The game looks like a board game, but there are a lot of RPG elements as well. And the game is notoriously difficult to learn.
I have no experience with this game. At all. But I just knew I wanted it. So instead of a review here are some other reviews.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magic_Realm
- https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/22/magic-realm
- https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/1323202/critical-look-magic-realm-and-roleplaying
- https://therewillbe.games/articles-analysis/5389-one-mechanic-review-magic-realm
So it looks like I have some learning ahead of me!
I also have no idea if my game is complete or not. I like what I have seen so far.
7 comments:
Congrats, I guess. I owned a copy back in the day and have never regretted selling it off, but perhaps you'll enjoy it more than I did. Nice bit of gaming history at the very least, and your copy looks like it's in excellent condition. I can certainly empathize with the "I missed Game X when I was younger and have always wondered what it was like" thing, got a few of those on my list as well.
As I suspect you already know, it not only has a steep learning curve it's also a bear to set up and hogs a lot of table space. If you've got a cat-free environment planning to leave it set up and play it gradually over several sessions is probably a good idea.
Incidentally, if you wanted to look at thematically similar games from Avalon Hill, there were a couple of them.
Wizards! is a rather strange mostly co-op (although only one person can actually win in the end) game with some light character advancement and heavy exploration elements. It's a bit easier to learn than Magic Realm, and plays somewhat faster (especially if things go south and the game beats you early).
Mystic Wood is much, much lighter but has some light character advancement elements (about on par with Talisman) and a randomized layout that makes exploration different every game. Fun game, but more beer & pretzels than a major project like MR.
Ah, it came with the second edition rules. Those are much easier to learn from. There's also a third edition rule set (link is to one version of the rules available), put together by fans of the game.
Ugh, little cardboard pieces in a plastic container. The bane of my existence when it came to Avalon Hill games (especially wargames like Panzer Leader...)
Like you, this game has always fascinated me from afar, but have never been willing to part with the huge amount of cash needed to get a decent copy on eBay. One day I will, no doubt, but would be interested to learn how you get on with it (if you ever do actually play it!)
A very strange and evocative game. The large hex tiles would work nicely for an RPG with a zone-based movement system.
I had the chance to talk to Alan Moon about his Avalon Hill days and he had a very interesting tidbit about this game, it seems they received many letters asking for help understanding the rules and the one Alan remembers the best started something like this: "By profession I am a nuclear physicist so I consider myself a fairly intelligent person but I have no idea how to play this game." I wish you much luck or metric tons of perseverance.
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