''Wizard's Quest'' is a fantasy board wargame published by
Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill Games Inc. is a game company that publishes wargames and strategic board games. It has also published miniature wargaming rules, role-playing games and sports simulations. It is a subsidiary of Hasbro, and operates under the company ...
in 1979.
Description
''Wizard's Quest'' is a fantasy game where two to six players vie for the island kingdom of Marnon.
Components
The game box holds:
*Foldout map portraying Marnon, divided into 36 numbered territories and eight castles
*Rulebook
*2 six-sided dice, one white and one red
* 35 Petition cards
*92 Counters (1 Wizard, 1 Dragon, 90 Orcs)
*Six armies of 52 plastic tokens in six colors (red, green, blue, yellow, pink, orange). Each "army" contains:
**Hero
**Mage
**Three treasures (Crown, Chest, Ring) plus a "fake" treasure
**40 square-based soldiers worth one unit each, and 6 round-based soldiers worth five units each
Setup
Each player chooses an empty castle.
Orcs are placed on empty castles and in some of the territories. Each player places a soldier on an empty territory, and this continues until there are no empty spaces. Players randomly deal their three treasures and fake treasure to other players. Each player then hides the treasure received on the board but the treasures cannot be placed in castles or spaces occupied by the owning player, and no space can contain more than one treasure.
Gameplay
Players take turns attacking occupied spaces in order to search for their treasures.
Additional variables are provided by a wizard (good) and a dragon (bad), who randomly appear in different areas on each turn. Players can add more randomness to the game by choosing to draw from a deck of incident cards at the start of their turn. Most of the cards are beneficial, but some have a negative effect. Bands of orcs also roam around the board, causing problems.
Victory conditions
The first player to reclaim all three of their treasures wins the game.
Publication history
''Wizard's Quest'' was designed by Willis Carpenter, Garret Donner, Mick Uhl and Michael Steer, with cover art by Chris White. It was published in North America by Avalon Hill in 1979. Various international companies including Klee, Pelito, and
Schmidt Spiele
Schmidt Spiele is a German games publisher for a wide variety of games, especially German-style board games.
Founder Josef Friedrich Schmidt developed Mensch ärgere dich nicht in 1907/1908, based on antique forerunners. Five years later his new ...
acquired the rights for international distribution in various countries.
Reception
In the January–February 1980 edition of ''
The Space Gamer
''The Space Gamer'' was a magazine dedicated to the subject of science fiction and fantasy board games and tabletop role-playing games. It quickly grew in importance and was an important and influential magazine in its subject matter from the ...
'' (Issue No. 26), Mark Brady concluded that it "is a fun little game".
In the January 1980 edition of ''
Dragon'' (Issue 33),
Bill Fawcett called ''Wizard's Quest'' "just plain fun." He found the game components to be of excellent quality, although he was disappointed by the nondescript artwork on the counters. Fawcett especially admired the simplicity of the rules, and recommended the game, saying, "Wizard’s Quest is a game that makes for a few pleasant hours. Like ''
Risk
In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environm ...
'' or ''
Cosmic Encounter
''Cosmic Encounter'' is a science fiction–themed strategy board game designed by "Future Pastimes" (collectively, Peter Olotka, Jack Kittredge and Bill Eberle, with Bill Norton) and originally published by Eon Games in 1977. In it, each player ...
'', much depends upon how the players approach the game. It will tend to be as cutthroat or calm as the group makes it. The large number of variables ensure that every game will be different from the last. If such a thing as a Light Gaming Classic could exist, then Avalon Hill, which seems to specialize in Classic games, may have produced one."
In Issue 77 of the UK magazine ''Games & Puzzles'',
Nick Palmer
Nick may refer to:
* Nick (given name)
* A cricket term for a slight deviation of the ball off the edge of the bat
* British slang for being arrested
* British slang for a police station
* British slang for stealing
* Short for nickname
Place ...
called it "really a sort of murderous treasure hunt." He noted that "you can play this solitaire, but all the fun is in the multi-player interaction, with increasingly desperate attempts to stop the more successful players as their forces bear down on the final treasure." Palmer concluded by giving the game an Excitement grade of 4 out of 5.
Other reviews
*''
The General'' Vol. 17 No. 4
*''
Jeux & Stratégie'' #51 (as "Thorval")
References
{{Avalon Hill
Avalon Hill games
Board games introduced in 1979
Wargames introduced in 1979