Fantasy SG

Have you ever played a game where it said 'the players determine who goes first'? This usually leads to a clumsy method of determining who goes first where there is no skill. Even NASCAR has a pre-game to determine the order of play. Fantasy SG is all about solving that problem. The "SG" actually stands for 'starter game'.

Fantasy SG is a fantasy based game that is simple and quick without much startup. The purpose of the game is to lead into larger more intricate games. The winner of this game goes first in the real game played immediately after.

In Fantasy SG each player has a deck of fantasy creatures, beings, and beasts. Each player shuffles their deck and draws 3 cards. These 3 cards are their 'hand'. Players then play 2 cards from their hand to attack or defend. In some cases it is wiser for a player to sacrifice a creature while in other turns it is wiser to play a strong creature paired with a weaker creature and using it's special ability to augment the attack or defense.

Each unit has a strength value and possibly a special ability. The special ability icons are rare and precious and those creatures should be protected. The special abilities allow a player to increase strength/defense or distort game play in some facet. The details of each icon is explained further in the rules booklet.

If a creature is defeated (either while attacking or defending), the card is put into the 'graveyard' and removed from play. All other cards in play are discarded into each players discard deck to be shuffled and eventually fed back into the hand of the player.

At the end of the round, players shuffle up all of their cards-both discarded, draw deck, and hand. Then they pass 1 card to the player on the left. Players add their new card to their deck, reshuffle and then draw up 3 cards. At this time, players have an opportunity to resurrect one of their fallen friends or foes from the 'graveyard'. Simply discard one of your cards in your hand to the 'graveyard' to retrieve a card. However there is a catch-the card discarded must be a higher value than the card retrieved.

Games last about 5 minutes and prepare players for the next game. But be warned-as quick and fun as this game is, it will have you asking, "best two out of three?"

Quick Play through
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The cards are dealt to 3 players. Each player has 6 cards with 1 card discarded to 'the graveyard' in the middle of the table.

Each player shuffles their cards and draws 3 from the top of their deck, leaving the remaining 3 face down.

The first player is the player with the 'Necromancer'. In this case it is Roger. Everyone hates Roger but he gets to go first.

Roger plays the Necromancer (10) and uses her ability to view Jake's hand. Roger sees that Jake has decently high cards but not high enough to defeat the Necromancer and the Dragon King (20). So Roger plays the Dragon King (20) and the Necromancer (10) on Jake. The pair hit with a power of 30.

Jake can't defend it, so he sacrifices one of his cards from his hand. He plays the Zombie (4). The Zombie's special effect is the nullify ability. The Zombie nullify's the Dragon King, making the attacker's strength equal to 10 (the strength of the Necromancer). The Zombie defends with a total of 4. 10 is more than 4, so the Zombie goes to the graveyard. Roger discards the two cards played to the side face up, near him. He draws 1 card from his deck and adds it to his hand. Jake draws 2 cards, as he only played 1, and adds them to his hand.

Play continues clockwise.

It is Jake's turn now. Jake plays the Elder Dragon (6) and the Arch Angel (14). The Elder Dragon has the special power of attacking 2 adjacent players. Jake targets Roger and Tiffany. The strength is 20.

Roger defends with the White Wizard (5). The strength is 5, however the White Wizard's special ability is to deflect. Roger decides to deflect the attack to the top of his draw pile. He hopes he can defend the attack, but is not sure what the card is. The top card of the draw deck is flipped and it is the Frost Giant (9). The Frost Giant's special ability is when defending along (he is) to add an additional 10 strength. Roger defends Jake's attack of 20 with 19. Roger discards the Frost Giant to the Graveyard.

Tiffany now defends. She plays her Demon (13) and Djinn (7), defending with 20. But her Djinn has a special power-nullify. She nullifies the arch angel, meaning Jake is only attacking with 6. On top of that, Tiffany played two cards from the same faction. She gains a +5 bonus for that, meaning she defends with 25 against an attack of 6. Jake must discard one of his attacking cards to the graveyard. Jake sends the elder dragon to the graveyard.

Play continues until only one player has cards left. That player is the winner.