Magic Maze

 

    Last night I played Magic Maze, and let me tell you this is probably one of the most underrated board games in existence. In my opinion, it should rank among the top board games of all time, but is sadly seldom talked about in board game contexts. So if you're looking for a unique and incredibly fun play experience, I highly recommend giving Magic Maze a go!

    The premise: A dwarf, elf, wizard, and thief have been robbed of their magical items! They must sneak into a magical shopping mall and steal back their gear before the security system catches them. But here's the catch: the alarm system is highly sensitive and any noises will trigger it. Players have to work together to find their supplies and get out without communicating in any way!

    Sounds pretty cool, right? Combine that with the fact that the entire mall is built on tiles placed as you play, so no two games are alike. However, the part that makes Magic Maze really cool is that you don't play as the four characters. Instead, each person plays as an action. For example, you could be in charge of moving East, or moving North and using vortexes, or crossing escalators. You can use that action on any character at any time, without taking turns.

    The gameplay ends up as a wacky, frantic rush against a sand timer trying to get the four characters to where they need to go, relying on your peers to use their abilities at the right times and sometimes staring at them intently until they do so. (Which is mentioned as a strategy in the official rulebook). There are many different fun mechanics gradually added to the game as you progress along the initiation situations, like being able to talk at special times, and passing all the action tiles to the left every time the timer is flipped, adding lots of replay value.

    I will give a warning that Magic Maze can get stressful. This one takes some reminders that it's just a game, and you have to be patient with your fellow players that keep forgetting they can use vortexes or need to stop moving one guy at a time or just won't move that piece one square to the left! But it's also a ton of fun, and though I rarely give number ratings, Magic Maze definitely deserves a 10/10.