After we have already worked intensively with this year New Eden (Schmidt Spiele) and our editor Jonas last with Showdown (HABA) by Benjamin Schwer, we'll take that into account this time Pegasus Spiele We take a closer look at the Djinn that has been released, one of the new games for Spiel 2023. You can find out how well Djinn is doing in this review.
Great danger is imminent. Magical beings, half corporeal, half ethereal, have found the source of magic around which a community has built their small town. The residents call these evil creatures Djinns and it is our job to capture them. As apprentices of the Magic Guild, we are supposed to catch the djinns in bottles and protect the city's residents from worse things. The best apprentices deserve the honor of rising to the inner circle of the Magic Guild.
Simple lap process with great depth
In Djinn we take on an apprentice from the magic guild and wander through the city to carry out various errands and protect the residents from the Djinns. We can do this by collecting the djinns in bottles of the respective color and closing them with a cork.
On our turn we move one location further in the city and activate the corresponding action for the location or field. There are a total of 6 different types of promotions. The Academy, the Tavern, the Catacombs, the Archives, the Manufactory and the Market. With the various actions we increase our resources (scrolls, coins), improve our game board or our apprentice (in the form of equipment), get supporters and equip ourselves with bottles, corks and magic power for the fight against the djinns.
In the middle of the city there is also the magic source, where we can either recharge our magic strength to the maximum or collect djinns for magic strength. We also receive various bonuses here that we can purchase for more or fewer scrolls, depending on how well we have upgraded our game board.
There is a square and a round field for each of the 6 types of actions. While we carry out the standard form of actions on square fields, round fields activate significantly more powerful versions of the actions. However, the eponymous djinns are also located here and must be caught before or after completing the action.
Catching the Djinns
While all actions are optional, catching the Djinns is a mandatory action and must be performed when you land on a circular action space. However, you are free to decide whether you want to catch just one djinn or more. A normal djinn requires 4 magic power to be captured. The larger master djinns require 4 + 2 magic power per normal djinn located on the same space.
If you have caught a djinn, you can either place it on a ban circle (see photo) on your game board or, if you have the appropriate bottle and a cork, cork it (see background photo). While ban zone spaces are limited, the number of bottles is unlimited. We also get significantly more victory points at the end of the game for djinns locked in bottles. If we place Djinns in a spell circle, they are not trapped there forever. We can always lock these up in bottles if we have the right one.
If we catch a master djinn, it counts as a joker. He can be locked in any bottle and at the end of the game counts the same number of victory points as all other Djinns. However, we can also take another normal Djinn from the same space without having to fight it. This makes it particularly worthwhile when we compete against the master djinn as soon as there is only one other djinn on the same field. However, if we compete against the normal djinn in this constellation, the master djinn flees the city and we no longer have a chance of catching him.
end of the game
The game ends as soon as the last of the 6 master djinns has been captured or escaped from the city. All djinns caught in bottles (10 points) and all djinns caught in spell circles (3 points) are then added together. In addition, you get points for completing scoring cards, trophies, and unused bottles and corks.
While scoring cards give us certain tasks that we have to complete at the end of the game for bonus points, we receive trophies during the game as soon as we have collected three djinns of the same color (master djinns count as wild cards). As soon as we have three trophies of the same color, we can take one of the trophies lying face up and activate its effect. These provide additional resources, support or improvements.
Information about Djinn
| Number of players: 1 – 4 Age: from 12 years Playing time: 70 - 90 minutes Difficulty: expert game Long-term motivation: medium Classification: Set Collection, Point-to-Point Movement Author: Benjamin Schwer Illustrations: Dennis Lohausen Publisher: Pegasus Spiele, Hall Games Official Website: Link Year of publication: 2023 Language: German Cost: 59,99 Euro |
Conclusion
Djinn is one of those games that manages to combine simple game mechanics with plenty of room for sophisticated tactics. Basically we just move from place to place, that's all we do. However, we have to think carefully about the path we want to take. “When are we moving where? Which place will help us and when?” or “What are the others doing on their turn and can that be an advantage for me?”. Since we can also jump over enemy apprentices while moving, this can potentially be used to get to a place you want to go more quickly.
The actions that we activate when entering a place are also very easy to understand thanks to well-chosen symbolism. This means you can quickly get into the game and think carefully about your route, as this simplicity means you always have an overview of everything. Thanks to asymmetrical abilities that you get at the start of a game and the position of the location tiles changing per game, the same tactic doesn't always lead to success. Every game you have to think about a new strategy in order to achieve success.
The only slightly negative point in terms of gameplay in our opinion was the solo mode. Here we have to manage to defeat all 12 master djinns within 15 - 6 moves. The automatic opponent Tom tries to make our lives difficult and keeps sending new djinns into the city. Here you are not only exposed to arbitrariness when you draw cards, but there are simply no opponents to make your life difficult or bring more options into play. However, this is whining at a high level. The solo mode isn't the worst in itself, but there are much better solo modes.
In terms of material, Djinn is convincing, right down to the game board and the game tables. I'm just not a big fan of boards that have to be puzzled together. Here, too, the problem arises that the game material wears out more and more per game. The location field tiles, which are rearranged per game, never fit perfectly into the recess and wear out more and more over time. You have the same problem with your personal game boards. Some tiles do not fit perfectly into the recesses and/or wear out per game. There was already damage here after the first game. That's just annoying because the rest of the material is actually really good. The djinns and the bag look and feel great.
In summary, Djinn is a great game that brilliantly manages to be simple but still have a lot of depth. With a playing time of 60 - 90 minutes, Djinn also has the perfect playing time in which a game doesn't get too boring, but you don't think that you needed much more time. Djinn manages to create a perfect balance that will certainly allow casual gamers to make the leap into the connoisseur range.
| Preview | Product | Rating | Price | |
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Pegasus Games Djinn* |
46,34 EUR |
* = Affiliate link/advertisementAs an Amazon Associate, we earn money from qualifying purchases. If you make a purchase through one of the links, we receive a portion of the purchase price as commission. This doesn't cost you anything extra, but it helps support our website. Last updated on September 12.07.2025, XNUMX / Affiliate links / Images from the Amazon Product Advertising API. Images from Amazon PA API.
