Remember that time, when I was talking about the games I’ve played the most, but don’t own, and said that Magic Maze just wasn’t a game that I felt compelled to own, despite having played it nearly 3 dozen times? Well, Math Trades are wonderful things, and I’m now the proud owner of Magic Maze, so I’m ready to give it a proper review!

Magic Maze is a real time cooperative game for 1 to 8 players. The goal of Magic Maze is to guide the four characters, a dwarf, mage, ranger, and warrior, all represented by brightly coloured pawns, though a convoluted mall so they can steal an item and be prepared for their next adventure, then escape the mall, all before the time runs out.

What’s special about Magic Maze is that players don’t embody any one of those characters. Instead, each player’s role in this puzzle is moving any character in a specific direction, and/or activate a specific aspect of the mall. Like, one player can move anyone to the north, while another player can activate the escalators and move characters east, and another player is responsible for adding new tiles to the board when someone reaches the edge of the map. Players need to cooperatively use the direction they’re allowed to move the characters to navigate the narrow hallways to find the loot.

The rulebook for Magic Maze includes 17 scenarios that scaffold players into the full game. The first run includes only 9 of the 24 tiles, and teaches players the very basics of the game, which is just getting each character to their loot space. Every subsequent scenario adds a rule or a twist to make the experience harder and more complex, such as adding the exits, then special abilities for each character, and so on, until players need to navigate a mall that’s 20 tiles large.

There are two main hurdles to overcome. The first is that the game runs on a 2-and-a-half minute timer. There are ways to flip that timer, but those opportunities are limited. The second barrier to victory is that all communication is limited. So limited, as in, once the game starts, no one can talk at all. Don’t worry too much about that, as there is one reprieve. The “DO SOMETHING” pawn. An obnoxious red pawn that anyone at anytime can pick up and slam down in front of someone else, telling them that they should be doing something at that moment.

The sound of this big red pawn tapping the table has been burned into my psyche

If players are able to grab their loot and get out of the maze before the sand runs out, they win! If not, they bicker about who screwed up the heist while setting up for another run.

Listen, it’s no secret that I love real time games, and will hoist them upon anyone who doesn’t say no. I love the tension that having a tangible loss condition constantly ticking away, and the game mechanics trying desperately to pull your attention away from those timers so you forget about them and lose. I understand that not everyone shares my love of timers, but don’t listen to them. They’re wrong.

Magic Maze is quite simple to play, as you generally only have one or two things that you can do at all, depending on your player count. It’s not hard to remember that you can only move left. What’s more difficult is having people remember that they can’t fix their mistakes if they go a square too far, or locking down their communication to the level the game wants them to.

The first scenarios in the rule book are perfect for teaching new players the barest version of the game, and the scenario structure makes the game incredibly modular, so you can cater to various difficulty levels by adding and removing complexity as required. If you want things easier, the elf’s intercom module lets players talk whenever the elf is standing on an intercom space. If you want things harder, there are plenty of fun tricks for you to discover.

The reason Magic Maze made it into my “games I’ve played the most but don’t own” post was mostly due to the fact that a game can end after just 2.5 minutes. And, at maximum, take 15 minutes, if players are dilly-dallying and hitting all the timer flip stations. The second reason was because I played it with a couple different groups in quick succession at our local board game café, I always felt like I could just play it there and didn’t need to invest in my own copy.

Well, nowadays, I only visit the café twice a year. This is a by-product of moving much further away, and the fact that I now have my own substantial collection of games, not to mention that my buddies all have their own collection of games begging to be played, left a small gap in my heart. I’m not going to make the trip to the café to play Magic Maze anymore, but it’s still a really fun game that I’d love to break out now and then.

Because Magic Maze is so accessible, it’s real easy to suggest it with any group. This is a boon, but it can also make it really easy to over-play this game. After introducing it to 4 different groups within a couple of weeks, playing the first 6 scenarios over and over, it’s easy to get a bit burnt out on the system. And the scenario approach to learning the game is pretty important, as it introduces the most important concepts first, then adds the spice in later chapters. If you threw someone into the deep end, their head would spin in a flurry of iconography and the furious tapping of the ‘Do Something’ pawn.

Speaking of that obnoxious relic, I both love and hate the ‘Do Something’ pawn. On one hand, it’s loud and grating, having it tapped sharply every time someone picks it up and places it in front of someone else. On the other hand, the tension when both you’re the own trying to get someone to move a character, and when that pawn is placed in front of you, is simultaneously dreadful and delicious. What path you want to take is obvious to you, but is utterly hidden for someone else. When the pawn lands in front of you, and you’re frantically searching for anything you can or should be doing, all while the precious seconds are ticking away, goodness I live for this sort of fun.

My feelings are best summed up thusly. I recently went to a friend’s house to play Revive, a heavier economic action efficiency game. I brought along Magic Maze “just in case you actually wanted to have fun tonight.” and we did end up playing it at the end of the night, and all three grown adults playing the game collapsed into a fit of giggles as we failed the first mission 3 times in a row. Magic Maze is a fun game, one that puts a smile on your face, while also offering a challenge to overcome. It’s not the same kind of sophisticated fun that a game like Brass: Birmingham offers, but more of a slapstick juvenile type of fun that leaves you grinning from ear to ear, if not wholly satisfied. I don’t want my game night to consist only of Magic Maze, but I’m sure glad when it makes an appearance.