/pic5948.jpg)
Game Info
Year
1984
Players
2
Age
10+
Playtime
40 min
Collection
Your Tier
Loading…
Mechanic profile
Not enough video data yet
Vibe profile
Not enough video data yet
Description
The trick-taking game Wizard uses a sixty-card deck that consists of the traditional 52-card deck (1-13 in four suits) along with four Wizards (high) and four Jesters (low).
Players compete over multiple rounds based on the number of players, and whoever ends with the highest score wins. In each round, players are dealt a hand of cards — one card in the first round, two cards in the second, three in the third, etc. — then trump is determined by flipping the top card of the undealt deck; if a suit is revealed, that suit is trump, while if the card turned up is a Jester, it is turned down and there is no trump for that round. If the card turned up is a Wizard, the dealer chooses one of the 4 suits as the trump suit. The dealer cannot choose "no trump". On the last round of each game all cards are dealt out so there is no trump. Players then state how many tricks they expect to win in the round.
The playing and winning of the tricks uses mostly standard trick-taking rules. If a player leads a suited card, then all other players must follow suit, if possible. If a player leads a Jester, then the second player determines the suit led. If a player leads a Wizard, then those who follow can play whatever they want. However, in all cases a player may always play a Wizard or Jester, even if they hold cards in the suit led.
After each player has played a card, determine the winner of the trick as follows: If one or more Wizards were played, the player of the first Wizard wins the trick, collects the cards, and leads to the next trick. If not, whoever played the highest trump wins the trick. If not, whoever played the highest card of the suit led wins the trick. If all players played Jesters, whoever played the first Jester wins.
After all tricks have been played, players tally their score for the round. If a player matched their bid, winning exactly as many tricks as stated at the start of the round, they score 20 points, plus 10 points for each trick taken. If a player missed their bid, they lose 10 points for each trick that they were off, whether they took more or fewer than predicted.
A common variant in Wizard is to not allow the total number of tricks bid in a round to match the round number, thereby forcing (at least) one player to be off each round.
Featured Videos
Ask a Rules Question
All mentions
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 16
This page: 16
Sentiment:
pos 14 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 1 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–16 of 16
Video 8QHGcSq7yUU
Rolling Dice & Taking Names Analysis at 40:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 93861 · mention_pk 254616
Click to watch at 40:35 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Ariana Grande is Glinda, the 'green one'.
- Cynthia Erivo is playing Elphaba and doing a very good job.
- Jeff Goldblum plays the Wizard.
- Trailer looks good.
- Based on the musical.
- Tony is interested in seeing it, but on streaming.
Cons
- Tony is not willing to pay to see it in the theater.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- oh that's a no-brainer that's gonna be awesome moana's also awesome yeah
- I'm willing to give Lilo and Stitch a try
- just by picking Superman at four
- did anybody even see Indescribable me for Despicable Me Despicable Indescribable wow Indescribable no I haven't and it's funny because for a movie that actually apparently made a lot of money I haven't heard any body say anything about it
- I did see my sleeper pick the um Moon movie about to the Moon flying to the Moon you saw that yeah and how was it I enjoyed it
- it's a romcom
- you didn't like Fall Guy
- I know Barbie was was amazing
- I did not like La La Land
- he was really good at new Blade Runner
- it is a fantastic movie it is also like the soundtrack is superb um it is a tight tight thing
- The Notebook
- the new unmatched the teenage M Ninja because we did talk to Justin Jacobson of Restoration Games on the last episode
- I love unmatched
- Milkman has been getting out to everybody
- the overwhelming response has been positive
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video OgAMbmnzQ6E
Watch It Played Interview at 56:31 sentiment: positive
video_pk 90975 · mention_pk 243699
Click to watch at 56:31 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Downforce is now available to play as a beta
- I almost had it... but it just couldn't quite make it happen
- Fair Dinkum time
- test test test test everything
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video X-KLCesuCRU
kovray Top 10 List at 52:42 sentiment: positive
video_pk 84379 · mention_pk 214378
Click to watch at 52:42 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Positive
Pros
- Simple and classic gameplay
- Good for repeated plays
- Intuitive mechanics
- Fun to play with friends
- Less punishing than Skull King
Cons
- Can be long
- Can be chaotic at higher player counts
Thematic elements
- Magic
Comparison games
- Skull King
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bidding — You're also making bids on how many tricks you think you're going to win.
