It is a bad game, though, as you do not have any decisions to make. This is a great way to teach greater than, equal or less than. In War, you play a card from your deck and, if it is higher than your opponent’s card, capture their card and add it to your deck. The inspiration for Wizardly Duel was to have a better alternative to the classic card game of War. Design Diary Inspiration – “Bang! meets Suits” If it is their last healing spell, they lose! Play continues until only 1 wizard remains standing. They must either play a diamond (♦) counterspell from their hand to ward off the attack (“ Diffugio!” ), or discard a heart (♥) healing spell from in front of them (“ Curatus!” ). The current player may then draw 1, 2 or 3 cards, so that they have 3 cards in their hand.Ī targeted rival must respond to an attack. “ Oblivioso!” Play a diamond (♦) counterspell, discarding a card chosen at random from their rival’s hand.

Note: An easy way to remember the difference between the power of the two cards is that a spade shape (♠) has 1 point on it (at the top) and a club shape (♣) has multiple points on it (top and sides). The attacker may then repeat this step for each fireball spell they have in their hand that they wish to play.

“ Incensus!” Play a club (♣) fireball spell on any rival.

The targeted rival must respond to the attack (see below).

“ Arcuballista!” Play a spade (♠) magic-missile spell on any rival they select.

On a player’s turn, they may conduct one of the following attacks, saying the magic spell if they wish: The last player to lose a game goes first. Deal each player 3 cards face down, representing 3 spells they have at their command.

Shuffle the remaining deck of diamonds (♦), spades (♠), and clubs (♣).

Deal each player 3 hearts face up in front of them, then set the remaining hearts aside. Then sort all of the hearts (♥) into a pile. Take a regular deck of cards and remove the jokers. Can you cast the right combination of spells that will defeat your rivals? Setup For instance, you could use the numbers to differentiate levels, so if hearts represent health, you can have 1 (Ace) through 10 (including face cards) represent how much health is involved, setting aside the Jack, Queen, and King of Hearts. You can use each suit as a separate type of card, if you want to limit yourself to four types of cards. You don’t need to use all the cards in the deck. Here’s another card-game design challenge and a case study for you:ĭesign a game that can be played with a regular deck of cards.

This is an excerpt from my ebook, How to Design Card Games.

Online deck of cards to play with