Navigator Lana

Solo Flight

Navigating Wizard in Training

by Thinky Filler Games

Wizard training through a Print-n-Play! Wizard in Training utilizes a standard deck of cards and your printer to transform you into a young wizard learning the nuances of the magical realm. Oh, and you get a faithful pup companion along the way!

Key Coordinates

Players: 1
Play Time: 30 min
Ages: 12+

Mapping the Mechanics

Setting up Wizard in Training takes mere moments. Take a deck of cards, remove the 2-5s and Jokers, shuffle the new deck, print the page, and you’re ready to roll…and write! (Maybe more like flip and write?) With each turn, you flip three cards from your deck and choose one for the turn. You’ll check the card’s value and write it in the leftmost empty box corresponding to the suit. If you use an A, J, 6, or 7, you also gain a bonus Pixie (more on that soon). Gain the bonus from the chosen suit listed at the top of the page, and then use your movement points from the card to wind around the printed map.

The number of movement points is self-explanatory and is shown on the right side of the page. Every move to another square costs one movement point, and picking up an item costs one additional movement point. Finally, end the turn within an action box and perform the action.

Actions get upgraded throughout the game, along with additional bonuses. Once a card is chosen, write the card in the suit box, and that makes your action more powerful each time you land on it. The four actions are Spells, Fetch, Treasure, and Dungeon. Each of these is a way to earn more points throughout the game. Spells allow you to upgrade your potions for additional items, movement points, or end-game points. Fetch picks up extra items along your path. Treasure has you draw X amount of cards and mark them down to use later as a sort of “wild card,” or end game points. Dungeon has you pull X amount of cards and find matches to your boxes to gain points.

As a solo game, there’s no score to “beat” per se, but different rankings ranging from a Wizard in Training to a Master Wizard, naturally striving to be the Master Wizard!

Albatross’s Assessment

The Journey’s Feel: Wizard in Training is a charming print-and-play experience on the table. It’s easy enough to grab a deck of cards and a printed copy of the map, then start flipping cards to complete your wizard training. Each game is dependent on your card selection and the paths you take. With so many different paths (literally and figuratively) to collect points, every game is a fresh new adventure. Once I finished a map, I immediately wanted to jump into the next one and see if I could beat my score.

Path of the Apprentice: Every card drawn shapes the destiny of you, the aspiring wizard, on this ever-changing path. The joy comes from finding ways to utilize the cards in line with your best strategy, allowing you to manipulate the points by combining the fate of the cards with your own. There’s immense satisfaction in successfully navigating the game’s twists and turns, proving your magical aptitude.

Who Should Embark?

All my solo companions will find joy in the ease of learning this game and its portability. Between a PDF file to print (or use digitally!) and a deck of cards, it’s a fabulously thematic solo game with plenty of decisions and paths to decide on every game.

The Navigator’s Chart

Open Seas: A game with a good balance of strategy and accessibility, offering a consistently enjoyable voyage.

For the full list, sail over to the Deck Legends.

End of the Voyage

Wizard in Training has me constantly coming back to play this again and again. With such ease of use, I can take this anywhere or play it for a quiet evening solo game, using just a printed sheet of paper and a deck of cards. Be sure to check it out in it’s final days on Kickstarter HERE!

A special thanks to Thinky Filler Games for generously providing a copy of Wizard in Training.