Your thieving deeds have lastly caught up with you, and your group of cooperating kleptos discover themselves imprisoned in a labyrinthian tower. Can the staff work collectively, using their distinctive talents and transferring in silence, to flee their captors?
Magic Maze Tower is a standalone co-op recreation within the Magic Maze household, for 1-4 gamers with a playtime of half-hour.
Gameplay Overview:
The field consists of giant quest playing cards (tiles) for 15 completely different quests. Every quest consists of working your approach by means of a number of flooring. You start by retrieving the playing cards in your chosen degree and stacking them on high of one another, blue aspect dealing with up. Every participant is given a directional tile, indicating which of the 4 instructions they will transfer the pawns in. Notice that any participant can transfer any pawn on the board, however solely of their assigned path.
Gamers can even select their problem degree. In Newbie mode, everybody could talk freely; In Enlightened mode, gamers do their greatest to speak as little as potential; and in Knowledgeable mode the one allowed communications are looking at a participant and pointing your finger at an icon on the assistance tile, indicating the transfer you’d just like the participant to make.
Not each degree will use all pawns, some could use as little as one, and others embrace all 5. Gamers will work to unravel the maze-like puzzle by getting the pawns to the place they should go as a way to choose up gear, unlock doorways, and make the most of different distinctive talents earlier than lastly reaching the exit. The character that’s new to this set, the Little Sister, has the flexibility to teleport orthogonally, however she’s clingy and should finish her motion beside one other pawn. Notice that Little Sister will also be added as a mini-expansion to the unique Magic Maze.
When one flooring is accomplished, gamers transfer on to the following tile, till they’ve accomplished all four- or eight, within the larger levels- quest playing cards on the primary aspect. The tiles are then flipped and positioned subsequent to one another in a sq. format, forming one closing, larger degree. As soon as gamers escape this closing degree, they win. In the event that they’re unable to unravel a degree, options could be discovered on-line.
Gameplay Expertise:
Those that have performed Magic Maze will discover I didn’t point out using a timer. That’s as a result of this implementation of the sport doesn’t use one. Additionally, absent is the dreaded “Do one thing” pawn. The sport as a substitute makes use of Assist Tiles which give a bit extra path to gamers whose minds have began to wander through the recreation. This, in keeping with the rulebook, is to get rid of stress from the sport.
It seems, stress is likely to be what made Magic Maze enjoyable. With out the timer so as to add that factor of stress, I discovered all of it too straightforward for gamers’—particularly youngsters’—minds to wander and this recreation will depend on everybody paying shut consideration. With out the timer, the stress tends to really feel contrived, moderately than natural. I can’t deny that the expertise might be extra approachable than the unique Magic Maze, however I’m undecided that the trade-off is with out sacrifice.
The sport size feels acceptable for what it’s, and the rule that permits for less complicated play by way of free communication is vastly appreciated whereas taking part in with youngsters. The sport is recommended for ages 9+, however my 6-year-old was in a position to grasp it fairly effectively. Do remember that the art work depicts some—albeit cartoony—violence and darker themes, so bear that in thoughts if taking part in with youthful ages.
The mazes vary from too easy to frustratingly troublesome, however many are a cheerful medium. With fifteen quests to play, every with 5 ranges, it looks like there’s loads of content material within the field and I believe you could possibly return and replay most mazes with out remembering the answer. There’s some satisfaction in working collectively to unravel the puzzles, and a few ranges are extra participating than others. I believe this recreation will actually shine for gamers who like fixing puzzles for the sake of it. As a solo expertise, it could even be enjoyable, with one participant in control of all instructions and in a position to transfer the items freely. Little Sister’s means, which restricts her motion to solely teleporting subsequent to different pawns, was each amusing and, at instances, irritating, however general, I believe her distinctive operate makes for an attractive problem to the degrees that embrace her.
Last Ideas:
With out stress from the timer, I felt the sport misplaced a few of its edge and pleasure, although it does make it extra accessible, significantly for teenagers. The puzzle-solving was nonetheless first rate, however some ranges felt tedious. Although the options to the mazes don’t change, I believe there’s sufficient content material within the field for a lot of performs. Not a nasty recreation, and my youngsters get pleasure from it, however I don’t assume it improves on the unique Magic Maze. For some who discover the unique too anxious, nevertheless, Magic Maze Tower is likely to be an excellent different.
