How good are you at working under pressure?

Magic Maze is a cooperative board game that packs a whole lot of pressure and insanity in a small box (and a small price tag). In Magic Maze, you and up to 7 other players must work together to...

*checks notes*

Steal weapons from a magical shopping mall. You will take control of 4 pawns, a mage, warrior, dwarf, and elf. These poor souls have had their weapons stolen from them, so now they (you) have to break into a magical shopping mall and get take what you need.

There are, however, a few twists here.

First, each person controls all 4 characters at once. However, different players have different jobs.

For example, one person may be in charge of moving pawns north and west. Another person may be in charge of moving them east and using escalators, and another person may be in charge of moving them south and using teleporters.

Second, the game works in real time. You have 3 minutes to get it all done, measured by a provided sand timer. You can extend this by stepping onto an hourglass tile, which lets you flip the timer over and give you more time – but trust me when I say that you’ll definitely feel that timer ticking away.

Lastly – and this is the real kicker – you must all do this in absolute silence. No talking. No frantic MMMMing or groaning. No pointing. The only way you can communicate is with a devilish red chunk of wood appropriately called the “DO SOMETHING pawn”. The only way to tell someone to do something is to take it and clack it on the table right in front of them, without any other indication of what it is you want them to do. It is up to them to stare at the board and figure out what it is exactly you want them to do!

Magic Maze is a whole lot of chaos in a very small package. I don’t think I’ve played anything that has gotten my heart racing just as much as this. The game slowly drip-feeds rules and ideas so that you are never really overwhelmed, allowing you to explore the game at your own pace.

There is a lot of content here, with 17 scenarios included. These up the ante with crazier challenges and stranger rules, great for spicing things up when you’ve had a few successful games under your belt. There are hilarious and memorable moments to be had every time this game is played.

There will always be moments when everyone has their eyes on one person who needs to just do one thing before the game can really get going, and there will also be times where everyone works together to navigate a pawn up to where it needs to go like clockwork. Magic Maze can either grind to an agonising halt or fly by as everyone works like a well-oiled machine, but it is incredibly fun either way. In fact, it is the contrast between these moments that make them so hilarious – especially when they happen one right after the other!

What that means is, whether you have a good game or a bad one, you can always have a blast with Magic Maze. Since this is a fully cooperative game, it’s very easily to have fun basking in shared misery or fortune. This is one of those games that makes you go “just one more go”.

Just make sure you keep an eye on the timer.