Astoria is a land pulsing with magic and intrigue! A handful of Arch-Mages are vying for the loyalty of wizards across the land so that they can wield ultimate power.
Lizard Wizard is a game from the team that brought you Raccoon Tycoon. Aspects of gameplay will be familiar to fans of RT, and will add a bit of extra depth and strategy.
In Lizard Wizard, players compete to recruit wizards from seven unique schools of magic, build mystical towers, research powerful spells, summon helpful familiars, and search dark dungeons for gold and items of power. Only one Arch-Mage will rise above the rest and control the land. Will it be you?
Actions
Lizard Wizard is an action-selection game. On a player’s turn, they may perform one of the following six Actions:
1) GATHER REAGENTS
Just as there are seven schools of magic, there are seven magical reagents, or ingredients, that fuel the magic of Astoria. Knowing where these natural wonders can be found is the essential starting point for every young wizard. Sometimes they use familiars to perform this errand, but it is still very common to find even the most powerful arch-mages lurking in the Enchanted Wood, searching for the most pure reagents.
Play a Gather Reagents Card
Take Reagents shown on the ‘Gather Reagents’ half (plus any on your Wizard Cards)
Increase the value of the Reagents shown on the ‘Increase Value’ half
Cast one spell (if you have the necessary reagents)
2) CONVERT REAGENTS TO MANA
Long ago, the wizards of Astoria learned how to convert reagents into mana, the magical energy that powers all things. The process is no longer dangerous, but it still takes great focus and knowledge.
Turn in one type of reagents to the supply
Gain Mana = Value of that Reagent x Tokens turned in
Reduce the Value of that Reagent by the number of Tokens turned in
3) RECRUIT WIZARD
The Arch Mages of Astoria are vying for ultimate power, which can only be achieved by drawing several lesser wizards into their circle of influence. They do this through demonstrations of their magical ability. Occasionally, their attempts to recruit a wizard are challenged by one or more rivals, and a Wizard’s Duel occurs. These contests of magical power can drain even the most powerful mage.
Select one of the two Wizard Cards on offer and bid Mana in turn (or pass)
Winner of the Auction pays the bid and takes the Wizard Card
If the player who started the Auction didn’t win, they may take another Action
4) RESEARCH SPELL
Arch-Mages have the ability to learn spells from any of the seven schools of magic. Once they have researched a new spell, it still must be cast with reagents (and the help of a familiar) before it takes effect.
Select a Spell Card from the four on offer and pay 5 Mana
Place the Spell Card face down in front of you
Cast the Spell if you have the necessary Reagents
5) CREATE A TOWER
Magical Towers amplify the power of wizards of each school of magic. Towers may be created through powerful magic, or built by workers who must be paid.
Pay either the Reagents or the Gold shown on the Tower Card on offer
Take the Tower Card and place it in front of you
Towers add ‘1’ to your storage for Reagents
6) SUMMON FAMILIAR:
Familiars are magical spirits that are summoned and inhabit the bodies of mortal creatures. They are essential servants who perform many vital services for wizards: They can be used for simple errands, such as gathering reagents or gold. They are the only ones who can locate the ever-shifting entrance to the famous Dungeons of Astoria. They are also essential assistants in the complex rituals required to cast spells.
Use the Card for one of four purposes:
a) Score one School of Magic (2 Gold/ Card of the same School of Magic as the Familiar)
b) Gather Reagents shown on the Familiar Card and Cast any number of Spells
c) Clear the Spell Offer, Replace them with four new Spell Cards and select one for free
d) Enter the Dungeon
Draw cards from the top of the Dungeon Deck, stopping when you want
Monster Cards ‘hit’; 2 hits = failure
If you stop before failure, keep the treasure cards and shuffle the monster cards back into the Dungeon Deck
If you fail, shuffle all drawn cards back into the Dungeon Deck
End Game and Scoring
The game will end when any one of the following decks is depleted: Familiar, Tower, Wizard, Spell.
When the game ends, the players will score points for each Wizard and Tower Card combo (10 VP if they are of the same school of magic, and 5 VP if they are not), 3 VP for each Spell Card in schools of magic where they have a matching Wizard and Tower, 1 VP for each Gold gathered from the dungeon or from scoring with a Familiar Card, and any points derived from the special abilities from spells.
-description from publisher
- Quick to play
- Simple to learn
- High interaction with many strategic options
- Many ways to play and win
- Vibrant fantasy noir art style
- Choices can be hard
- set collection with auction and commodity speculation
- a mystical and scaly world of archmages and wizards
- Raccoon Tycoon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Auction / Bidding — Players can spend a turn to put a wizard up for auction and bid against other players with mana to recruit them; recruiting provides an extra token when gaining commodities.
