Wizard Card Game
Magic: The Gathering With over 20 million fans worldwide, Magic is the world’s most popular strategy card game. Throughout the course of a match, players will cast devastating spells, summon creatures of legend, and wield powerful artifacts to best their opponents in a battle of wits. Facebook Twitter Tumblr Instagram. Wizard Scorecard keeps track of scoring in the card game called Wizard®. You enter the bids and tricks taken, and the app will take care of the rest. No more keeping track of score manually! At the end of the game, you can share the completed scorecard on Facebook, Twitter or email. . The first Wizard card played in the trick. Or the highest card in the Trump color. Or the highest card in the led color Special Rights of the Wizards and Fools When a trick is opened with a Wizard, then the following Apprentices may throw off any cards, including further Wizards and Fools. The trick goes to the first Wizard played. The trick-taking game Wizard uses a sixty-card deck that consists of the traditional 52-card deck (1-13 in four suits) along with four Wizards (high) and four Jesters (low). Players compete over multiple rounds based on the number of players, and whoever ends with the highest score wins. In each round, players are dealt a hand of cards — one card. Wizard101 is an online Wizard school adventure game featuring collectible card magic, pets, and duels. Play the best Wizard game online for free, Wizard101. Join the millions of others already exploring this magical wizard world.
Wizard is a trick-takingcard game for three to six players designed by Ken Fisher of Toronto, Ontario in 1984. The game was first printed commercially in June 1986.
A Wizard deck consists of 60 cards: a regular set of 52 playing cards (replaced with custom symbols and colours in some editions), 4 Wizards and 4 Jesters. The Jesters have the lowest value, then the one up to thirteen, with Wizards highest in value. The game is licensed in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Italy and Japan.
Gameplay[edit]
The objective of the game is to bid correctly on the number of tricks that a player will take in the subsequent round of play. Points are awarded for a correct bid and subtracted for an incorrect bid. The player with most points after all rounds have been played is the winner. The game is played in a number of rounds from 10 to 20, depending on the number of players and each round consists of three stages: Dealing, Bidding, and Playing.
In the first round every player gets one card. In the subsequent rounds the number of cards is increased by one until all cards are distributed. That means that three players play 20 rounds, four players 15 rounds, five players 12 rounds and six players 10 rounds. The top card of the remaining cards is turned over to determine the trump suit. If there are no cards left or a jester is turned, there is no trump suit, and only the wizards are trump. If a wizard is turned, the dealer picks a trump suit.
After looking at their cards, starting with the player to the dealer's left, each player states how many tricks he believes he will take, from zero to the number of cards dealt. This is recorded on a score pad.
The player to the left of the dealer plays a card, and then the others follow clockwise. If a card other than a wizard or jester is played, the players have to follow suit, but it is possible to play a jester or wizard although the player has the desired suit. The Wizard beats all other cards but the first one in a trick beats all others. The jester is beaten by all others, but if all cards in a trick are jesters the first one beats the others. If a jester is played as the first card the first suit card decides which suit has to be followed. If a wizard is played as the first card every player is free to play what they want regardless of the others. If the first card is a Jester and the second a Wizard, then the Wizard rule takes precedence and players are not required to follow suit.[1][2]
At the end of each round, each player is given a score based on his performance. For predicting the number of tricks taken correctly, a player receives 20 points plus 10 points for each trick taken. For predicting the number of tricks taken incorrectly, a player loses 10 points for each trick over or under.
Variant card sets[edit]
The German version of Wizard has a different design, with a fantasy-themed character on each card. Each character has a title such as der Krieger (the warrior) or die Priesterin (the priestess) printed at the top of the card. There are 2 male and 2 female versions of each character. The German decks contain four non-standard suits with values from 1 to 13, four Z cards labelled either der Zauberer (the sorcerer) or die Zauberin (the sorceress), and four N cards labelled der Narr or die Närrin (the fool). The German deck is distributed in the United States as 'Fantasy Wizard', with an English box and rules. The cards are identical to the German ones, including the German abbreviations for Zauberer/Zauberin and Narr/Närrin.
The Medieval deck of cards has a themed character on each card. The characters are: (2) Hermit, (3) Peasant, (4) Farmer, (5) Archer, (6) Blacksmith, (7) Merchant, (8) Bard, (9) Scholar, (10) Bishop, Knight, Queen, King, (Ace) Dragon. The cards are also color-coded: Hearts (Red), Spades (Black), Clubs (Green), Diamonds (Purple), Jesters (Brown), Wizards (Blue).
