Presenting the Greatest Magic Show Ever with Trickerion
Settle in for an old-fashioned magic show with breathtaking tricks and a battle of magicians in Trickerion.
Long ago, I received my absolutely beautiful copy of Trickerion: Collector’s Edition. The promise of tricks and magic shows got me so excited! I promptly sifted through the high-quality components, organized everything, and then packed it all away. Finally, like a dusty trunk uncovered in an old attic, this massive game emerged into the light!
Game Overview
Game Name: Trickerion: Collector’s Edition
Publication Year: 2019
Designers: Richard Amann, Viktor Peter, and Dávid Turczi
Artists: Villő Farkas and László Fejes
Solo Mode: Included in Trickerion: Dahlgaard’s Academy
Note that there are several editions of the base game, but to play solo requires a separate set of rules and components. This giant box houses almost all of the content ever made, though I still try to make it clear what I’m using. In particular, I decided to start with just the base game components. There is a lot here! A lot.
First Play
June 15, 2020
Complexity
5
Latest Play
August 9, 2023
Expansions
0
Setup Time
10 Minutes
Lifetime Plays
7
Play Time
1 Hour & 30 Minutes
High Score
156
Game Area
52" x 34"
Low Score
45
Extensive Content and Lengthy Rulebooks
At a glance, everything here looks a mountain of information and pieces. I was a little overwhelmed, but consider that I dove in after playing some lighter board games. Not too surprising! I decided to just start reading without worrying about sorting through the components until I understood what I was looking at.
I thought I was going to have an issue when I added in all of the expansions… A-ha! Right near the end of the solo rules, there is a very simple section that made me happy. I could play solo with just the base game and dark alley. Yeah!
A Large Setup Process
Whoa. I couldn’t even frame a nice photo that captured everything at once! This is not a game for a small table, though that’s why I include the dimensions below.
Setup took a very long time, though that was mostly due to me not being familiar with the game.
More than anything, I was genuinely excited as I read the flavor paragraphs in the rulebook. This was a theme that really appealed to me. I always wanted to be a magician!
Well, maybe not exactly, but I do own a book of card tricks I should attempt at some point. Ha ha!
The City of Magoria
This double-sided game board is simply beautiful. It serves its purpose with action spaces and whatnot, but it also depicts the city in all its glory. So pretty!
Initially, I wondered how this was going to turn into a deep experience. I could see how the moving parts worked individually, but it didn’t seem all that interesting.
Once again, first impressions before the first play can be absolutely wrong! What a surprise I was in for…
I got closer and closer to the end of the setup process. Such an interesting theme! I was practically jumping to begin.
Whimsical Designs
It was then that I got distracted, as I usually do! I started looking at the game board in more detail. There were figures everywhere and so many little surprises.
I may be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that every magician and trick can be found hiding in the background.
Apparently there’s a game inside the game! As much as I wanted to enjoy the artwork, the show had to go on!
That right there is the goal: To learn and prepare tricks to perform at various magic shows. Easy, right? I had my imaginary top hat and wand all set. To the magicians!
Yoruba Spiritmaster
Although there was fantastic new artwork to enjoy, I limited my magician choices to those available in the base game. There would be plenty of time to add in more later!
Through a random draw, I ended up with Yoruba Spiritmaster of the spiritual trick realm. It seemed right to start off with Mind Reading. Best magic show ever!
It was also interesting to see how varied the setup process could be. Components and the specialist could vary a lot.
At this point, I stopped taking ages to start thinking things through. I just needed to get into the flow of play.
Not So Fast!
Before I could head off into the city for some magical fun, there was just one thing standing in my way… The solo opponent, otherwise known as the heir. Horrible!
It was the Master of Chains. However, as I went through the setup process, only one magician came to my mind.
Long ago, I played a computer game called Are You Afraid of the Dark?: The Tale of Orpheo’s Curse. It’s one rare masterpiece from the early 90s that scared me so much!
But to make a long story short, I simply can’t imagine the solo opponent being anyone other than Orpheo!
A Master Magician
There was no time to stop for photos as I started down the path of greatness as Yoruba Spiritmaster! Indeed, a camera might have spoiled the magic behind my tricks.
