Magical Speed

Two magic students, Nicole and Claire, find a book that describes a magic card that grants any wish to the person who finds it. They immediately set out on a journey across Plumland to find it – but to get there, they’ll have to win games of cards against anyone they encounter. Magical Speed is a fantasy video game adaptation of the playing card game Speed, with the goal being to be the first person to empty your deck of cards. Two cards are dealt face-up in the centre of the table, and the rest of the deck (including jokers) is split and given to each player; players have a hand of four cards, face-up in front of them. Players can play one of their cards over one of the two cards in the centre of the table if it’s numerically one higher or lower than it. Players don’t take turns, so reaction time is important; players need to be able to play a card the instant they’re able. If neither player has a card that can be played over one of the cards in the centre, the top card of each player’s deck is turned over to replace the cards in the centre of the table and play continues. Each round has a 60-second timer, and whichever player has fewer cards left at the end of a round wins.

In addition to the one-player quest mode, in which players play against the CPU, there’s a two-player mode in which players sit across the cocktail cabinet from each other. Since the cards are symmetrical, featuring designs on both sides, each player can read the playfield from separate sides of the table.