- auction to recruit wizards — Players can spend a turn to put a wizard up for auction and bid against other players with mana to recruit them; recruiting provides an extra token when gaining commodities.
- commodity speculation — Players spend commodity cards to gain what is shown on the top half and increase the value on the bottom; or spend any number of one type of commodity to gain its current value in mana, which in turn drops that commodity's value.
- Dungeon Crawl — Entering the dungeon with a push-your-luck quest to find gold and treasures while monsters appear.
- dungeon push-your-luck quest — Entering the dungeon with a push-your-luck quest to find gold and treasures while monsters appear.
- End-game trigger — The game ends once any deck of cards is empty.
- set collection scoring — Scoring involves creating sets of wizards, towers, and spells; individual wizards and towers have point values that interact for scoring.
- spells and familiars on the board — The board offers spells purchased with mana and cast with commodities; familiars purchased with mana provide various effects.
- tower and scoring structure — Towers can be purchased with commodities or gold, scoring points and increasing storage capacity; towers become more expensive over time.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- lizard wizard is a set collecting game with auction and commodity speculation
- the game ends once any one of the decks of cards is empty
- downtime is low with a rapidly changing economy track
- fantasy noir art style for all of the wizards and familiars
References (from this video)
- Artwork praised as amazing
- Fast-paced two-player experience
- Clear introductory overview and accessible rules
- Tight economy with meaningful decisions
- Not explicitly stated, but potential for tempo issues with 4 players; deck depletion endgame can slow down pace
- No explicit publisher/designer details in transcript
- wizards and spell economy
- lizard world
- auction-driven, set-collection with dungeon exploration
- Raccoon Tycoon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Auction (mana-based) — Wizards are gained by an auction where players bid using mana; the highest bid wins.
- Auction / Bidding — Wizards are gained by an auction where players bid using mana; the highest bid wins.
- Dungeon Crawl — Enter the dungeon to seek treasures and gold; limited encounters with monsters.
- dungeon exploration — Enter the dungeon to seek treasures and gold; limited encounters with monsters.
- Economy track price dynamics — Prices on reagents rise with gathering and are reduced by selling; top track shows values.
- End-game scoring and set collection — Score is based on matching wizards and towers, with additional points from spells and other achievements.
- End-of-round and deck depletion end — Game ends when one of the decks is empty, triggering final scoring.
- Familiars and bonuses — Familiars provide various actions and bonuses, including gaining mana when towers are built.
- Resource management — Reagents are collected to build spells; mana is a key resource; reagents' values change on the track.
- Resource tracks (reagents and mana) — Reagents are collected to build spells; mana is a key resource; reagents' values change on the track.
- Spell buying and casting — Spells are bought for a cost and cast using reagents.
- Towers and Wizards acquisition — Towers are gained via reagents or gold; Wizards via auction.
- Transform/reagent alchemy (two-to-one) — A transform spell allows converting reagents at a 2:1 ratio before converting to mana.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the end game condition is when one of these decks is empty
- end game scoring: matching wizards and towers is worth 40 points
- it's quick isn't it between two players
References (from this video)
- rich thematic integration with strong artwork
- adds meat and deeper strategy beyond Racoon Tycoon lineage
- varied strategies through towers, wizards, spells, and familiar choices
- more complex and heavier than its predecessor
- the rule set and iconography can be dense for newcomers
- wizard schools, magical reagents, and spellcraft
- A fantasy/wizarding realm with towers, wizards, and magical jurisdictions
- thematic and slightly whimsical fantasy with deeper strategy
- Raccoon Tycoon
- Seven Wonders
- Civ-themed engine builders
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- auction/bidding — competitive bidding to acquire towers and wizards; core engine for competing strategies
- deck-building / engine-building — players craft combinations of cards to improve actions and options over the course of the game
- dungeon delving (new element) — an optional/delving component with risk and rewards that adds tension and narrative flavor
- set collection / school alignment — collecting elements from schools of magic to maximize point scoring and spell effectiveness
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's easy to get into but there's a lot of meat to it
- the simple mechanic works so well as kind of the beating heart of the game
- Lizard Wizard takes that idea and adds more meat and adds more different strategies and deck building potential and engine building
- the art in this game is absolutely amazing
- the two decks ... haven and street ... city deck with ongoing events
References (from this video)
- By same designers/company as Raccoon Tycoon
- High quality components
- UV coatings on cover
- Metal coins included
- fantasy
- wizards
- Raccoon Tycoon
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- pandemic shame which is i just went on a kickstarter spree while i was living in egypt
- we're gonna start a new hashtag we're going hashtag team jason zack
- there's nothing wrong with that because i think this is going to be a great game
- it might be number 23 which is something that is not being put out until tomorrow
- i just want to see that in motion and working on the table
- if you really enjoy some games by you know certain makers you're probably going to like in another one