- player powers — There's also player power cards. Technically, not really. There's wizards that beat every other card and then there's jesters that lose to every other card.
- Trick-Taking — It has a very similar DNA. But it's very similar in a way that your hand size is how depend on the round.
- Variable trump — For every hand that you are playing, you'll reveal a card and that will be the trump suit that is for the round
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The player who played the second highest card in the lead suit wins the trick.
- You're trying to sting the other players with bees.
- If you collect the same valued bee, same color, same value, you get eliminated by going into anaphylaxis shock.
- This is the meanest trick taking game I've ever played.
- The market adds a lot of unique and interesting aspects to this game because of the way that everybody else can see it.
- The hierarchy gets really difficult to follow like there's so many different combinations that occur.
- The first phase is actually trick taking for cards. And the cards that you win, you'll be playing the second phase in a card shedding phase.
- The way that this game works is you'll shuffle those two decks together.
- I find it chaotically pleasing.
- I think that experience along with the trick taking is very unique.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video cYXiFdSvok4
Rahdo Runs Through Top List at 1:04:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 84134 · mention_pk 213443
Click to watch at 1:04:35 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Positive
Pros
- The timing required for playing wizards and jesters adds an interesting strategic element.
- The ability to bid zero is a key feature that mitigates frustration.
- The old-school online interface of wizardscards.com provides a unique, nostalgic experience.
Cons
- Initial frustration with the wizard card always winning the trick.
- The ability to make the exact number of bids can be seen as a negative.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Oh Hell
- The Crew
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bidding — Players bid on how many tricks they think they'll win.
- Special Cards (Wizards/Jesters) — Wizards always win tricks, with the first played wizard taking the trick. Jesters always lose tricks unless everyone plays a jester.
- Trick-Taking — Players bid on how many tricks they think they'll win, with points awarded based on successful bids.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- That was the funniest thing I've witnessed.
- I remember talking to him at WSBG when he was there for a couple years. We were like, "We should play Tichu." And I was like, "I want to play teach with you." And then it just never happened.
- This uses trick taking in, I believe, area control uh, on a board.
- Time chasers is a weird trick.
- It's very heavy.
- But I again I haven't played it. So they're saying it's a card shedding game with double-ended cards.
- Shallow sea is the game for you because they sponsored this RNR show.
- Bad Comet is again a really great company with um, exceptional production quality as well.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video _XTwLtVsYUk
Drive Thru Games Review at 55:17 sentiment: positive
video_pk 84105 · mention_pk 213211
Click to watch at 55:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
Positive
Pros
- Runs fine with default settings
- Remake of classic RPG
Cons
- No cloud saves if not using Steam
Thematic elements
- Dungeon crawling RPG
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- First-person dungeon crawling — it's just a first-person little dungeon crawling RPG.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Here we've also got the good old games Doom 1 Doom 2.
- Yeah, so you know, it's Doom.
- It works.
- And while we're talking about it, same idea here with Heretic and Hexen.
- this is just Doom fantasy.
- And then here we have System Shock 2.
- But, it's it's a remaster of System Shock 2, so it's a little bit updated.
- But it runs good just like basically right out of the box there.
- And this is last one this Pico-8.
- So, what Pico-8 is, it's almost like it's own little console.
- But then, you get like hundreds and hundreds of games for free.
- these little like Gameboy S games.
- This top screen runs at 120 Hz.
- So, if I'm just playing like, you know, retro games or something, I don't worry about it.