Tournament play[edit]
Regular tournaments are held online. World Championships began in 2010. Each nation is invited to send a maximum of two representatives to the annual event. World Championship locations have included:
- 2010: Frankfurt, Germany. Champion Germany (Josef Sigi)
- 2011: Budapest, Hungary. Champion Austria (Beate Punz)
- 2012: Vienna, Austria. Champion Switzerland (Thomas Kessler)
- 2013: Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Champion Germany (Christian Adolph)
- 2014: Athens, Greece. Champion Hungary (Gergely Suba)
- 2015: Prague, Czech Republic. Champion Austria (Hans Mostbock)
- 2016: Budapest, Hungary. Champion Switzerland (Robert Laschkolnig)
- 2017: Riga, Latvia. Champion Austria (Ignaz Punz)
- 2018: Warsaw, Poland. Champion Greece (Vasilis Papadakis)
- 2019: Antwerp, Belgium. Champion Greece (Spyros Keramas)
- 2020: Barcelona, Spain. Cancelled due to the Covid19 pandemic.
First hand probabilities[edit]
Since there are no options for which card to play when a player is only holding one card, there is a statistically correct bid for any given card. This only truly applies if a player has the lead, and thus no information from other bids. Since a correct bid of 1 yields 30 points, and a correct bid of 0 only yields 20, a bid of 1 over time yields more points as long as the player has at least a 42.86% chance of winning the trick.
The known cards are only a player's own card and the turn up, so with 58 unknowns, the odds that a hand will win in a three player game are calculated by the odds that both of the other hands lose to that player. That is, (x/58)*((x-1)/57), x=# of cards the player can beat. The calculation is similar for more players. Solving for x to yield 0.4286 or greater gives the minimum number of cards a player needs to be ahead of to justify a bid of 1.
With the lead:
- In a 3-person game, x=39, bid 1 with an offsuit Jack or stronger.
- In a 4-person game, x=44, bid 1 with the 3 of trump or stronger, (4 of trump if the turn up is the 2 or 3).
- In a 5-person game, x=49, bid 1 with the 9 of trump or better, (the 8 will do if the turn up is higher than the 8)
- In a 6-person game, x=50, bid 1 with the 10 of trump or better (9 if turn-up is 10 or higher)
- In the special case that a jester turns up and there is therefore no trump, and the player has the lead: always bid 1 in a 3 player game, With 4 - bid 1 on 3 or higher, with 5 - bid 1 with any 9 or higher, and with 6 players a 10 or higher.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^'Wizard Card Game Community Forums FAQ'. Wizardcards.com. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
If the lead of a Jester is immediately followed by a Wizard then the hand is played as if the Wizard was the lead card.
- ^'U.S. Games Systems, Inc Wizard FAQ'. Usgamesinc.com. Retrieved 2016-08-06.
Mini Review:
The Wizard card game is probably one of the most addicting card games Ive ever played. It seems that without fail, every time the chairs are pulled up to the game table, Im always asked if Ive brought that certain card game Wizard. Im not kidding you. And do I mind?
Not a bit. Ever.
Wizard enchants young and old alike. With simple rules and a challenging twist on strategy, even new-comers and experienced players can enjoy a game together without anxiety or really, long, drawn out sighs.
Wizard Card Game Near Me
By the way, the Wizard card game is based off of the traditional card game, Oh Hell (aka Oh Well, Oh Heck, Oh Dang, Oh Sugar, etc you get the idea). And if youve ever played Wizard before, youll get a chuckle out of those alternate names.
Game Details:
Game Name: Wizard Card Game, The Ultimate Game of Trump!Author: Ken Fisher, of Toronto, Ontario (props to a good ole Canadian boy!)
Players: 3-6
Setup Time: less than 1 minute... unless you have to go search for a pen.
Playing Time: approx 45-60 minutes per game
Game Contents: 60 cards (52 standard playing cards, 4 Wizard cards, 4 Jester cards)
Object:
The object of said card game Wizard is to correctly predict/bid on the number of tricks that you will take in each round of play. Points are awarded for a correct bid and the number of tricks taken, and points are subtracted for each extra or missed trick. The player with the most points at the end of all rounds is the winner. To settle an improbable Wizard game tie, you can arm-wrestle or add up the total of a players bids from each round from the entire game. Each round has three stages: dealing, bidding and playing.Wizard Card Game Rules:
SETUP & DEALING: Gameplay is clockwise. On the first round of play, each player is dealt one card. In each subsequent round, the number of cards dealt to each player is increased by one until all the cards are distributed. Doing the math, thats 20 rounds for 3 players, 15 rounds for 4 players. 12 rounds for 5 players, and 10 rounds for 6 players.
