Board game · 2020

アルス・ノタリア (Ars Notalia)

Ars Notalia is a drawing game from Japan, where players are magic students who complete a 4-week internship at a magical research company. Their goal is to improve their grades and hopefully gain full-time magic work. Each week, they complete a magical research on a particular topic, forming a spell from a combination of two word cards (including English). Players use agreed symbols to represent the components of the spell (e.g. water, fire, etc.). Each player draws a version of the spell from the required symbols. At the end of the course, each player studies the spells drawn by the other students and casts a secret vote on how well they have been drawn. Players are looking for how easily the drawing is to read and how well it matches the requirements of the spell. The player with the best score wins the game and a new job. Players must try to draw out a spell on paper, decoratively and cleverly, but also recognizable and not too difficult to read and interpret correctly. A spell that is too easy or too obscure should score lower marks than a more finely crafted work. The game is available as a Print'n'Play and can be purchased for ¥500.