When you think of trick games, many people probably immediately think Wizard by Amigo Already published in 1984 in the USA and 1996 in Germany, Since then, several variants have been released. In addition to Wizard Junior, Wizard Extreme, Wizard Dice Game, Witches and Druids, as well as a 10th, 20th and 25th anniversary edition. Wizard DSA is now also presenting an anniversary edition, namely to mark 40 years. If you do the math now and think that doesn't add up at all. The number refers to the anniversary of the pen & paper role-playing game "The Dark Eye" by Odysseus.
Let's start with the basics. The game comes in the well-known Amigo book format, which has already been used in other anniversary editions. The cover features the DSA logo and offers some shiny effects. If we open the book, we immediately find the game material: 60 cards (that's the normal Wizard deck), 1 DSA special card with shiny effects, a pad, a pen, coins (one side shows a Wizard W, the other the DSA eye) with which the tricks can be represented, and a ribbon so that the game always remains closed during transport.
If you don't know Wizard yet, here's a quick summary of the most important things. Wizard is a trick-taking game that you play over several rounds. At the start of each round, you announce how many tricks you will win. Except in the last round, one card is always face up and determines the trump suit. Each round is started by the person who won the last trick. The card that this person plays then determines the suit that must be followed and the current trick suit. So if I play a green 3, everyone else, provided they also have green cards, must play one. Only if they can't do that can they use other suits. The magician and the fool or the sorceress and the fool are exceptions. Both cards can be placed on any suit and are considered the best or worst card. If several magicians are played in a round, the first card played is considered the stronger.
An important aspect of Wizard is announcing the tricks in advance. If you manage to predict the correct number, you get 20 points as a bonus and an additional 10 points for each trick you win. If you win more or fewer tricks than announced, you get 10 points deducted for each trick difference. This can change the game ranking towards the end. In each round, more cards are played and more tricks can be won. The first round is played with just one card and the last round with 15 cards (with 4 people).
Little new gameplay, but many beautiful illustrations from Aventuria
I think it's a bit of a shame that the edition only includes one special card. The 20th anniversary had 6 special cards, and the 25th even had 7. But that probably makes it clearer that the edition is all about the artwork. These come entirely from the world of Aventuria, the world of DSA. Instead of wizards and witches, the cards here feature the various races from the world of DSA: humans, elves, orcs, dwarves, Achaz (lizards), goblins and dwarves.
The reason for only one special card was that the DSA anniversary meant that the game had to be finished by a clear deadline. Additional cards would have had to be tested extensively. That's why a special card was chosen. Speaking of special cards, this brings uncertainty into the game. If you play it, three cards are revealed from the stack and you can choose a card to play instead of the eye. This brings a little more variety to the game and, above all, gives the person with the card some good advantages. With this card, they can almost always lose a trick that they no longer need, or have another chance at a trick.
Conclusion
Overall, it can be said that this version is primarily for fans of DSA or Wizard, or for people who don't yet have a version of Wizard. If you play Wizard occasionally and already own a game, you'll only get a new map and new artwork with Wizard: DSA and can probably ignore the version. But if you grew up with DSA and like the illustrations, you'll get a nice new edition.
There isn't much to say about the gameplay, as the game principle has remained unchanged. Only the DSA special card brings a little variety, even if I would have liked to have seen more special cards. This version will be on the table, especially in my upcoming game sessions, especially with DSA fans. And the book format is a nice highlight for every shelf for me anyway.
