Wands (2014)

Overview

Wands is a fast-paced fantasy card battle for two to five players, combining elements of Uno and Magic: The Gathering.

You play the role of a witch or wizard, engaged in a magical battle with your opponents. You and your rivals start with 10 life points each. Using a combination of Blasts (unblockable magicks), Spells, and Counter-Spells, you try to reduce your opponents to zero life points and be the last spellcaster standing.

If you cast a Spell, opponents have a chance to cast their Counter-Spells. Multiple Counter-Spells can be cast on each other, adding more damage and greater effects, shifting effects, or canceling them altogether. Imagine one of the wand battles from the Harry Potter movies and you get the idea. It's quite fun to cast a spell on your buddy, watch someone shift the effects to someone else and add to it, watch someone else shift the effects to yet another player, watch someone dispel that shift, watch the next person dispel that shift, and finally, you shift it back to the original target.

Wands is best with two to five players. Games can be as short as a couple of minutes, and it shouldn't take more than ten minutes for anyone to learn the rules.

Wands is not a collectible card game. You only need one set of cards; there's nothing to collect; no booster packs; no rarity; no drafts. This is the full game.