- And if I'm especially if I'm playing the dual screen games here, then if you set this to 120, this bottom screen is like a little bit weird cuz the screen technically can't go to 120, but it kind of fakes it out.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video b8UIYX-9Zh8
Rob's Tabletop World Discussion at 10:44:36 sentiment: positive
video_pk 81533 · mention_pk 203008
Click to watch at 10:44:36 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video E-YxIVRw7YY
Rob's Tabletop World Top 20 List at 16:20 sentiment: positive
video_pk 81433 · mention_pk 202171
Click to watch at 16:20 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ElecsgNMz84
The Dice Tower Analysis at 5:08 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 80789 · mention_pk 197976
Click to watch at 5:08 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Classic game
- Designed by Sid Sackson
Cons
- Many games have done resource conversion better since
Thematic elements
- resource conversion
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Resource conversion — This is a game about turning different resources into other resources. There's a lot of games that have done this, but you see blue turns into two green. But then if I get a green and a red, I can turn into a yellow, white, and blue and a yellow, red, and and that's the whole game. You're trying to get resources, turn them, other things.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- A frenetic 10-minute game from Queen.
- This is one of the key games I have not played. This is the sixth one.
- That's a cool name.
- I felt it could have done a little better. Um, it's it's almost too slight for me.
- I found it a little too fiddly, but as you can see, it's moving up in ranks.
- So it it's kind of funny it took him so long to come out with an Axis and Allies World War I game.
- I know I enjoyed it, but also it's 10 years ago, so it's hard to remember.
- This is the prequel to Clue where you're going around trying to kill Dr. Lucky.
- And I found it to be a lot of fun.
- If you like He-Man, this really brings it out.
- I've heard good things about this game, but I have never played it.
- This game is very weird and unique but I like it.
- This is one of the classic war games.
- It's running a kind of like an engine building thing through the space station.
- I liked it, but it has been a while.
- This is the OG Fury of Dracula game.
- I have never played Peanuckle. I know a little bit about it, but it's interesting to see this one kind of rated way here in the middle.
- I find it very odd that they are they're basically the same game. I'm not sure why they have two separate entries.
- Bidding to take Bowolf down a path has almost nothing to do with the theme.
- I liked it fine.
- I do like that you use the box and stuff as terrain.
- This is kind of a holy grail for many people.
- I'm not as big on the horror theme as many other people are, but I know people like this concept here of horror games running around.
- Of the ones I talked about today, I think Masters of the Universe, the board game, um, is my favorite.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 3N0n8AbXTWQ
The Dice Tower Analysis at 0:53 sentiment: neutral
video_pk 80324 · mention_pk 195299
Click to watch at 0:53 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
neutral
Pros
none
Cons
- There are a lot of more modern games that do a better job
Thematic elements
- trading goods
Comparison games
- Century: Spice Road
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Set Collection — Sort of game where you trade in goods for other goods, a red for a blue and a yellow that I can trade in a blue, yellow, and red for a green.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I had to increase this rating to a 10. I play this all the time. Love this game, it's fantastic.
- This is a remake of an older game. Um Miss Miss Miss Miss I forget the Missenium or whatever it's called. Um from Reiner Knizia and the cows are being abducted. It's weird and unusual and I There's some things I liked about it, but I can't really recommend it because I think it's too odd.
- My kids liked it more though, but 6.5.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Lay6MXQu2_Y
Rules Teach at 0:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 70360 · mention_pk 167289
Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Earning points for accurate predictions and tricks taken.
- Strategic play involving trump suits and special cards.
Cons
- Heavy point penalties for incorrect predictions.
- Carl's consistent poor performance and significant point loss.
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bidding — Before each round, players must predict the exact number of tricks they will win. This bid is crucial for scoring.
- Hand Management — Players are dealt a specific number of cards each round and must decide which card to play to win tricks or fulfill their bid.
- Special cards — Jesters are the weakest cards, beaten by everything, while Wizards are the strongest, beating everything else. These introduce unique interactions and exceptions to rules.
