History
Wizard was created in 1983-84 by Ken Fisher of Toronto, Canada. Ken is the creator of the popular series of books and games
titled "Isaac Asimov Presents SuperQuiz, by Ken Fisher". The quiz is now in its 30th year in daily newspapers syndication across North America. To
view a sample link to King Features.SuperQuiz
The first production run of Wizard took place in June, 1986. The game rules have stood the test of time, but the graphics
have undergone several changes. The original game box and one of the jester and wizard cards are shown below:
In 1991 fueled by an enthusiastic public response to the fascinating game-play afforded by Wizard, a complete graphical
redesign was undertaken which brought the card-fronts essentially to their present design. However, the back of the cards were as shown
below.
In 1993 Wizard awarded its first license to Canada Games,(the license was restricted to Canada) . Design changes were
required to meet the legal requirement for both French and English languages. The card back and a wizard and jester are shown.
In 1994 Wizard granted world rights, excluding Canada, to U.S. Games Systems of Stamford, Connecticut. The overall quality
of the cards was vastly improved and the current card back was instituted with other minor but important modifications.
In 1996 a license was granted to Amigo-Spiele for manufacture and distribution in
lor="#00ff00">Germany. The company which deals exclusively in playing cards instituted graphical changes of immense proportions: new card
suits, a new card back, a new box and a different medieval character depicted on each card. The German decks contain four non-standard suits with
values from 1 to 13, four Z cards labelled der zauberer (the sorcerer) and four N cards labelled der narr (the fool).
The box-front, back of the card and five other cards are shown.
In 1999 Canada was added to the US Games license. A complete overhaul of the Canadian product resulted in a game of much
higher quality with sharper graphics and new packaging. The Canadian distributors selected were Kroeger (416-752-4382)
and Touch the Sky (800-268-8844)
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