WizKids Mage Knight Board Game (Standard Edition)

People do not like this game because it is really hard to learn and is very complicated. To those people I say go play Chutes and Ladders. This game is not for the faint of heart. My record time completing the beginner campaign with new players is 4 hours, including setup and cleanup. Mind you, its a half of a normal campaign. But if you play with people that know how to play, it goes much much faster. Just like Catan or any complicated strategy game, what takes so long is having to explain the rules, consult the rulebook, and figure out what to do on your turn. I believe this game is designed VERY well, has excellent balancing (not perfect, I still think Goldyx flying ability is kind of OP), and is incredibly exciting for anyone that loves involved board games and/or RPGs. Its a board game RPG Deckbuilder for God's sake, AND YOU CAN PLAY SOLO! AND ITS REALLY FUN! #Foreveralone I recommend to anyone that is learning or wants to get better (or play with friends) to try out Vassal. You can download it for free and play it extremely fast (minimum 2 monitors is required for a playable experience). It is a very good way to familiarize yourself with how the game works. Playing solo is basically like playing an rpg video game. I understand that its a complicated game, but people that are buying it and reviewing it... I mean I think its kind of something they should have known before agreeing to play / purchase it. ITS A BOARD GAME RPG! WITH DRAGONS, SPELLS, ARTIFACTS, CITIES, MONSTER DENS, DUNGEONS, RUINS, MANA CRYSTALS, AND MUCH MORE COOL STUFF! YOU CAN PLUNDER VILLAGES, BURN DOWN MONASTERIES! THERES REPUTATION AND EVEN PVP (which i have yet to try out). Basically its just a really cool game. After you play your first, you will have felt like you ran a mental marathon. Is it worth it? Depends on what you like and what you are into. For instance: My friends would LOVE playing this game called Twilight Imperium. It was incredibly involved and complex, had the strategy card thing like in this game, and had all these little spaceship tokens with different races and seemed really really fun. After playing a game or two, I quickly realized that the entire game revolved around taking one specific strategy card, which gives you victory points. Thats it. All the strategy and building giant fleets of spaceships was just a pointless endeavor, because the only way you really won was by taking that card whenever you could. If you did not take that card and receive the two victory points, you basically were handing the game over to someone else or at least making it way easier for them to win. This game is totally not like that, every decision you make can either increase your chances of winning or put you further behind. You can take risks which can pay off or hurt you, but I have yet to play a game where I totally ruin my chances because of bad luck or bad judgement. There is always a chance to recover and come back. So if you are a fan of Chutes and ladders, do not buy this game. If the idea of a board game which combines Dominion, Catan (hexes), RPG, and Twilight imperium (or BSG, strategy cards turn order), then definitely give this a shot. If you are learning by yourself, be prepared for a lot of reading of the manual.