- Trick-Taking — Players play one card to a trick, and the player with the strongest card wins the stack. The core of the game revolves around winning or losing tricks.
- Trump suit — A suit is determined each round (or by the dealer if a wizard is revealed) which is the strongest suit, overriding normal card rankings.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- So, when you get dealt that single card in the first round, you have to think to yourself, is my card likely to be stronger than every other player's card?
- A wizard is the opposite of a jester. It'll beat anything.
- Since spades is the trump suit, a spade of any value beats any non-Trump card except a wizard, which beats everything.
- So, Carl loses 10 points for each trick over or under his prediction.
- Surprise, it wasn't Carl.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video B1IHxNbmI8Y
Jung its games Discussion at 10:48 sentiment: positive
video_pk 66530 · mention_pk 162146
Click to watch at 10:48 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trick-Taking — play a single card per trick; trump may exist; winner determined by best card for the trick
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- as long as it's very clear that you were paid for that content as long as it's on screen as it's in the description you click the little button within a YouTube UI that pops up a thing that said this includes pay promotion I think that's fine
- I think as long as you are fully transparent about being paid it pretty much doesn't matter what kind of content you're making
- it's very hard to make these campaigns work
- I started a patreon campaign after I can't remove the specifics but it was like maybe two two and a half years into making my junkets games channel
- if you're gonna be spending $100 a year on board games then you know I like to think that it makes sense to throw one two five to ten dollars or whatever to people whose opinions you really value
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video VMg3CO1kDMY
watch it played Discussion at 5:26 sentiment: positive
video_pk 65366 · mention_pk 159027
Click to watch at 5:26 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- sender thinks it's a very fun trick-taking game
- host's wife's favorite trick-taking game
- played all the time by wife and her in-laws
Cons
- the deluxe edition was not received, only a standard version
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trick-Taking — a trick-taking game
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- hi everyone welcome back to watch it played
- so we're going to have the next TBL talk episode releasing talking about crowdfunding for media projects like this we also have the third episode of the boss monster gam playay and at the end of this video we're going to announce which game we're featuring next so stick around for that
- so I want to start with this tube here this came from Brett Kelo let me open it up here and I'll show you what's inside
- these mats were sent from Inplay mats.com this company lets you upload images to be printed on a variety of different gaming products including dice bags card sleeves and as you can see playmats
- at least now when I lose I'll be losing in style thanks a lot Brett that was that was really really cool and especially thrown in the second one for Luke that was that was really kind
- happy Springtime May the god of thunder only manifest in cardboard and spare Pei best wishes Daniel
- Daniel Hoffman has sent us I think a gift every year uh the the last one he sent us I think was primordial soup in fact I just had that game out maybe 2 3 weeks ago and was playing it
- I don't know how to pronounce it Daniel was this a trick to make me look silly on camera
- nil is a Cooperative game where players are taking on the roles of gods from Norse mythology you'll be facing various enemies these will cause detrimental effects that you must prevent and overcome
- the game that he sent us was pandemic the new addition of it uh I had the older edition but the new expansions aren't compatible with the old Edition and he sent us the expansions as well along with one other thing in this box which I'll get to in just a moment
- he actually was taught the game by Zev from zman games who publishes uh this product and uh he's learned it he taught it at the con and he's offered me that if I have any rules questions I can contact him
- Andrew thanks again so much for these gifts it doesn't seem quite adequate saying just thank you over and over again but um I I want you to know it's very humbling to receive packages like these from our viewers and uh you can be sure that these games will be hitting our table and creating opportunities for me and my family and my friends to enjoy time together which is really what gaming is all about and I just so appreciate that people like yourselves help make that happen for me as well it's really really kind
- this is the trick-taking game wizard
- well guess what Andrew she is going to enjoy it because wizard is perhaps her favorite trick-taking game this one we play all the time with her in-law as we play it ourselves you couldn't have perceived any better what kind of game she would like
- this is uh dead of winter the new game they'll be releasing soon from plat Hat games
- it's not going out yet if you've pre-ordered the game um they are working on getting it out as soon as possible there has been some delays this is one that they uh specifically air shipped over so that I could start working on the instructional video for you guys
- it was a wonderful opportunity to go to the cool Min or not Expo and to be away for a couple of days to do that but it's also great to be back and working on more videos and content for you guys
- until the next episode thanks for watching
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video YalDrB1Lanc
Watch It Played Top List at 2:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 63983 · mention_pk 157497
Click to watch at 2:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
none
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
- Skull King
- Tigris and Euphrates
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's fantastic game
- rockus laughter
- thinky deep strategic tactical masterful simple to learn got great depth and wonderful balance of rules and the balance in the game in general it's just a perfectly wonderful game
- boards that you can play with in that game are better than others some are going to probably get you more points
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video -_1L44nEdII
The Dice Tower Discussion at 24:04 sentiment: positive
video_pk 38438 · mention_pk 208787
Click to watch at 24:04 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Classic trick-taking game with nostalgic value
Cons
none
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- That's why I'm not an actor.
