Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Board Game of English Magic

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1. Cindy M Neff Verified Buyer – 2 January 2025

   Arrived in perfect condition and was packaged well. The art is stunning and well crafted. Can’t wait to figure out how to play it!
   

2. Joseph A. Nardi Verified Buyer – 15 January 2025

   GREAT Boardgame which follows the book fairly closely.
   

3. DB Verified Buyer – 19 February 2025

   Well – now there is, in board game format! This is a great Euro style game (not too heavy on rules) where 2 to 4 players will balance prestige, through invitations and introductions, and magicianship, by completing feats of magic. You will be attempting to raise your magicianship to equal or exceed that of the gentleman with the thistledown hair during key years in the game.
   The components are top quality and the artwork is fantastic (of particular note is the art on the Cards Of Marseilles).
   The rulebook is clear and concise, and there is just a single sheet of counters for the magical elements – so you can get the game up and running quite easily. Youtube also has some demonstrations of gameplay if you are stuck of course. Osprey Games has delivered a great game, and used the licence of the original work extremely well. If you are a fan of the book or TV show then you’ll appreciate the work that has gone into this. You do not need to be familiar with the source material to play the game at all, but the theme is very well implemented so fans may well enjoy this. 5 stars from me.
   

4. Philip Millar Verified Buyer – 10 March 2025

   Not the easiest game to get started with but one you’ve been through a few turns it will click, lots of depth and different strategies for winning too so great for replaying. Works really well to the theme too
   

5. Jason L Fitch Verified Buyer – 14 March 2025

   Nicely designed visually, but unfortunately you’ll spend some hours parsing the instructions and searching for youtube help before you’re able to play.
   

6. Annie B Verified Buyer – 14 March 2025

   This is such a good game but be warned it does take awhile to get the hang of. Based on Sussanah Clarke’s wonderful book, you pit your wits against each other and the the wicked Gentleman in a game of magic spells and journeys across England and Europe. Beautifully presented and thoroughly engrossing, a whole weekend can slip magically away as you play.
   

7. kehs Verified Buyer – 15 March 2025

   Brilliant board game based on one of my favourite books. It’s not necessary to have read the book to enjoy this game.
   

8. TheDaveL Verified Buyer – 5 April 2025

   This is a pretty great game… If 2 criteria are met… 1. You need to have a familiarity with the source material (book or TV show), and 2. You need to appreciate abstractions in your games. There have been several reviews that I’ve read that mention that they didn’t feel like they were ‘doing magic’ when playing the game. Well, that is true. It is just a game and does not require you to have arcane knowledge of the arts of magic to play it. I haven’t quite figured out how someone would ‘feel’ like they were doing magic in a board or card game. I’ve played Mage Wars and Magic: The Gathering. They’re still super abstract. But, I don’t see people complaining that they didn’t feel like they were ‘doing magic’. Ah, well … Yes, it is super abstract. But, the theme is there (for my wife and for me, at least). The game is beautiful. We just love the look of it on the table. In terms of gameplay, it took each of us a full game to really ‘get’ what needed to be done, and we lost horribly to the Gentleman with the Thistledown Hair. (Oh, and that character, too, is super abstract here). It is a little bit on the complex side, but more because of the choices available than excessive chrome (e.g.: rules just to add to the theme). If you’re used to modern board games, it isn’t too bad. The rulebook is quite adequate. There’s a bit of luck involved (noted in case you’re sensitive to luck based games) due to the cards, yet the way things work it is mitigated somewhat. But, in all, we enjoyed it greatly. The abstractions (yes, I know I’ve used that word a lot… But, it is important to note…) don’t get in the way for us. We still thought that the theme was well represented and strong.