Mage Knight follow-up, 3-player

We played a 3-player game last night, where we taught a new player the game. Rob is a pretty relaxed and easy-going guy, but he can get frustrated if the game is messy. A test of teaching the game, as well as introducing it to a new player.


A three-player game was tough - monsters get wiped out much faster, allies are purchased earlier...going last in a round can really be a hindrance.

Elle grabbed a keep in the first Day cycle, while I managed to snag a Mage Tower. For Elle's level-up, as the blood cultist, she could pitch wounds to other players, which was pretty nice. Rob managed to beat up a couple of marauding monsters.

The Night cycle is pretty awesome for spells. I picked up a fire-based spell that blocked damage, and if I spent a red and a black mana to do it, it destroyed the opposing creature - no Attack damage needed. The second Day felt less exciting - we got stuck without moves or without attacks, leading to a couple of dead turns in the beginning.


My second dungeon was tough - I had a good mix of Attack and Block cards, but the dungeon spawned a 5 defense (easy), 7 damage monster with swiftness - it was either Block 14 or take 7. My hand was good, but not that good. The three wounds I racked up turned out to be bad for me...my healing spell I picked up went on top of my deck, and I didn't discard enough cards to draw it (I figured there would be a couple of turns left.) Sadly, the final turn came early, as Elle stopped battling and continued to explore - with the first of the final tiles showing the end condition. I managed to heal one of my wounds at a magic glade, but it left me with wounds and the most wounds tile...losing the the game.


I managed to defeat two dungeons, a keep, and a mage tower. Sadly, both dungeons awarded spells - I really wanted an artifact. The keep was stolen away by Elle - only got half fame for the gray monster guarding it, but gave her 2 fame at the end, as well as taking 2 fame away from me.

I still haven't recruited like I should - they are better than spells, in that they don't require you to draw them and usually don't take mana to power them. There was a rules question I got wrong during the game - I wanted to use black mana from the source, during the day, but in a dungeon (dungeons are considered night). Sadly the rulebook uses the words "never" about usimg black mana from the source during the day. Go rules FAQ on BGG!

Other missed rules - when buying multiple things with influence in a turn, your reputation penalty/bonus only applies the first time. Buying spells, you also need to spend mana of the same color of the spell. There are lots of little things that happen in the game - I'm sure as the full rulebook is consumed, there will be dozens of understandings corrected. Clumsy.

Next up, a 4-player game.