Imajica CCG Review

Inspiration

Imajica is based on the book with the same name written by Clive Barker. The book is a fantasy story about a man discovering the existance of multiple worlds or dimensions (called dominions). After this discovery he is able to travel to these dominions. Should you know the book, you will be able to recognize characters and places, but it is not necessary for the cardgame itself. The game is published by Zehrapushu.

Objective

Players fight to gain control over a collection of dominions. At the start of the game, five Dominions (or Sites) get laid out on the table. The first player to own five different dominions wins the game. During the game, multiple versions of the dominions can be added. Should you wish to play a shorter game, you can decide to play for three, instead of five, dominions.

Rarity

Within the cardset one can distinguish between Rares, Uncommons and Commons. For Dutch players, one might consider all cards rare, as the game is difficult to get a hold of over here. As of 1999 the Imajica CCG is discontinued.

Explanation

During the game each player may bring characters, called Allies, into the playing area. Each Ally has characteristics that play an important role in the game. First of all there is Strength, a value used to determine the outcome of combat with other Allies. Second is Magic, a characteristic needed to secure reign (hold) of a dominion. And then there is the so-called Prime, the value of which determines whether or not you are allowed to bring this Ally into the game.

Each Site has a certain value. To secure a dominion (which means you will own that dominion), you will have to send in a group of Allies to seize it. These allies will need an amount of Magic equal to the value of the dominion. Next, your opponent can put together a group of his allies. Should those allies have a higher Magic than yours, your group will be unable to secure hold of the site.

Sometimes it can be convenient to get rid of certain Allies your opponent controls. To do so, you can engage in a fight, a Contest. You appoint some of your Allies and choose one of your opponent's allies. Your opponent may now choose to have some of his other allies to also engage in the defense of his targeted Ally. Both parties sum up the total Strength of their characters. The party with the highest strenght wins the contest. The difference in strength between the two groups is the amount of damage the winner may assign to the loser's character(s). Should any character receive more damage than his Strength, that character is considered dead and leaves the game.

At several moments during the game many different cards can be used to give you all kinds of advantages, which assures some surprise actions.

You can have a look at a nice samplegame done by Mike Di Gino.
Or you can check out my tradelist and see if we can make a deal.
Should you ever consider playing an Imajica tournament, or if you are just interested in the rules, please consider downloading the Imajica Tournament Rules (zipped Word file) as compiled by one of the Imajica Reps, Jared Bronson. You can also join a mailinglist dedicated to this cardgame. If you are looking for players or demo-reps close to you, have a look at the nice locator page.

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