Fun is in the Cards with Jasmine
Aug 15th, 2007 by darlene_artist
This is a Review of JASMINE: The Battle for the Mid-Realmâ„¢ collector Card Game appearing in THE DRAGON Magazine, January 1983.
Reviewed by Merle M. Rasmussen
JASMINE, subtitled The Battle for the Mid-Realm, is a strategy card game set in a fantasy environment. The game was designed by DARLENE, the same artist whose Story of Jasmineâ„¢ illustrated fantasy-adventure was published in DRAGONâ„¢ Magazine from issue #37 through #48.
The game is being marketed as a limited edition, each set of cards and rules numbered and signed by the artist/designer.
Playable by two to four opponents, this card game calls for strategic thinking on the part of the players and offers them a wide variety of tactical options. It is distinctive in both appearance and the way it plays.
The 112-card deck and a foldout rules brochure are packaged in a clear plastic case and priced at $13 (postage paid) from Jasmine Publications, P.O. Box 684, Lake Geneva, WI 53147.
The object is to either be the first to collect three powerful magic items inside one’s castle or to have the last standing Castle in the game. To accomplish this, each Faction may use combat, magic, spying, assassination, bribes, politics or special powers of that Faction. A little chance and a lot of strategy play important roles in determining a winner.
Options abound for the players of JASMINE. Since one can only hold seven cards at a time, players must continually choose whether to play, save, protect, or discard their holdings. If a magical item is used in combat, the player doing so runs the risk of losing it. But if the magical item is not used, the same player may be overpowered and an army or leader of that Faction may be destroyed. Armies and Leaders may be placed on the battlefield (made available for combat) or used to protect the player’s Castle (by adding to the Castle’s defensive strength because of their presence within it). The exact deployment between the Battlefield and the Castle can be changed each turn and is not irrevocable.
The game includes some innovations, such as the Politics card, which gives the Faction using it two minutes or less to make a mutually binding verbal agreement between players. Instead of permanently annihilating them, opposition leaders can be taken prisoner in the victor’s Castle after combat. The Unicorn card will bring a dead Leader back to life. The Underworld card allows the trade of a living Leader for a dead one. The East Wind card will automatically free any one Leader from being held prisoner. If fewer than four persons play, neutral Factions (those not directly controlled by a player) can be turned to one’s advantage.
The many options and exceptions work well together. The rule alterations caused by Special cards and Faction combinations are reminiscent of the alien powers used in Cosmic Encounters. The game balance seems to tip to one Faction’s advantage, but then is countered by defensive combinations. Thorgall has overpowering military strength early in the game and should use it before the magic-users can collect their necessary items. Bardulf can look at opponent’s cards by spying on them, and can use a Crystal Ball to look at the face-down cards in the draw pile. Melantha can use the West Wind to take two Leaders prisoner. Jasmine can used the staff of Erlkyng to appear in two places at one time. All such advantages are important to the Faction eligible to use them, and for a player to have the best chance of victory, they should be used.
The artwork is worth the price of the game. I have visions of fantasy role-players using the cards as visual aids. Cards depicting nomadic barbarians, battle maidens, dwarven clans, reindeer and polar bear mounts could be used to illustrate chance encounters. Particular magic items or Castle cards could be used to help players better visualize what a game master is describing. Buyers get three products for the price of one: a game, an assortment of visual aids and a set of quality fantasy art.
As the rules state, the description of the cards is a section that “must bne read in order to have a full knowledge of the rules.†Darlene isn’t kidding! By the time I read through the description of the Event cards, I wanted a quick reference chart to refer to—and, not surprisingly, one is provided. The Faction and command symbols make sense as long a I remembered I could use particular Leaders to command particular forces. (The symbols appear on each card belonging to a set). Playing the game with someone who knew it already was the best way for me to learn the rules.
As with many games, experience is the best teacher and I quickly saw the “whys†and “hows†of the game system. The game may be a bit much for beginning fantasy gamers, but strategists will love it. It plays quickly and combat is relatively simply to resolve. Two-, three- and four-player games each have a different twist, depending on which Factions are controlled by active players and which Factions begin the game as neutrals.
Persons familiar with Darlene’s art will want to get a copy of JASMINE as will card-game collectors. Players of Nuclear War, Sqwyrm, or Power Play will see that JASMINE incorporates a few old ideas with many new ones to create a fresh approach in card gaming.