Designers:  Tim Eisner (The Grimm Forest, The Grimm Masquerade, March of the Ants), Ben Eisner (The Aquacorn Cove Board Game, The Grimm Masquerade, Tidal Blades: Heroes of the Reef), Ian Moss (Duelosaur Island, News@11)

Artists:  Matt Paquette (Call to Adventure, Mystic Vale, Thunderstone Quest, Tiny Towns), Manny Trembley (Dice Throne: Season One, Dice Throne: Season Two – Battle Chest, Dice Throne: Season Two – Gunslinger vs. Samurai)

Publisher:  Druid City Games (The Grimm Forest, The Grimm Masquerade, Sorcerer City)

Genre/Mechanisms:  area majority/influence, card drafting, deck building, miniatures

Funding Status:  At the time of this posting, Wonderland’s War is already fully-funded. Pledges currently total more than 11x the initial funding goal, with just under 2 days left to go on the campaign!

Player Count:  2-5

Solo Mode:  no

Complexity:  medium-light

Risk:  medium-low

What It’s About:  “The Looking Glass has shattered, madness is being drained from the inhabitants, and war has come to Wonderland. Alice, Mad Hatter, Red Queen, and Jabberwock must gather all that they can in this Drafting, Bag Building, & Area Control game, first playing nice at the Hatter’s Tea Party, then going to battle in Wonderland’s War!”

How It Works:  “In Wonderland’s War, each player takes on the role of a famous Wonderlandian, leading a faction to War to right the wrongs that have befallen Wonderland.  The game is played over three rounds, with each round consisting of a Tea Party phase and a War phase.  During the Tea Party phase, the characters rush around the Tea Party making preparations for battle, placing Supporters into the Regions of Wonderland to gain a foothold, gathering the support of other Wonderlandians, recruiting Ally chips to their cause, and finding magical Forges which can be used to unlock their faction’s inherent powers.

On their turn, if they have less than 4 cards, the active player moves their character clockwise to any unoccupied plate with a card, and takes the card at the space along with its rewards, as long as they do NOT pass the Looking Glass. Players may not end their move on the same space they started from. If they reach the Looking Glass, they must stop temporarily, roll the Shard die, and refill all the Tea Party cards on unoccupied spaces (those with no card or Leader). The active player then continues their turn by moving to any open plate. They cannot pass the Looking Glass more than once per turn.  Once they have 4 cards at the start of their turn, they’ll place their Leader into a Region of their choice. When the last Leader has been placed, the Tea Party ends. All players gain one Madness Chip from the Supply. Each player with the most Shards gains one additional Madness chip, and discards half of their Shards.

In the War Phase, the characters go to battle wherever they have placed their Supporters, using the Allies they’ve gathered during the Tea Party.  To battle, they’ll draw Ally chips from their Battle bag, adding their Strength to the fight. The player with the highest Strength wins the fight, earning Victory awards and building a Castle in that Region.  But beware, the Madness of the broken Looking Glass has spread throughout the land, and the more they give into the frenzy of War, the more Supporters they’ll lose.

In the War Phase players compete in each Region where they have units (Supporters, Wonderlandians, or their Leader) by drawing chips from their Battle bag. To win a battle and build a castle, they must have the highest Strength, but they may wish to stop earlier to complete a Quest or work towards Forging their Faction. The differing objectives in War require the players to carefully analyze their opponents’ positions and balance their desires for control with the potential for destruction at the hands of the Madness. Starting in the Region with the “Starting Battle” token and proceeding clockwise, players resolve the battles in each Region, drawing chips to advance their Strength Tracker along the Battle Track.  All players with at least one Unit (Supporters, Wonderlandians, and Leaders) in the Region participate in the battle. As long as they do not bust, players may gain various rewards from the battle. The War Phase ends once a battle has been resolved in each Region. Players return all chips from their Exhausted Chip areas, return their Madness Chip track to their bag, and place their Leader on the Looking Glass space on the Tea Party board. Then the players reveal the topmost Quest card, move the Starting Battle token to that region, and prepare the next Tea Party. Unless, of course, it’s the third and final round, in which case they’ll proceed to End Game Scorning.

After 3 Rounds and the final War Phase, players gain points as follows: each Castle is worth a base value of 3 VP, which can be increased on their Forge track; Quests in hand score face value while completed Quests score Double; and players lose 1 VP for each Shard token. The player with the highest total points is the winner and the new ruler of Wonderland.

Comparisons: Two of the most popular bag builders out there are Orleans and The Quacks of Quedlinburg. Orleans leans in towards its heavier Euro roots, while Quacks is a much lighter game. Wonderland’s War is on the lighter side as well, and differentiates itself from the pack with some nice miniatures and its focus on area control battles. The Grimm Forest and The Grimm Masquerade are also good comparisons simply because they’re produced by the same publisher and much of the same design team, and also share a similar theme.

What Should I Pledge?:
$50 Retail Edition: the retail edition of the game with all applicable stretch goals. The Retail version of the game includes 5 Faction board, 5 Cardboard Leader Standees, 56 cardboard Faction chips, 72 Draft cards, 24 Wonderlandian Cards, 24 cardboard Item chips, 75 generic Meeple Supporters, 25 Castle Minis, 5 Faction bags, 20 cardboard Forge chips, 8 cardboard Region Scoring tokens, 30 Faction Discs, 30 Faction cards, 20 Madness shards, 1 Madness die, 33 cardboard Madness chips, 6 Ally cards, 90 cardboard Ally chips, 1 cardboard Battle Marker, and 5 cardboard Shield tokens.
$80 Kickstarter Exclusive Deluxe Edition: everything in the Retail Edition, plus a Gametrayz system, 5 Detailed Leader Minis, 13 Wonderlandian minis, 75 Custom Wooden Supporter Meeples, and 5 Branded Faction Bags.
$85 Retail Edition + Premium Chips: everything in the Retail Edition, plus the Premium Chips Add-On featuring 200+ 4mm Premium Plastic Chips in a Kickstarter-Exclusive Premium Chip box with magnetic clasp folding lid.
$115 Deluxe Edition + Premium Chips: everything in the Kickstarter Exclusive Deluxe Edition, plus the Premium Chips Add-On featuring 200+ 4mm Premium Plastic Chips in a Kickstarter-Exclusive Premium Chip box with magnetic clasp folding lid.

Add-Ons:
$40 Premium Chips Add-On: featuring 200+ 4mm Premium Plastic Chips in a Kickstarter-Exclusive Premium Chip box with magnetic clasp folding lid.

KS Exclusives
Both the Deluxe Edition and the Premium Chips are KS-Exclusives.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $115 for the Deluxe Edition + Premium Chips pledge, plus $20 in estimated shipping for a total of $135.

Wonderland’s War completes its Kickstarter on Wednesday, March 4th and tentatively ships in March 2021.