Cheaty Mages!

Bet on arena monsters, cast sneaky spells to tip the fight and hope the judges look away.

Designer: Seiji Kanai
Published by: Alderac Entertainment Group
Editions by: Swan Panasia Co., Ltd., Japon Brand, Kanai Factory

In Cheaty Mages! you are a wizard in the stands of an arena, betting on monsters that are fighting below. You can cast spells to help the monsters you backed and to harm the ones fighting against them, but so can everyone else. Judges line the arena too, and if players push the cheating too far, a judge may step in and dispel or even eject a fighter. So you want to meddle just enough to win and not so much that your champion gets thrown out. A 2008 card game for three to six with a fantasy arena theme, about thirty minutes, where the winner is whoever ends up with the biggest pile of gold.

Secret bets on arena monstersSpells that help yours or hurt theirsJudges can eject over-cheated fighters

Who it's for

You enjoy sly table talk, take-that cards and a fantasy arena where everyone is cheating a bit.

Not for you if…

You want a calm, deterministic game. The spells and bets make outcomes swingy.

Vibe's take

Rowdy and conniving. Everyone is meddling at once, and the fun is in guessing who backed which monster while watching the judges for a sign of trouble.