill, or increases your armor/hand size and allows you to have more allies following you. Getting injured in battle will put wound cards into your deck, which slowly clog it up. You will have to visit villages/monasteries, use a healing card or rest to get these out of your hand. Enemies have a variety of effects, some are harder to block, some give double the amount of wounds if left unblocked, others can paralyze you (Force you to discard your whole hand and end battle) if you fail to block their attack. At the end of your turn, you will draw cards up to your current hand size (depending on character level). When your deck runs out, you can declare the end of the round. This gives each player except you one more turn for the current round. When it gets back to you, everyone discards their hand, shuffles their deck, and the next day or night begins. Continue play until you complete your objective or a certain number of rounds have been completed. The player with the most fame (experience points) usually wins the game.Components - There are a lot of components in this game. There are 2 rulebooks, one with a list of the rules and another that is a walk-through of the first scenario, including rules for fighting, exploring, etc. The 2 rulebooks can be annoying as one may contain a rule or explanation that isn't included in the other, so it can be difficult to find a certain rule. The walk-through for the basic scenario is very helpful and allows for someone new to play by themselves to get used to the rules. There are 4 character models and 4 castle models. The models are decent looking. There are 240 cards, including the basic cards, advanced, spells, artifacts, allies, and wounds. The artwork on the cards are nice and the cards feel good. There are 196 tokens that are all fairly solid, these include your special skills, levels, shields, and enemies. The tokens are all solid and the enemy tokens display their picture and give you all the info you need for fighting them. Other than that, you've got map tiles, the mana dice, and a bunch of mana crystals.Length - This is the big turnoff for the game. Expect at least 45 minutes per round for a 4 player game with experienced players, that's 4 1/2 hours for a 6 round game, which many of the scenarios are. The basic scenario, which lasts 3 rounds, took us 3+ hours (including setup and rules explanation) with 4 players, and I'd played it several times before. With the game length, it's pretty clear it was designed to be played 1-3 players. The setup time for this game isn't too bad. Most of the decks won't need to be shuffled until it's time to use them, so they can be shuffled during the game by players who aren't currently going.Re-playability - This is hard to answer. I grew bored with playing it solo by the end of the second scenario. It's more of a puzzle a lot of the time than a game since you can usually determine what is going to happen before it happens. I never got deeper than the second scenario with other people, but once you've seen all the tiles, places on those tiles, and monsters, there isn't much that's going to pop up and surprise you.Luck - There isn't a lot of luck but there's enough to keep it interesting. If someone uses a mana die you wanted or if they roll a mana die and it pops up as something you need, that can change your whole turn. At night, the rules change so certain enemy tiles aren't revealed, leaving you to guess at what could happen when you reveal and fight the enemy. There are certain places, monster dens and dungeons, where you will reveal a random monster and fight it, so again, you don't know exactly what is going to happen.Interaction - There isn't much interaction in this game other than game banter. The game is semi co-op. You're working together with each other to complete the objective but only the player with the most fame at the end of the game ultimately wins (usually). Your turns usually have very little to do with each other since you spread out across the map. Players can't end turns on each other, so you can block a spot. Players can also gain cards or use the mana dice prior to another player's turn but most of this is incidental. There are rules for combat and some of the later scenarios suggest including it, but I never got around to doing it so I can't say if it's good or bad. I read over the rules for player combat and it seemed convoluted.Thoughts pros - The components look great and the gameplay is solid. It can be fairly fun if you're looking for a unique game that is long. It's always fun making the tough choice between taking some wounds that'll hurt your future turns or doing another action that won't clog up your hand. Leveling up always feels good and let's you make some tough choices between new advanced cards to add to your deck and a player skill that can benefit you every turn or once a round. Hiring allies and using them to help you explore, fight enemies, take hits in combat, or using a special skill help keep the game interesting as it gives you extra options, especially when you have 2-3 of them with you. You have a reputation in the game which makes certain actions like healing, hiring allies or getting new cards easier or harder depending on what you do. If you kill random monsters rampaging across the land, the people like you more and your reputation moves up. If you decide to burn down the monastery to find an artifact card to add to your deck, your reputation suffers a lot and makes it more difficult for you to do certain actions. If your reputation gets to low, the people won't interact with you at all. So you need to make some choices about what route you want to take and when you want to do it.Thoughts con - The game just takes too long for what it does. Player should already know what they are going to do when it becomes their turn, but the use of a mana die or actions of another player can ruin a planned turn and cause analysis paralysis as they try to come up with a new plan on the fly during their turn. There are also a lot of rules that you need to know. Some of them are obscure and you'll miss them or be unable to find them in the rulebook since you're never sure exactly where to look. The rulebooks could also use some cleaning up as their is just information scattered all over the place. Information you think should be in one section is very often in another section that it doesn't seem it should be in. The insert for this game is atrocious. There is no way to fit all the components back into the box properly. I had to stuff some things underneath the insert. The lack of interaction can be a downside as it just feels like you're playing a solo game a lot. It seems like they maybe should've added one more movement card or made the power-up for movement cards better (made basic movement +3 and +5 for powered up movement). Each terrain (plains, forest, hills, etc..) has different movement amounts needed to go into that space, and the plains is the only one that doesn't cost more than 2 movement points. A powered up movement card is usually only good enough to move through one spot and sometimes not even that, as a desert spot costs 5 movement points during the day and a forest costs 5 at night. You can usually mitigate having problems moving by getting advanced cards or units that add movement and lower these costs, but some turns you'll be stuck with a hand of cards that all do things other than movement, and you'll be forced to play these sideways for a paltry one movement. It's not a huge deal to me, but it can be a huge turnoff for some people, and I've had people who won't play the game because they didn't like the movement aspects. The last complaint is that this game often turns into a runaway. As you level up, you become more powerful, which makes it easier to kill monsters, explore dungeons and such and level up even more. It's rare that the game ends with people in the same level area. You'll usually have one runaway winner, 2 people close to each other and one person lagging behind.This game is well designed and it can be quite fun. It's very enjoyable leveling up and watching your once fledgling character now able to take down an entire city by himself. Make sure you really know what you're getting into with this before you get it. The player limit ( I suggest 2 players, 3 possibly, and 4 never unless you want to spend the whole day playing it) is a hindrance along with the length. The quality of the game is very high but these two issues mean I can't justify giving it more than 3 stars. It's also a difficult game to explain to people and it's hard to find people who want to play. Overall, I have to rate it a 7/10. 3Best solo game I have ever played. Really long but worth itAmazing solo game. So much room for strategy. You start feeling like a noob then by the end of the game, you feel like a god, wiping out armies with a well thought out move. Bought all expansions because I liked the base game so much. Keep in mind, this is a game about planning and thinking. The little luck that is presented in this game is so minimal and mitigated by decision making, that it feels like this is a game where you are a warrior that has clairvoyant premonitions of difficulties to come and you must prepare so that you can deal with them accordingly.Also, I find this game is not about being the good guy, or the bad guy. It's a game about making all the right decisions that help you achieve your goal best: rule the land with absolute power.Keep in mind your first game will be about 4-5 hours solo as you learn the rules. Once you have the rules down the game time will come down to about 2 hours. Prepare to strap in for a while. 5

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