There are several reviews on here that discuss pros and cons already, and my review will be no different. However, I would like to use some analogies to give prospective buyers a little more perspective and clarity. I want to concisely break this game down into sections for easier reading. Here I go! Packaging: The box is thick and sturdy and was nowhere near as big as I thought it would be (for storage purposes) when it arrived. The inserts are not nearly the quality of the box, but they do the job. You could very easily replace the inserts with some deck boxes and small containers or baggies for all different types of game pieces. That would actually speed up your game set up as well. Pieces: The hero and city figures are very nice. The game counters, used for the random areas on the game tiles, are perfect for what they are - randomly placed tokens to count as locations or enemies. They are not as pretty as miniature figures would be, but they don't need to be. They do their job perfectly. The mana crystals are pretty cool and very durable. The dice are the only weakness but, again, they do their job. The cards are fantastic and are different from any other card I have experienced. I can't speak as to whether they are more or less durable, because I haven't played enough games yet. They are very nice, though. The card art is not that impressive, but you really don't focus on the look of cards, only the game mechanic text. Rules: This is an area that I see many mixed reviews about, so let me be clear. This is not the game you bring home to the family, with age ranges of 8-14 plus spouse, bust out of the box and expect to sit down and play this game right then and there. If you can't handle a boardgame ruleset that exceeds 8 pages and has no real depth, this game is not for you. It doesn't make it a bad game. It simply is not a game for you. With that said, it is nowhere near the comprehensive task some make it out to be. I have played RPG and miniatures games that require 200-400 pages of reading, prior to playing your first game. This game is NOWHERE near that type of complexity. The game walkthrough manual is brilliant and laid out in a manner that flows properly with the game sequence. It basically is explaining what things are as you are setting them up for your very first game. After the setup, there is no possible way to perfectly lay out the walkthrough, because the enemies, locations and interactions with terrain tiles are random and were designed that way. You will have to decide what to do next, and then seek the rules out for your next action. It is not hard at all, though, as several pages are waiting there for you to look up the rule. For example, if the first thing you wanted to do was fight an orc enemy, you could search the 4-5 pages of following instructions until you find the section about combat. The sections are clearly marked and easy to reference. I don't blame the game designer for this. Unless he scripted your every move in the walkthrough, there would be no way to do it linearly for you. As I said, the game isn't designed to do that, and it would take the enjoyment out of the random experience. I played two walkthrough games, had to reference rules about 10 times, and I feel like I am ready to play the game confidently. The rules manual is only like 20 pages, with very clear section headers, so it is very easy to look something up. Gameplay: You start the game as a basic hero with 0 fame and 0 reputation. Fame allows you to level up your hero, while reputation allows you to gain bonuses when interacting with terrain features like monastaries and villages. The interactions include things like recruiting units to join you, purchasing spells and advanced actions, and healing. You can also land on tiles that provide mana crystals (for using powerful actions or casting spells) or healing effects. Your initial action card hand is only 5, which limits the things you can do. In fact, I would say your card draw dictates what the best course of action would be for a particular turn. The great thing is that you can always play action cards on their sides for 1 basic action (i.e., move, attack, influence, and block). That means that there are no useless cards in your hand, ever. You can always find a way to play your cards. As you level up, your card draw increases, which gives you more options each turn. You also add cards that you earn or purchase (with influence), which usually remain in your deed deck for the rest of the game. In essence, your deck is increasing, which is making you stronger all the time. Combat takes a little getting used to, but once you get down the three phases (i.e., ranged/siege attack, block/damage, and attack), it is so simple after that. Some overland enemies are automatically revealed, so you know what you are up against. However, most are not. Combat is an easy, yet challenging mechanic in that you must develop a strategy to be successful. The damage effects to your hero is brilliant in that you don't play for 2 hours and suddenly die...game over. No, you add Wound cards to your hand, that clutter your card's max draw and limits your actions until you heal the wounds. It's a great mechanic! You explore new terrain tiles by using 2 movement, while on an appropriate tile edge. When the new tile is placed, a random new area opens up to you each time, with plenty of locations to explore and enemies to defeat for rewards. It's all random and brilliantly done. Once you know how to play, you honestly could toss the scenarios and just keep adventuring until your little heart was content. Overall: This is one of the best games I have ever played. Personally, I think the game shines more in a solo game version. It is fantastic, either way, but solo is very cool. I can play a scenario in 1-2 hours. The fact that you can sit down, by yourself, and feel so immersed in a board game is uniquely gratifying. I love playing it with my 13 y/o son too, but if he isn't available, I am just as satisfied playing by myself. It is perfect for being in the same room with my wife for multiple hours while she is watching reality shows that I could care less about. LOL

While I love to game with my mates, I am always on the look out for a good, solid solitaire game. Most solitaire experiences end up falling a bit flat. Either the solitaire mode feels pasted on or. lacking the social element. the games don't give an enriching experience. Mage Knight succeeds where many other solitaire games fail. First off, this is a complex game. I mean really complex. The rulebooks are pretty good and contain a walk through but I wouldn't be anywhere near understanding this game had it not been for some very good videos at boardgamegeek and youtube. The game is a combination of deck building, card playing, exploration and stats with dice rolling. You play one of four characters (five with the Mage Knight Lost Legion Expansion expansion) and your goal is to defeat monsters in dungeons, keeps, mage towers, lairs and those that roam the land. By doing this you gain spells, skills, followers and stats. There is shockingly little luck in this game and success or failure isn't usually up to random elements. You'll need a fair bit of table space to play this and it's not a game you'll want to leave set up. You'll have a dozen stacks of counters, cards and the like as well as other bits to spread out. The map can get pretty large but is usually limited by the scenario. All in all, if you are looking for a very robust solitaire game with a fantasy theme that can also be played multiplayer and if you like fantasy then you can't go wrong with Mage Knight. Just beware that the learning curve is rather steep, even for a seasoned gamer. There are numerous resources out there to help you not only learn the game but become a better player as well. This is a highly recommended beefy game.

