Friday, February 17, 2017

Dabbling with Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom

We just got back from our three-year old's first trip to Disney World. Since it was his mommy and daddy's third trip, it's safe to say it won't be his last. While Disney World isn't really a lace for card or board games, we did get in one gaming experience.

Disney World's Magic Kingdom has an interactive card game called  the Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom that Carrie called a cross between a Disney LARP and Magic the Gathering. 

Every day, you can pick up a booster pack of five cards per person near the front of the park that's included in the admission. (It's at the fire station and I have no idea if it had any function before then, other than looking pretty)

Each card is a spell, themed around a specific character. For instance, Snow White has a cleaning spell that apparently beats the heck out of bad guys with a broom. (And people have to ask why she is the least empowering princess ever?)

The story is that Hades from the Hercules movie is trying to take over, using different villains from the movies to help him. Merlin from the Sword in the Stone is trying to stop him. I'm sure James Woods willingness to voice Hades whenever asked had a lot to do with the plot.

Through out the park, there are video screens with cameras that you activate with your guest ID and hold cards up to the cameras to cast spells. At the most basic level, you are sent from site to site and flashing any card at the camera will do.

However, you can have the game set to a higher level. From what I can tell, you then get hit points, specific spells are more effective against specific villains and you can use card combos.

We just played a little at basic level but I saw one guy wandering around with a wizard hat with Mickey Ears and an elaborate leather binder of cards. So some folks take the game seriously. Frankly, that says to me that there's some heft to the game when you take it past the basic level.

And, like Magic, there is rarity to cards and you can buy booster packs. There aren't a lot of cards but most of the players do have very limited access to play. Having the game tied to the park isn't going to support a huge catalog of cards.

I doubt we will ever seriously pursue Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom. I mean, you have to go to Disney World to play it and that's on the other side of country from us. However, I do think it's really neat that it exists.

No comments:

Post a Comment