Magic and the Mall Rats

Curtis Smith at the Wizard's Guild, Aviation Mall offers a safe and unique environment for latch key kids and others to have fun while improving their minds. When your child is playing games at the Wizard's Guild, you don't have to worry about who is approaching him at the playground or on the street enticing him into who knows what trouble. You also don't have to worry about him sitting at home vegetating in front of the TV. He's having fun and he's learning.

Some children whose parents allow them to go there as long as they follow certain safety rules, must call home or the office when they arrive. They must also call when they get back home. Some parents ask that their children not be allowed to leave the store except to go straight home.

They know the rules and they know Mom can call anytime to check on them. If they want to come again, they must follow the rules. They can purchase snacks in the store so they don't need to leave.

The children have fun chatting with their friends and playing popular fantasy games such as Magic, Dungeons and Dragons, War Hammer, Spellfire, Star Wars, and a slew of others. These games stimulate the imagination. They teach a child to think for himself while improving his memory and reasoning skills. A player must learn all the nuances of the game as well as battle strategy. A lot of math skills are utilized in Dungeons and Dragons, especially.

One of the easiest games to learn and play is Overpower. This game is based on the comic book heroes, the X-Men as well as other Marvel and DC comic book characters. The cards are simple with colorful illustrations and large symbols to identify with. This makes it one of the best fantasy card games for the younger set as well as the just plain beginner. It is relatively inexpensive with packets selling for under a dollar. The rules are easy to understand. The drawback being that an intelligent player becomes bored quickly and moves on to more expensive and harder to learn games. Hardly anyone at the guild still plays Overpower.

Star Wars is evocative of the Star Wars Trilogy movies with a light force, a dark force, Chewy, Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and all the regular characters. The movie plot doesn't have to be adhered to, however. Although easy to understand, a large rule book is necessary with different cards following different rules. Sometimes players call the guild to ask for a particular ruling on a home game.

It was apparent from those queried, that Star Wars and Magic were the most popular games being played in this area.

Players practice organizational skills by deciding when is the best time to play a certain card. A player sets up his deck, not with the same old fifty two cards used for centuries, but with a deck of sixty or more unusual cards that do many things depending on what cards have already been played. At different times they can rearrange the cards they are using with others they keep in storage boxes to play a game with a totally different plot and outcome. You can win or lose in many different ways.

War Hammer is a battle strategy game where a player must think ahead several moves such as in the time honored game of Chess. Players learn to set up attack and defense plans. Many times they have plotted the entire game while selecting the cards to place in their decks. Winning depends on how you use your mind, not on what fate throws at you.

"The skills they are learning now can be used in the real world to help them problem solve." says Mike, a teenager from Queensbury who is doing his last year of high school at Adirondack Community College. When asked why he is a regular at the guild, he added, "I'm bored and playing is a challenge. I'm using my mind. I meet a lot of others with a common interest."

On Saturdays tournaments are held. This particular Saturday, it was a Booster Draft Tournament. Each player buys three packets of cards from a dollar fifty to four dollars. They open a pack, sift through it to find the best card and then pass the excess to the next player. They repeat the process until they have gone through all three packs. Then the game is played. Players can win small prizes of cards or occasionally bigger prizes.

Some card games expose a player to a world of art they might not otherwise notice. These cards are drawn with great beauty and color.

"My favorite games are Star Wars, Legend of the Five Rings and Middle Earth." said James. "I find playing interesting and fun or I wouldn't do it."

Tom says, "I play to keep myself out of trouble." Most kids at the guild are serious players who don't have a lot of idle time. To be the best player requires a lot of practice. No one admits to being the best player. Some older kids will tell you occasionally a little kid will come in and beat them.

The boys said girls play the games, too. "It takes the same skills to play no matter what sex you are. I don't think it's any different playing with girls." Mike stated. "Sometimes girls play because their boy friends do." he added.

Kids learn the value of money and their cards with some cards being worth a whole lot more than others. Most cards can be purchased for about two or three dollars for a packet of twelve to fifteen cards. The packet will contain at least one rare, four uncommons and the rest commons. Commons sell for ten to thirty five cents with uncommons and rares costing eight to fifteen dollars. Decks cost about twelve dollars.

Children learn to save money for a rare card. It's a hobby that can be played using a simple deck at a small cost or a more expensive hobby for the serious collector or the truly dedicated aficionado. One card in the Magic series, called the Black Lotus has a book value of over three hundred dollars.

A wish list is maintained at the guild for players who want their parents and friends to know what they want for Christmas and birthdays. Why buy socks when you can get them what they really want?

A note of caution when spending a lot of money for a special card. Make sure the child understands the real value of the card. An investment of fifteen or twenty dollars in a card is lost if the card is used in everyday play and becomes worn or damaged. It loses it's value and can no longer be used in tournament play. Plastic sleeves, called "card condoms" by some Hudson Falls players, can be purchased inexpensively to protect cards.

A lot of enjoyment can be found in a hard fought victory while improving your life skills.

This was written about 3 years ago and the prices have gone up and the favorite games have changed.