NE writes: "I was at a friend's house and we played a card game called Wizard. When one of the four cards that has a wizard on it is played, it trumps all the others. I began to wonder after if it was OK to play it."I'm happy to report that there's nothing wrong with the Wizard card game. Finally! A decent card game that doesn't involve magic and spell casting.
Because of its name, it's no wonder that someone would want to check and be sure, however, and I'm glad that you did so NE.
Wizard is a trick-taking card game created in 1984 by Ken Fisher of Toronto, Canada. Fisher is the creator of the popular Isaac Asimov Presents Super Quiz which is a syndicated daily quiz game.
The object of a Wizard card game is not to render your opponent helpless (or worse) by impaling them on a sorcerer's sword, but by correctly predicting/bidding the number of tricks the player will take in each round of play. Points are awarded for the correct bid and the number of tricks taken with points subtracted for each extra or missed trick. The player with the most points at the end of all rounds is the winner.
The game is played with a Wizard deck which consists of 60 cards - a regular set of 52 playing cards, 4 Wizards and 4 Jesters.
Thus far, there have been three Wizard World Championship Games held - in Frankfurt (2010), Budapest (2011) and Viena (2012).
Have fun and enjoy the game!
