OVERVIEW

Wizard is a fantasy trick-taking game. Score points by correctly predicting the number of tricks you will win each round. Highest score wins!

Standard game lasts 20 rounds with three players, 15 rounds with four, 12 rounds with five and 10 rounds with 6. The first round is only one card/trick. Each round after that, one more card/trick is added.

Deck consists of 60 cards, include 13 dwarves, 13 elves, 13 giants, 13 humans, 4 wizards and 4 jesters.

SETUP, TRUMP and BIDDING

Everyone is dealt a number of cards equal to the round number.

The top card of the deck is then revealed. This is the trump suit for the round.

~ Trump card is a jester: There is no trump.

~ Trump card is wizard: Dealer chooses the trump.

~ Last round of the game: There is no trump.

Starting with the player to the left of the dealer, everyone bids the number of tricks they think they can win that round.

GAMEPLAY / TRICK-TAKING

The player to the left of the dealer starts the first trick. They may lead with any card.

~ If the card led is a wizard, it automatically wins the trick, but the other players must still play a card. It can be from any suit.

~ If the card led is a jester, the next card played determines the suit that subsequent players must follow.

~ If only jesters are played, the first jester wins the trick.

Players must follow suit if possible. If you cannot follow, you can play any other suit, including the trump suit. Wizards and jesters can be played at any time.

Winning the trick:

~ A lead wizard always wins the trick.

~ The 1st wizard played wins the trick, even if trump has been played.

~ If there are no wizards, highest trump wins the trick.

~ If there are no trumps, the highest card of the lead suit wins the trick.

The winner of a trick leads the next trick.

SCORING

If you win the exact number of tricks you bid, gain 20 points PLUS 10 points for each trick taken.

If you win more/less tricks than you bed, lose 10 points per trick over or under your bid!

END OF GAME

Once all round have been played, the game ends and the highest score wins.

That means there are 20 rounds with three players, 15 rounds with four, 12 rounds with five and 10 rounds with 6.

VARIANTS

Bidding

Hidden prediction: Bids are revealed simultaneously just before the round starts.

Plus/minus 1: The total number of tricks bid by players may not equal the number of tricks available in any round.

Secret prediction: Bids are not revealed until the end of the round.

Game Length

5 rounds: Only 5 rounds are played.

Amigo tournament rules: 10 rounds are played with modified number of cards. With 3 players, start with 2 and add 2 each round. With 4 players, start with 1, add 2 until the 6th round, then add 1 each round. With 5 players, start with 2, add 2 in 2nd round and 1 in other rounds.

Foresight

In the first round, when each player only has one card, you can't see your own card. Instead, you see everyone else's card. You must bid based on what everyone else has in hand and which card was drawn as trump.