Mystic Scrolls Review

Mystic Scrolls invites 2 to 4 players to enjoy 20 minutes of frenetic, competitive dice-rolling. Under this straightforward premise is... a straightforward game. Just one which doesn't deliver the fun it promises.

How Does It Play

This is an elimination duel between wizards- the last player with stamina remaining it the winner. Each player chooses a character and sets their stamina at 35. Characters vary in their starting spells only. One is attacking, one defensive, one balanced and the final wizard uses a lot of dice to produce varying results.

The game plays in rounds until someone wins. Each round is composed of a 'running' phase, and a 'casting' phase.

'Running' is the core phase. Players start with 5 dice and a number of spells in front of them. They roll and re-reroll until they have filled the symbols on a spell with matching dice results, then replenish their 'hand' of five dice. The phase ends when a player cannot replenish, because no dice remain in the central pool. The wrinkle here is the presence of an extra spell which one fast, lucky player can claim by matching its symbols. This is done at the expense of current effectiveness, and also at the risk of being beaten to the prize. But a well-chosen upgrade can boost your character considerably.

In the second phase, spells that have been filled are cast. These have two effects- either they boost the player's stamina, or an opponent's. Some effects depend on how many other spells or cast, or on the roll of a D6. A few cancel opponents spells. But overall, the variability is not wide.

What's Good

This is a simple, accessible game with minimal set-up. It plays very fast, and there is no great advantage in being an experienced gamer. If you get a chance to get a few upgrades, you can get a neat engine going, where one spells potentiates another. The endgame conditions are clear, and the rulebook is well set-out. The dice are well-made and satisfying to roll.

What Doesn't Work

Some gamers will dislike the whole concept of competitive speed dice-rolling. Firstly, it's quite random. Each player favours one or two of the 6 icons in the game, so if you happen to roll a lot of these, you are very likely to cast more spells. Secondly, there is an element of dexterity in grabbing and rapidly rolling dice. Many gamers regard a dexterity advantage in games as somehow unfair, and so will find this unsatisfactory.

But even if you are a fan of fast rolling fun, there are problems and missed opportunities here.

Firstly, the variability in spell effects leaves a huge amount to be desired. We know from decades of card and dice battlers how interesting this space can be. To have a game offer only 'number go up' and 'number go down' is pretty disappointing.

Secondly, you can only damage the player to your right. So if you have a defensive wizard in that position, with an aggressive wizard to your left, you are pretty much doomed. The fairly rigid nature of the assymetry makes it hard to prevent this, as most players will only get a couple of upgrade cards per game.

Thirdly, the dice allocation system is simplistic and doesn't lead to interesting choices. It would be nice if you could look at an initial roll and have choices about what to build towards, or even build in multiple directions. But the way the spells are constructed encourages blind rolling till you get enough of 'your' symbols.