Spellbinder (game)

"Spellbinder" (also known as "Waving Hands") is a 1977 pencil-and-paper game invented by Richard Bartle and first published in his fanzine, "Sauce of the Nile". It has since been re-created in a variety of formats, including X Window, play-by-email, Java applet, and web-based.

Gameplay

Two or more players take the role of wizards, and the object of the game is to be the last wizard standing. Wizards can cast spells at other wizards. These spells are cast through gestures: each turn, the player chooses two gestures, one for each hand, from clap (C), wave (W), snap (S), wriggle fingers (F), proffered palm (P) and digit point (D). There are also the non-magical gestures stab (>) and nothing (-).

These gestures are built up via many turns to form spells. For instance, one can cast the spell "Magic Missile" by performing the S (snap) gesture followed by the D (digit point) with the same hand. The spell is cast on the turn that the D is made, assuming no intervention (such as an Anti-Spell). Thus, one could conceivably cast two spells at once; however, this is only useful infrequently for various reasons.

Play Online

* [http://www.gamerz.net/~fm/ Play By E-Mail version] , changed slightly from the original rules.
* [http://games.ravenblack.net/ Web-Based version] , with similar rule changes.
* [http://www.byond.com/games/CalusCoRPS/TheLastWizard?invite=CalusCoRPS Play using BYOND] , rules slightly changed along with some spells. Uses the BYOND engine.

References

* [http://www.mud.co.uk/richard/spellbnd.htm Spellbinder history] including links to playing online.
* [http://www.gamecabinet.com/rules/WavingHands.html Rules] as written by Andrew Buchanan.
* [http://ispace.altervista.org/spellbinder.html Spellbinder Combo Assistant] (250Kb) a freeware program written in Delphi that help to calculate the best spell combinations for next turns. It contains a spell list and descriptions in English, Spanish and Italian. ( [http://ispace.altervista.org/images/sca.jpgScreenshot] ).