Films and books are a popular thematic basis for board games. One of the 22 copies of the first edition of Lewis Carroll's book "Alice in Wonderland" was auctioned for $1998 million in 1,5. The two crowdfunding campaigns for the board game "Wonderlands War" from 2020 and 2022 together raised a similar amount of $1,45 million. The publisher Mirakulus, which belongs to the happyshops family, has now localized the game as part of the second Kickstarter. We treated ourselves to a few teas and entered Wonderland.
Wonderland is a world in which everything is somehow “different”. Even in Wonderland War Mechanically, a lot is familiar, but in combination it is different. The game combines a drafting rondel with area control bag building and asymmetrical factions. All together it makes for an incredibly fun mix that is an experience, especially with a full complement.
Waiting and drinking tea is not
Over three rounds, players try to increase the influence of their faction in Wonderland. As Alice, Queen of Hearts, Mad Hatter, Jabberwocky or Cheshire Cat, they send out their followers and prepare for the battle phase over a cup of tea.
During the tea party, players can move their figure as far around the table as they want and then take the card that is in the corresponding place. The cards show different effects that are then dealt with. Most cards allow followers to be placed in one of the five regions of Wonderland. In addition, the effects include things like adding ally chips to your own bag, receiving Wonderlands, increasing leader strength or unlocking faction abilities.
Whoever returns to the head of the table must roll the madness die once, take the number of madness shards shown, and then fill all empty and unoccupied spaces on the table with cards.
Once everyone has chosen four cards in the current round, the leader figures are placed in one of the regions of Wonderland. Everyone now receives a madness chip for their bag and whoever has the most madness shards receives a second madness chip, but can discard half of the shards.
The bag drives you crazy
The second phase of the round is the combat phase. Starting with the region where the combat marker is located, a battle is fought in the regions of Wonderland in a clockwise direction.
All players who have placed at least one of their followers or wonderlands or their leader figure in the region take part in these. The other players can bet on which faction will win the battle. If you are right, you receive a weak ally chip. If the prediction is wrong, you receive a madness shard.
Before the actual battle begins, the starting combat strength for all fighting factions is determined. Leaders and Wonderlanders bring their individual combat strength. Fortresses bring two strengths. The normal followers bring no strength.
Now the chips are drawn from the bags. After the first chip, you are free to drop out at any time. For each chip drawn, the corresponding combat strength is added and any applicable effects are carried out.
If you hit a madness chip, you lose a unit from the contested region. With the shield, you can put a madness chip you just drew back into the bag.
If you have no more units in the region at any point, you are eliminated from the battle and your combat strength is set to zero. The only consolation is that you can activate the shield again.
If everyone has voluntarily dropped out or is eliminated, the fight is scored. The winner receives the points for the region for the current round and is allowed to place a fortress there. The second place player receives half the points.
Now we check whether someone has completed an order, is allowed to forge chips, has drawn chips that are now activated and what result was bet on.
Peace returns
Once fighting has taken place in all regions, the next round begins, or the final evaluation follows after the fighting phase of the third round.
In addition to the points you have collected during the game, you will now receive between three and six points for the fortresses, depending on how many chips you have forged on the corresponding bar.
Each completed mission earns three points for a combat condition fulfilled during the game and another three for the end condition, plus three bonus points if both are fulfilled.
Finally, you lose one point for each madness shard you own. Whoever has the most points wins the battle for Wonderland.
Information about Wonderlands War
| Number of people: 2 to 5 people Age: from 13 years Playing time: 25 minutes per person Difficulty: expert game Long-term motivation: excellent Mechanics: Bag Building, Area Control, Push-your-luck, Rondell Game idea: Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, Ian Moss Illustrations: Manny Trembley Publisher: Druid City Games, German edition: Mirakulus Official Website: Wonderland War Year of publication: 2024 Language: German Cost: 90 euros, deluxe: 130 euros |
Conclusion
When you enter Wonderland for the first time, you first have to work your way through the somewhat cumbersome rules. Some of them are a bit fragmented and the structure and layout are not ideal. The oversized format of the instructions also doesn't make it any easier to look up individual rules during a game.
When you explain the game to other people, you quickly see how well the game can actually be explained. The basic concepts of the two separate phases are easy to convey, so you can get started pretty quickly. The finer details then become clear as the game progresses, without anyone being at a disadvantage. From the second round onwards, you are in the flow of the game.
Both phases feel equal. Neither seems like a means to an end so that the other works. When moving around the table during the tea party, you are always faced with the dilemma that you don't just want one card at all costs. Usually the best one is also the one furthest ahead. Nevertheless, you always have to keep an eye on the madness shards that you get when you complete a full round around the table.
But the real fun is actually “just” prepared during the tea party. You fill the bag with better chips, position your followers cleverly and recruit Wonderlanders to win in the battle phase.
This is where all the advantages of bag building come into play. The excitement of drawing at the same time and testing your own luck to win or complete a task increases round after round. Even those not fighting follow the fight, as their bets are at stake. The larger the group, the more fun this phase is.
Nevertheless, the game also works very well with two players. However, there is a risk that the person in the lead will be recognized as the winner early on, as there is no way to catch up if you are unlucky a few times when drawing chips. In a larger group, this balances out much better due to the number of players.
The first game may take a little longer than the stated time, but once everyone is familiar with the rules, it's no problem to play faster. With two players, it's no problem to finish in under 60 minutes.
In terms of materials, the game is well equipped, even if it is quite expensive, especially in the basic version. Apart from the miniatures, the deluxe version doesn't really contain anything that offers any real added value. It's a real shame that the inlay doesn't make it any easier to set up and take down. In some places I even find it more impractical than using simple zip bags, especially when it comes to taking down the game.
Overall is Wonderland War a game that is simply fun. Especially in a large group, a great dynamic develops in the game. If you don't like bag building à la Quacksalber and the luck factor that comes with it, you won't be happy here either. For everyone else, Wonderland War similar feel with that special something that makes it, for me, one of the best representatives with this mechanism.