I started off well enough with the chance to stock up on a few components. More to see in that regard shortly!
Alas, weeks 1-3 were the only well-planned situations. Perhaps it was an incompetent apprentice who didn’t work towards making this the greatest show in Magoria.
At the same time, this was my very first time playing the game at all. It was a lot to take in, and I had lots of fun!
Mistakes Were Made
I made a couple of fairly small errors over the course of play. Oops! I misinterpreted how I could manipulate the prophecies and placed one in the active slot to take advantage of it immediately. Rather than revert that decision, I just kept the rulebook handy to reference during every turn. Not that it really was going to make a difference in my favor…
That’s also an important aspect of playing a new board game. Mistakes will be made, and it comes down to gauging how catastrophic they are. For me, moving forward with the same play almost always helps me learn. Maybe I have a couple of false victories mixed in my thousands of plays, yet it boils down to the experience… And laughing at my errors. Ha!
Helpful Specialists
With a number of unique helpers to hire along the way, I was quite happy with how everything turned out!
Although far from optimal, I still felt comfortable with the sequence of play and decisions towards the end. Visits to the dark alley also paid off very nicely over time.
It was a head-to-head matchup against Orpheo up until the last few weeks. Things looked bad when I appeared to be his sidekick on more than one occasion. Cheeky.
One small but lovely detail is how each specialist is double-sided to feature male and female characters. Nice!
Orpheo’s Awful Magic
Alright. You’re the Master of Chains and you’re going to step all over my spiritual realm of tricks?! Oh, this solo opponent was absolutely terrible to deal with.
Classic Orpheo move. Ha ha! I really enjoyed running through his moves, though. Although the sequence was a little involved, it made sense pretty quickly.
I knew I was in trouble when he crossed the 36-fame threshold too soon. There was trick tampering involved.
The fate of Yoruba Spiritmaster was obvious. Magoria had its favorite magician, even if he was cursed. How rude!
Session Overview
Play Number: 1
Solo Mode: Included in Trickerion: Dahlgaard’s Academy
Play Details: Easy Difficulty Level with the Base Game
Required Play Space: 46″ x 34″
Setup Time: 25 Minutes
Play Time: 3 Hours & 45 Minutes
Outcome: 87-115 (Loss)
A landslide victory for Orpheo?! Apparently my Future Sight trick didn’t work, and he may have used Window to the Otherworld to his advantage. Ha! I was still really happy with this outcome, even it wasn’t great. ORPHEO!!!
%
1 Play
Affordability
Price & Value
8
Functionality
Challenges & Mechanics
8
Originality
Design & Theme
7
Quality
Components & Rules
10
Reusability
Achievement & Enjoyment
7
Variability
Distinctness & Randomness
7
Victory Conditions
Score the Most Points
- Overall Goal Progress 50%
Goals and Milestones
Win at least 1 game at the easy difficulty level.
Win at least 1 game at the normal difficulty level.
Continue the Conversation
What do you think of Trickerion: Collector’s Edition? Have you tried out the newer expansions with the solo mode? I was pleasantly surprised by how deep the strategy turned out to be. Even with just a handful of options, finding the optimal balance is something that takes a lot of practice. Here’s to hoping I’ll magic away Orpheo next time!
I’m looking forward to more session reports for this! I had to pick between this and Anachrony and went with Anachrony, though I love the magician theme of Trickerion.
Thanks! They’re both excellent games with really unique themes. Picking between excellent games is so difficult, but I’m sure you made the right choice for you! The nice thing about our digital world is that it’s possible to live vicariously through others, in a way. I wish I had some games, but at least I can still look at them from afar and follow along with the experiences of others!
I don’t know what the other character names are like, but Yoruba is usually the name of an ethnicity and culture in West Africa (especially Nigeria). So “Yoruba Spiritmaster” might be intended to be a description, like “English Tea-Magician”, more than a personal name.
Very interesting. Thank you for the information, Roger! I think you’re right about the name being more of a description since the other magicians follow a similar format. I’ll make sure to adjust how I think of Yoruba Spiritmaster in the future. No offense was intended here, though, and I hope I didn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable. Thanks again for bringing this up and correcting me!