2023Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca, Marco Montanaro
- Videos
- 78
- Creators
- 38
1 - 4 players90 - 240 minHeavy weight

2019Marco Montanaro
Mostly reviews and unboxings. Black Rose Wars is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 20 reviews, 8 how-to-play guides, 5 recorded sessions, 16 unboxings, and 5 other videos.
From BoardGameGeek
Black Rose Wars is a competitive fantasy game of deck-building, strategy, and combat set in the hectic universe of Nova Aetas in Italy. Each player is one of powerful mages of the Black Rose Order who aspires to become the new Supreme Magister in order to acquire the mighty power of the Black Rose Artifact and the Forgotten Magic. Mages must fight, fulfill Black Rose desires, and gain strength with their spells until their power reaches the containment threshold of the prison where they are exiled, finally freeing themselves. Each mage has at their disposal six schools of magic, each one with its own strategy to annihilate their opponents and increase their power. At the start of the battle, mages start with a grimoire of six cards; as mages study more spells during play, their grimoire will increase. Every spell in Black Rose Wars has two different effects, increasing a player's adaptability during a fight. Mages fight each other in a modular arena of hexagons called "rooms". They summon powerful creatures, cast destructive spells, or devise dark deceptions with their enchantments. The game system is divided into different phases. Each turn, after choosing new spells from the six schools of magic, players plan their strategy in advance, placing cards face down. Later, they reveal the played cards to kill each other, solve missions, summon creatures, or destroy the prison rooms, one against each other and against the Black Rose (the playing system). After being killed, mages are reborn immediately, allowing them to re-enter the fight without delay - although their death still fed energy to those mages who caused it. The mage with the most power at the end of the battle will be crowned Supreme Magister of the Order by the Black Rose itself.
Black Rose Wars has 54 videos from 44 creators: 20 reviews, 8 how-to-play guides, 5 playthroughs, 16 unboxings and 5 other videos. They date from 2017 to June 2025.
To learn the rules, start with "Play it Right - Black Rose Wars" by Cardboard Rhino, which runs 19 min. For a quicker teach, "How to Play Black Rose Wars" by Geek & Sundry runs 11 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Black Rose Wars Play Through - with Tom, Sam, and Zee" by The Dice Tower. 18 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Black Rose Wars (Game the Game)" by Geek & Sundry, one of 5 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Black Rose Wars: Rebirth, Black Rose Wars: Duel – Lex, Black Rose Wars: Revised Edition and Black Rose Wars: Duel – Void, also by Marco Montanaro. It appears in convention videos from Spiel Essen 2022 and Spiel Essen 2019.
8 of 44
2023Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca, Marco Montanaro
1 - 4 players90 - 240 minHeavy weight
2023Andrea Colletti, Marco Montanaro
2 players30 - 45 minMedium weight
2026Marco Montanaro
1 - 4 players90 minMedium weight
2024Andrea Colletti, Marco Montanaro
2 players45 - 60 minHeavy weight
From BoardGameGeek:
Black Rose Wars is a competitive fantasy game of deck-building, strategy, and combat set in the hectic universe of Nova Aetas in Italy. Each player is one of powerful mages of the Black Rose Order who aspires to become the new Supreme Magister in order to acquire the mighty power of the Black Rose Artifact and the Forgotten Magic. Mages must fight, fulfill Black Rose desires, and gain strength with their spells until their power reaches the containment threshold of the prison where they are exiled, finally freeing themselves. Each mage has at their disposal six schools of magic, each one with its own strategy to annihilate their opponents and increase their power. At the start of the battle, mages start with a grimoire of six cards; as mages study more spells during play, their grimoire will increase. Every spell in Black Rose Wars has two different effects, increasing a player's adaptability during a fight. Mages fight each other in a modular arena of hexagons called "rooms". They summon powerful creatures, cast destructive spells, or devise dark deceptions with their enchantments. The game system is divided into different phases. Each turn, after choosing new spells from the six schools of magic, players plan their strategy in advance, placing cards face down. Later, they reveal the played cards to kill each other, solve missions, summon creatures, or destroy the prison rooms, one against each other and against the Black Rose (the playing system). After being killed, mages are reborn immediately, allowing them to re-enter the fight without delay - although their death still fed energy to those mages who caused it. The mage with the most power at the end of the battle will be crowned Supreme Magister of the Order by the Black Rose itself.
Designer
Marco Montanaro
Artists
Fernando Armentano, Tommaso Incecchi, Henning Ludvigsen, Giovanni Pirrotta, Paolo Scippo
Publisher
Ludus Magnus Studio
Categories
Mechanics