- Top 10 reasons Joey's not an actor.
- Language independent.
- Three ninjas have slipped inside.
- You can be tattooed like me. Not really, but there's fake tattoos.
- This is not a drill. Come play test with us.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video AC0OZsvhWXg
Foster the Meeple Top List at 2:12 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8303 · mention_pk 24324
Click to watch at 2:12 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Love trick taking games
- Widely available in board game stores
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- Trick-taking
- Fantasy
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Trick-Taking — Predict how many tricks you'll win with the help of wizards and jesters
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- We love trick taking games
- This game is so much freaking fun
- I adore GMT games, they are becoming one of my favorite game publishers
- If you remember Vast Crystal Caverns is in my top five games of all time
- We bloody love it
- We can't stop playing
- It's a blimp game not a train game
- That's just work
- I don't think I want to play it
- I'll get it eventually
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ebKhhU7aJ-E
Adam in Wales - Board Game Design Discussion at 3:49 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4675 · mention_pk 13649
Click to watch at 3:49 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Engaging bidding mechanic that adds anticipation
- Clear alignment between prediction and scoring
- Accessible for players familiar with standard trick-taking games
Cons
- Requires careful counting and memory to optimize bids
- Some players may feel the luck of the draw can overpower strategy in the short term
Thematic elements
- magic and spellcasting as a framing for card play
- Fantasy-themed trick-taking, with betting and round-based play
- semi-theatrical, with emphasis on prediction and risk-taking
Comparison games
- Skull King
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- round-based scoring with bids — Points are awarded for meeting or exceeding bids, with penalties for miscalculated bids, creating a push-pull between risk and reward across rounds.
- special cards with exceptions — Certain cards (like wizard or jester) can override standard rules and be played at any time, affecting the outcome of a trick.
- Trick-taking with bidding — Players bid the number of tricks they expect to win each round; a trump suit is determined for the round, and tricks are won by following suit or using trump cards to conquer higher cards.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- This is a shedding game and the defining feature of shedding is getting rid of all your cards before the others.
- It's a trick-taking shedding game, you’re blending three different genres into a single play experience.
- Vampire Queen is a climbing game for three to twelve players; it’s trick-taking, it’s shedding, and it’s climbing all at once.
- The seven-trick scoring in Front Gherkin is the crown jewel for how you measure endgame value, and that choice shapes how players pace their risk.
- Fool sits at that interesting intersection of bid, bluff, and penalty, where the loser gets punished for a misstep and the winner enjoys the lead again.
- Wizard’s bidding and trick-taking dynamic creates a natural tension between prediction and execution, very much in the spirit of Skull King but with its own twist.
- The history lesson here is that the East and West diverged in their design philosophies, and we now live with a delightful spectrum of games that sits between climbing, shedding, and trick-taking.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–16 of 16