WIZARD UPDATE

Wizard Cards Update (2024-07-17) At the advanced age of 88 I am not able to adequately handle all of the demands of operating “Wizard Cards”. Fortunately, many players have stepped forward to offer their services and assistance. Carles has masterfully provided a myriad of online tournaments and taken on the responsibility for all the month-end calculations. This alone has taken a vast amount of work off my shoulders. The Wizard wrap on Jeff and Marina’s RV is another example of player-initiated promotion. Others have provided promotional support and have run live tournaments. I hesitate to mention additional names because there are so many, and I do not want to leave anyone out.
Thanks to others I am able to carry on with remaining tasks that include,
- Holding meetings of Wizard investors and issuing dividend payments.
- Meeting with our accountant to discuss taxation and record-keeping matters.
- Coordinating with “US Games Systems” on a variety of matters.
- Handling banking and payment of taxes as required.
- Making occasional changes to rules, variations and packaging of product.
- Responding to frequent enquiries from players and the general public.
- Required updates, payments and communication with the programmer. (Lawson Software)
- Required payments to the website hosting domain provider. (Moniker)
- Participating in online games.
I am pleased to see players initiating live tournaments. Debi’s recent event in Ottawa required a lot of preparation and was a great success. The upcoming event in Cochrane, Alberta on September 28 will be a smaller event but nevertheless requires a lot of planning and preparation.
Nevertheless, I am concerned about the future of Wizard. There is a dire need to attract younger players.
Recently I received an email from an 8th grade mathematics teacher in the “East Allegheny School District”, that in part reads:
“I am a middle school teacher that runs an after-school Board Game Club. I was just introduced to Wizard, and I am hooked! I would love to teach this game to the club this fall.” He will receive complimentary Wizard games and I will keep in touch and monitor his progress. It is this sort of initiative that needs to be pursued. Without young players the game will gradually fade into oblivion. It is not the normal course of events for the game inventor to promote the product but with the demise of Stuart Kaplan, the owner of “U.S. Games Systems” our greatest ally has been lost.
Starting today I intend to turn my attention to attracting younger players. I will require the cooperation and assistance of Ricardo Cruz, the current President of “U.S. Games Systems”. I will be asking him to cooperate by providing free games and promotional material to schools and other youth-related organizations interested in providing gaming activities. If you are familiar with a gaming club run by school personnel, please contact the person responsible and explore the possible inclusion of Wizard in the program. A word of caution: In the past card-playing groups have happily accepted free games of Wizard but had no intention of promoting the game. Sending free games and promotional material can be expensive so potential participants should be vetted.
I have just emailed a proposal to the “Toronto Board of Education”. The nub of it follows:
“Thousands of dollars and numerous hours are expended to provide inter-school competitions on sports such as football. These activities are limited to a few students and the activities are not carried into their adult lives. The Wizard card game has little cost, is available to all students and can be continued for a lifetime. It brings fellow students, family and friends together, cements relationships and is great fun.
An interested teacher acting as a games coordinator could be appointed to arrange competitions among 4 or 5 test schools. The schools would be provided with Wizard games and support materials at no charge. Wizard Clubs at each school would compete as an extracurricular activity. Once a school has assembled a team of its best players, they would compete with the other schools to determine a regional champion. Eventually, the program would be expanded to all City of Toronto schools.”
Including “Wizard” in after-school programs would be a massive step in the right direction. Once again, thanks to all those who enjoy playing Wizard and an extra big thank-you to all those who go above and beyond by helping out in a myriad of ways.
Ken Fisher
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