Stats:
No. of players: 3-6
Amount of time to play: 20-30 min
Age requirements: 12+
Set-up time: minimal

Fierce fighters battle in the arena and you are a mage with a wager on the winner. You and your opponents can cast spells to help a fighter win, but be careful or the arena judge might catch you cheating.

Cheaty Mages Rules Description:

Cheaty Mages is over after three rounds of betting and casting spells. If you have the most money after the three rounds are over you win the game.

You start the game with a set of betting cards numbered one through five, five to eight spell cards (depending on the number of players) and two coins.

There are four types of cards, fighter cards, spell cards, judge cards and betting cards. Fighter cards represent the monsters in the arena. They tell you a fighter’s power, the prize money they can win you and any special abilities they have.

The spell cards tell you the spell’s effect (usually modifying a fighter’s power), its mana cost and spell type. Different spell types of spell are played in specific ways. Enchant spells are played face down, direct spells are played face up and support cards are usually played then discarded.

Judge cards inform the players of their mana limit, judgement and special effects they have. If a fighter has more mana spent on them then the judge’s mana limit they lose their spells or ejected from the match.

Betting cards are used to secretly choose the fighters you are betting on this round. You may choose to bet on one, two or three fighters. Choosing only one gets you double the fighter’s prize and betting on three gets you half that value.

Each round you randomly determine the fighters and judge then in player order you place your bets face down. Next you play spell cards in player order. You can detect magic on your turn. To do so, you discard a spell card and pick one fighter to look at all the face down spells currently on them. You can also pass on your turn but then you can no longer play any spell cards the rest of the round. After everyone has passed all cast spells are turned face up. You then add the mana points for each fighter and see if the judge will intervene.

The fighter with the highest total power wins the fight and pays out based on their prize value and how many betting cards you played.

Between rounds you draw three or four spell cards and then discard to the initial hand limit. Then the fighters are reshuffled and a new round begins starting with the player with the most money.

A Quick Review of Cheaty Mages:

Cheaty Mages is a light, quick filler that has a lot of ‘take that’ and a lot of chaos. The theme is fun and it is easy to teach and learn.

The components for this game are nice. The art work is good and everything is well made. And the rules are an easy read and follow.

Although there is a good bit of random luck in Cheaty Mages, deciding who to bet on has some meaning. If you can guess who others might bet on you are less likely to thwart you and interfere with your spells.

You can also bluff by casting less useful spells on fighters you have not bet on. This can cause others to gang up on you erroneously. Even if someone wants to detect magic it will cost them a card.

As I mentioned above the game can be pretty random and this might frustrate some players. Getting less optimal spells can leave you watching a round. And if one player can strike it rich early in the game it is hard for their opponents to catch up.

Cheaty Mages is a fun mini-game that is very portable, easy to teach and learn. It is very accessible and both gamers and non-gamers can enjoy this game. How much will depend on the group. If your group doesn’t like randomness in their games this might have a short life for you. But if your group can engage the theme and chaos of this game, it can be a good starter or end of the night game.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 5 out of 6
Player Interaction 5 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 3 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6