After each player is dealt their card(s), the top card of the remaining cards is turned over to determine what trump will be (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades, or nothing... via a Jester card). If there are no cards left, which happens on the last round, there is no trump for that hand just like if a Jester is turned over. If a Wizard card is turned over, the dealer gets to pick trump. Ha!
After each round of play, deal rotates clockwise.
Wizard Card Game App
BIDDING & PLAY: After the cards are dealt, and trump is revealed/chosen, the player to the left of the dealer starts by stating aloud the predicted number of tricks they think they can win. This verbal bidding goes around the table as one of the players (or any handy bystander) records the bids on the score sheet. This is kept available for all to strategically reference throughout the round.
After the bidding is complete, the cards start hitting the table. The player to the left of the dealer once again begins by laying down a card. Any card can be lead. Each subsequent player plays a card and must follow suit if possible. The exceptions to this, and there are only two, is that a Wizard or a Jester may be played at ANY time, even if the player is holding a card of the suit led.
If the first card played is a Jester, then the next non-Jester card laid sets the suit for the hand. Any time Wizard cards are played first (or as the first non-Jester laid down) you can discard ANY card you want to for that hand/trick.
Each player attempts to either win or lose the trick, depending on how many tricks they need for that hand. To win a trick, you must have played:
a.) the first Wizard,
b.) the highest trump card (if no Wizard cards were played),
c.) or the highest card of the suit led
if no trump or Wizard was played.
The winner of the trick starts the next hand.
To lose a trick, you can play a Jester, which is almost always a guaranteed loss. Almost always because if everyone lays a Jester, the person who put down the first one wins the trick (hence the humorous reference to the traditional/alternate game names Oh Dang!). Otherwise, you can follow with an off-suit (such as playing clubs on a diamond lead) to loose the hand/trick but thats only allowed if you have no card of the suit led.
SCORING: If you've got a handle on how to play the card game, Wizard, the next thing to do is to learn how to keep score... the card game, Wizard.
After the round is complete, count up each players tricks. If they managed to win the correct amount of tricks they guessed, they earn 20 points for being right. Then they also earn an additional 10 points for each trick earned.
Examples:
a.) If they guessed zero tricks and won none try saying that 5 times quickly! they earn just the 20 points for being right.
b.) If they guessed 3 tricks and won them all then they earn 50 points (20 points for being right, and 10 points for each trick won).
If a player did not end up with the correct amount of tricks, then not only do they earn 0 points for being wrong, but 10 points are subtracted for every trick over or under their bid target. And yes, the score can go into the negatives!
Examples:
a.) If they guessed 3 tricks and earned 1, they subtract 20 points from their running total.
b.) If they guessed 2 tricks and earned 5, they subtract 30 points from their running total.
This scoring can be a bit tricky, so its worth it to read this over a few times.
Tips, Hints & Strategies:
Easy Out:
This is a strategy that a lot of people start executing once theyve played a few games. If youre carrying a Jester card in your hand, and youve won the last trick you need, play the Jester next to start the next hand. That almost guarantees that you wont win at least that trick, and makes it somewhat easier to lose the rest of the hands in the round. If possible, save this till the end, and you may gift someone else with an unwanted trick. Some may complain thats nasty, but I calls it strategy!.
Ack! Too Many Wizard Cards!
If, during play, you find yourself at your bid total, and you still are carrying a Wizard card in your hand, you can discard it (and avoid a possible over-pointage situation) if a Wizard precedes you. This is only possible since the first Wizard laid wins that trick/hand. (Dont count on this happening too often
but use it if you can!)
Feed The Greedy:
If a player is in the lead (points-wise) and they just bid a high number of tricks, try and feed them an extra, un-wanted trick. Just make sure youre out of arms reach when they end up with 7 tricks after they fight hard for the 6 they need.
Variations of the Wizard Card Game:
Hidden Bid: all players reveal their bid at the same time.
Delayed Reveal Bid: if you are a Wizard card game aficionado, you'll appreciate this simple variation. Basically, all players secretly record their bid, and are only revealed after the round is over. Mucho' more interesting!
Wizard Card Game Printables:
Summary:
With such a card game as the Wizard card game in your back pocket, youll find that you will suddenly become the life of the party and everyone will want to hang out with you and buy you fancy clothes and expensive jewelry.
Or not.
Wizard Card Game Walmart
But playing the Wizard card game will be tonnes of fun for everyone!
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