Magic Dance

About this board game

Magic Dance is a memory and strategy game for 3–6 players, with games lasting about 45 minutes. It combines the race-around-the-track feel of Pachisi with hidden identities, turning familiar movement into a chaotic test of memory.

Each player must remember which witches belong to them. Because the pieces’ identities are concealed, every move carries a risk: you may help an opponent, hinder yourself, or send the wrong witch toward safety. As the game develops, keeping track of the witches becomes increasingly difficult.

The game adds unusual twists to its race mechanics. Pieces are not captured, since doing so would reveal their identities. Instead, a piece that is hit is moved back 7 spaces; if that space is occupied, it is moved back another 7 spaces, and continues jumping back in this way.

• Hidden identities: Remember which witches belong to you and which belong to your opponents.
• Public reveal: Rolling a 6 can reveal any one piece’s identity for a moment, but that 6 cannot also be used for movement.
• Unexpected homecomings: Driving an opposing piece into your own base by mistake sends it instantly to its correct base.

These rules create a game that can become wonderfully confused as players try to avoid helping rivals while protecting their own progress. The witches bring to mind the memory-focused play of Sagaland, also known as Enchanted Forest, while the strategic movement keeps everyone involved.

Also published by F.X. Schmid as Dance of the Witches, Magic Dance is more than simply a children’s game. Its blend of memory, strategy, and unpredictable reversals makes it a family game with plenty of room for mistakes, surprises, and frantic recollection.