I’m always excited to see the little guys step up to the challenge presented by larger hobby game publishers like Fantasy Flight Games, Asmodee, and Z-Man Games. It’s far too often in the tabletop gaming hobby that “indie” equates to “second-rate” compared to the big guys, so when a small press game like Colby Dauch’s SUMMONER WARS comes along and it’s such an accomplished and compelling maiden effort I think it’s well worth taking note as it demonstrates that even a small, start-up company can produce a professional, high quality product at an attractive price point and with value to spare.

Mr. Dauch’s experience at Hasbro working on HEROSCAPE and other mainstream games shines through as the game strikes a balance between hobby depth and accessibility. SUMMONER WARS deserves the attention of both casual and hardcore hobbyists as it’s one of the better games in its class- the ultra-light battle game- that I’ve played in quite some time.

SUMMONER WARS is a card game that ships in two self-contained $24.95 kits that will each support two players including a woefully flimsy paper stock map across which the titular tussle will transpire, a handful of counters, and some strangely hefty dice. Two sets can be combined for a four player game. One set invests you in the Phoenix Elves and Tundra Orcs, the other in Cave Goblins and Guild Dwarves. There’s nothing terribly interesting or exciting about the fairly generic fantasy races or the routine game setting that we’ve seen in any number of other games that continue to foment racial hatred between Orcs and Elves, Goblins and Dwarves. Each faction has a completely unique set of units, spells, and tactics that offer decent variety while suggesting the possibility of expansions that will almost certainly bring Humans and Undead into the battle at some point to round out the stock fantasy race roster. Artwork and design are high quality, but not particularly inspiring or creative. But at least it looks industry standard and competitive with other products on the market, unlike a lot of small press titles.

What the game lacks in originality it more than makes up for with excellent gameplay that manages to hit that “just right” spot of tactical and strategic depth, low complexity, and brevity. A two player match would run long at 30 minutes, a four-player bout tops out at around 45 minutes. The minimal setup required and quick pace make it easy to play a couple of rounds and it definitely has that “let’s play again” feeling that I find hugely desirable in a game of this class. I’ve had tables of completely new players up and enjoying SUMMONER WARS with some degree of competency in less than ten minutes. It’s got that level of immediate gratification that board games too often lack, and as such this is a game anyone can play and enjoy with minimal buy-in.

The rules are simple, and the presentation is easy to grasp with sensible card layouts and clearly worded special power texts. Process is also easy to comprehend with a basic six phase turn with the highlights being a summoning phase where new units are played to the 4x5 battlefield grid, an event card phase where a player can play spells and other effects, a movement phase in which three of a player’s units maneuver, and an attack phase where melee and ranged units roll dice and attempt to score hits on enemy cards. It’s simple stuff that anyone who has any familiarity at all with tabletop gaming will absorb almost as if it were part of genetic memory, and new gamers should have little trouble understanding key concepts like “the big number is how many dice you roll”.

Each side has a handful of different unit types with race-appropriate abilities (Goblins do sneaky stuff, Dwarves are hardy and good at smashing walls, Orcs are strong but dumb, and Elves rule the ranged combat contest), and each side also has a Summoner unit that is much stronger but also must be protected- losing the Summoner means losing the game. There are also walls, strong defensive points and points-of-origin for summoned units. Some of the interactions between powers and events can get a little tricky, but I have yet to encounter any kind of MAGIC: THE GATHERING-like timing confusion or contradiction. The game feels well-tuned, and each side is fairly balanced provided the player understands the faction’s assets, limitations, and advantages.