ManaSurge

About this board game

ManaSurge is a competitive magical card game for 2–6 players, with games lasting about 30 minutes. Each wizard battles for possession of the mystical World Crystal, a relic that grants immense power to whoever controls it.

Every round is a free-for-all magical duel. Players take turns casting an initial spell that establishes the round’s rule, sets the rank opponents must beat, and offers a chance to earn a Shard, the game’s victory point.

Players then play cards from their hands to the table, but each card must have an equal or higher rank than the current requirement. Matching the spell suit lets a player place a Shard on that card, creating a tempting reward that may also expose them to damage.

The game features six different types of magic:

• Blades
• Fireball
• Frost Wave
• Lightning
• Quake
• Metamagic

The round ends when a player can no longer play a valid card. That wizard returns any Shards on their played cards to the center, then takes card damage equal to the Shards remaining on those cards. Every other player claims the Shards on their played cards for their Victory Pool, while the player who played the last card gains a bonus Shard.

Damage forces a wizard to draw cards from the deck and place them face down in front of them. If a player accumulates five or more damage, they immediately discard their hand and one Shard, then add their damage cards to their hand. In ManaSurge, reaching the winning Shard total is the key to claiming the World Crystal: 15 Shards in a two-player game, 12 with three or four players, or 10 with five or six.