Mage Wars Arena: Battlegrounds Domination

Mage Wars is one of those old loves that stays on the shelf not because you stopped liking it, but because good, complex games require the right opponent and, usually, time that is hard to spare. ASL, SFB, BT, and so on: at some point the person you played them with quits, leaves the country, dies, whatevs. Out of sheer stubbornness, though, I decided to bring Mage Wars back to the table and teach it to new people, because I genuinely like it a great deal.

Instead of one opponent, I ended up with two, so there was no reason for a timid return: we went straight into three-player Domination with a scenario. The game was no longer just a classic arena with a single confrontation; having three players and a scenario gave the evening a different, fuller feeling.

Domination changes where your attention goes during the game and makes room for new strategies. Interaction is not only about the opponent across from you, but also about how your choices hold up within a three-way conflict and against the demands of the scenario. That alone is enough to make Mage Wars feel even greater than it did before.

I admit I did not think very highly of Domination. Wrongly so. We had a fantastic time, and for me this was not merely a pleasant variant: it was the version that brought that old love back to life. I do not think I want to return to classic arena mode again.