A Wizard's Shelf

Demoed at Dexcon (2019) Really neat tableau builder. Charming look to it. Loved the way the spells can change up the game.

"Overall, I’m actually pretty excited about A Wizard’s Shelf! Like I said, I’d be interested to see how the final product turns out, but currently I think it’s a nice little spatial game with some clever elements, especially around scoring. It feels very similar to Point Salad, as I mentioned elsewhere, but this one is focused less on aggressive hate drafting and more on the spatial reasoning skills required to organize your shelves. What you gain in theme you lose in simplicity, though, and that hurts this just a smidge. That’s not the worst thing in the world, though; wallet games shouldn’t be afraid to be robust or a bit more complicated; that’s why games like Antimony or Hierarchy are so cool, in my opinion; they can push the genre in new directions or show that you don’t have to have a ton of components to be a solid game. And, to be fair, I think this is a solid game. I think a bit more streamlining and a player aid might be able to push it even farther, but I’m interested in what they have already, so that’s positive. All in all, I think this is another solid entry in the wallet game line, and if you’re looking for a title that will challenge you a bit spatially and you’re into a bit of magic, you might want to check out A Wizard’s Shelf! I’ve had fun with it."

For my full thoughts, check out https://whatsericplaying.com/2019/10/07/a-wizards-shelf/

I generally do not keep micro games - even though this is an excellent design!

So I think the way the designer sees this game is like a 7, but the way it was published is confusing. Different shapes make scoring harder than it needs to be, also some powers are a little obtuse.