I have looked at buying MK for years and finally did so, unfortunately I could not afford the Ultimate edition but the basic game is fantastic anyhow. I like to play solo and the fact you can play at your own pace is attractive to me. Unfortunately the game is also attractive to my two cats who try to steal my heroes. Once again Amazon delivery was prompt and the game arrived in perfect condition.

Me llegó en perfectas condiciones, en mi caso no faltaba nada. Es un juego muy entretenido, no es para nada difícil de jugar en cuanto a mecánicas como mencionan algunos, (Yo había evitado éste juego por eso durante mucho tiempo) sólo que sus manuales están algo desordenados, sin embargo todas las reglas vienen ahi de manera clara, sólo hay que leerlas y ordenar las ideas para poder entenderlas, después de eso todo fluye muy fácil. Con una persona que las entienda, puede enseñar muy fácilmente a los demás y si quienes juegan piensan en divertirse, más que en no perder el juego pasa muy rápido, así de fluidas y sencillas son las reglas, como dije, lo único es ponerlas en orden, creo que eso espanta a mucha gente. Lo más difícil de aprender es lo siguiente: Para defender de fuego lo haces con hielo. De hielo te defiendes con fuego. De fuego helado defiendes con fuego helado. Si defiendes con algo diferente a eso que es lo efectivo, los puntos que generes deben duplicar el valor de los puntos que debes bloquear Las fases del turno son: Movimiento. Acción/interacción. Fin del turno. En la pelea es: Jugador ataca a distancia(solo usas cartas de ataques a distancia) Jugador genera bloqueos para defenderse. Fase de asignación de daño. Fase de Ataque del jugador Y recordar que al asignar daño para tomar heridas, siempre tomas herida primero, sin importar el escudo del personaje, después restas el valor de tu escudo al valor de ataque recibido, si queda valor de ataque después de la resta, repites ese proceso hasta que el valor de ataque sea 0 ó negativo. Si estas dispuesto aprender eso, ya aprendiste lo difícil de las reglas y podras disfrutar de este juego de aventura, exploración y desafío. Me gusta que es un juego que te hace pensar dos o tres turnos a futuro y planear bien tus jugadas. Las miniaturas no son perfectas y mucho menos su pintado, pero se agradece el detalle, ya que de los juegos que poseo, no recuerdo tener alguno que venga así de fabrica. También me gusta que se puede jugar en solitario y como para Jugarlo de esa manera, ya debes de saber las reglas es muy rápido. Sacarlo a la mesa es muy sencillo y guardarlo también, ya que solo necesitas el deck de personaje, unos cuantos tokens, 3 decks mas y las fichas de enemigos, todo se debe revolver por separado, asi que casi lo vuelves a sacar como lo guardaste, una barajeada sencilla y ya está. Sin duda alguna verá mas juego en mi mesa, hasta estoy considerando comprar ya las expansiones.

One of the best RPG board game out there. Ordered it through Amazon Global Store and received it in 9 days.

Es un juego precioso, de los que se disfruta un montón nada más mirar la caja (me encantan las ilustraciones, pues no son las típicas de este tipo de juegos) y al abrirla hay magia. Sólo le pongo una pega: el reglamento tiene una tipo de letra con un tamaño demasiado pequeño para mis cansados ojos. Son unas reglas complejas pero fascinantes. Hay vídeos en YouTube muy buenos que ayudan mucho para iniciarte. La mecánica del juego personalmente me gusta mucho: es una mezcla curiosa y que funciona. El colocar todos los elementos del juego puede llevar un rato (sobre todo la primera vez), pero si te organizas las cartas, tokens, personajes y demás, se tarda menos tiempo. Se necesita una mesa hermosa y con mucho espacio libre para jugar. Por ahora sólo lo he jugado en modo solitario (que va de fábula), pero estoy deseando jugarlo pronto con otra persona (a ver si hay suerte y consigo engañar a alguien ;-) Magnífico juego.