It’s been a bunch of years since I’ve played Wiz War, but I plan to give it a go again tommorow if possible. In anticipation, I pulled down my old 5th edition (1991 reissue with expansions) and poked through some of the cards. This game was Hilarious! WizWar has enough of the elements of role-playing games that die-hard gamers can’t help but have some fun, even though it’s really a fast-paced board game with no real role-playing element. There’s dice, cards, figures (if you want), lots of little chits, hit points, dungeon sections that go together to build the ‘board’, spells, and comedy (the cards can be pretty funny). How can you go wrong with this game?! Man, we had so many good times playing this game. I decided to go online and see where the game is today…

If you don’t remember the game, or haven’t played it before, here’s the jist:

Wiz-War is a card and board game of battling wizards and stolen treasures! Each wizard starts with 2 treasures in his sector and 7 cards which represent spells he or she can cast as the game progresses. As the Wizards use spells against each other, they replenish their “spell hand” with fresh spells from the deck of cards. Eventually one Wizard will move into other player’s sectors and steal away the two treasures needed to win the game, taking advantage of his or her spells to perform such actions as becoming invisible, turning to mist, creating walls, casting fireballs, making thorn bushes, forcing other players to drop objects, along with numerous other actions available in the deck of cards. Wizards have a chance to draw from over 90 different types of cards as they combat one another (possibly to the death).

Though out of print now, there are still some inveterate WizWar gamers out there who have scanned the pieces and cards, organized, corrected, commented on, and added to the rules and cards, and maintain websites dedicated to the game. The true faithful are hoping for an eventual re-release of the classic game.

WizWar was written by Tom Jolly, and Chessex currently has the rights to print and sell it, though they have been announcing the release of what would be version 8 of the game since 2003. There’s even a sample of what the cards were supposed to look like on Tom’s site.

Fan Sites

WizWar.com offers a WizWar message board where others still interested in the game can post questions about and share resources related to the game. The site has the complete (5th edition) rules as well as a complete list of cards (actually scanned images of them) that are used in the game, commented and arranged by edition. The Wizwar FAQ is extensive as well.

Jeff and Lora also run a WizWar site with lots of resources for download. The game boards, cards (a modified version of the set that they use in their own gaming circle), and some great art for game tokens are available to print out and assemble into a playable version of the game if you’re so inclined.

[ed. note] …I decided to print out a set for the kids to use since I didn’t want them losing my now classic pieces. We had a couple of good games, here’s a shot from our second where I have stolen my second treasure and trying to get back to my home base. I am blocked by the opposing Wizard who is attempting to cast lightning bolt on me. Luckily I happened to have a ‘Sudden Death’ card and walloped her back.

Epengr’s page on Wizwar.com has some nice cards formatted for those Avery business card template stock sheets.