School is in session – magic school. that is! In Studies in Sorcery from Weird Giraffe Games, 1-4 players take on the roles of students at the Academy of Dark Arts, working to complete their degree and compete for the title of valedictorian. While there are several fields of study to choose from, there is little stopping students from dabbling here and there in all of them; especially with the available Divination expansion. Sorcery, alchemy, divination, and reanimation are all possible topics to explore while pursuing a degree and each field offers different advantages to the player. Are you the type of student who specializes or do you like to take a broad approach to your education? Both have their merits at this academy, but it is up to the student to make their own choices on how they want to come out ahead!

To prepare for the semester, each student is given a turn reference card, research grant card, and two thesis cards. They will select one of their two theses to secretly pursue for the semester and return the other to the game box. Next, two 100-level project cards are dealt to each student from which they will keep one and return the other to the bottom of the 100-level deck. Each player may take a set of 4 Familiar tokens to be used as reminders for their own machinations if they want to. The first player token is given to the player who most recently attended school. We recommend handing the materials reference card to the mathlete of the group or simply placing it where all players are able to reference it.

The play area itself is set up by making draw piles for each level of project across the top of the designated play area with moon and semester tracker cards just under them in a second row. The two included moon tokens are used to mark the phase of the moon and the semester. Draw cards from the projects according to the semester card into three columns below the reference cards then make three draw piles for candles, vials, and the graveyard. Draw cards from the graveyard deck to form three draw piles of two cards each that should be set up below the project cards. You can reference our picture here for clarity on the setup or use the rulebook as well. Also, place a pile of extra credit and demerit tokens near the cards in reach of all players.

The gameplay takes place over a 16-week semester with each student getting one turn per week. On their turn, they will first select from a list of available actions including Cram (play two material cards from their hand onto unfinished projects), Dig (explore the graves and hopefully find useful items), Buy (discard materials from their hand for the designated value to afford projects and/or candles and vials), or any special actions available to them from completed projects. Once every player has taken their action, all players may take two cards from their hand and assign them to projects they have taken on but not yet finished. Check to see if any projects are complete then execute any immediate boons they may bestow. Advance the moon to the next phase and repeat the steps thus far. At the end of each new moon phase, the first player marker is passed to the next student and another round ensues. During this transition all projects in the store’s leftmost column are returned to their draw pile’s bottom, the remaining cards are shifted to the left, and the rightmost column is filled as per the semester card’s indications. Also, add one material card to each of the three grave locations. Once all weeks have passed, students will add their thesis (if achieved), project values, credits, and demerits for a final sum to determine the valedictorian and victor.

We were very impressed to discover this was a debut game for designer Chris Glein. It is so well thought out and perfectly executed that it left us hungry for more titles to add to our collection only to discover that there aren’t any others available yet! When we first brought Studies in Sorcery to the table, there was no “learning game” as each of our players had the mechanics and interactions down by the end of the first turn. The game does require a little reading, however, so younger children will either require help or will need to wait to play until they’re a bit older. Otherwise, this is a great family game! Glein’s design definitely made it feel like we were back at school and rushing to meet deadlines at the end of every month – especially if we had been holding out until the last minute to purchase a project only to realize it would disappear at the end of the turn if we didn’t snag it then and there! If you’re ready to take a trip back to school and have been secretly waiting for an invitation from a magical owl, we highly recommend Studies in Sorcery to fulfill those desires!

All photos of Weird Giraffe Games products were taken and edited by Krista.