If you have never heard of the MMORPG called Wizard 101 ,don’t worry about it. It means one of two things: either you’re not as hip as I am or you’re not 12.

It’s a hard guess as both of those are likely true.

Wizard 101 is an MMORPG launched about a year ago by Kingsisle, a small little studio here in Austin. If you’re part of the hip crowd like me, you already know that it’s a game put out by the guys who made Shadowbane (yes, that Shadowbane) and it’s meant for kids.

And, by kids I mean 12 year-olds who have access to their parents credit cards.

To briefly describe Wizard 101- you are a human child that has been summoned to the wizarding world by a wizard schools headmaster so you can stop the dark villainous wizard out to destroy/rule the world. Now, I know what you’re thinking; “Hold on, Abraxas! This sounds suspiciously like a Harry Potter rip-off.” And, you’re right. It does sound a lot like the Harry Potter series.

I recently had a chance to talk to James Nance, the Project Lead for Wizard 101 at Austin GDC, and I brought that very point up to him. And, let me quote our conversation verbatim:

Abraxas: What up with your shit, yo? Freaking Potter rip-off!

Nance: Bitch, puleeaze. Fools be trippin’! My shit ain’t no Potter rip-off. You see any damn lightning bolts? No. You know why? Everyone’s got a damn hat on.

Abraxas: True dat. But, check it, wizards school.

Nance: How about damn Terry Prachett, huh? Diskworld, yo! Diskworld!

Abraxas: Diskworld?!? Man, you flat trippin’ on me. What the hell does Diskworld have to do with anything?

Nance: Pratchett’s got a wizards school. With kids. And every one of his damn wizards has got a hat. Ain’t no one said one damn thing about Diskworld!

Actually, he didn’t say that at all. That was the conversation I was having with him in my head, and I suspect that’s what he wanted to say. What he really said was a long, patient explanation as to the points of difference between Rowling’s material and Wizard 101, and that fantasy literature is replete with examples of magical children and schools for those children. He also said that the headmaster of the magical school was a play on Merlin’s name and not Dumbledore.

As you can tell, the conversation I was having with him in my head was much more interesting.

For the homeschooled: Terry Pratchett is the author of the fantasy series Diskworld, of which there are 36 novels, several short stories, and at least two television movies. There is indeed a wizards school, with students even. And they all wear hats.

A wizarding school is neither unique or original to Rowlings work.

After my chat with Nance, I decided to give the game a try. CyberMonkeys don’t shy away from something, even if we think it will be a lot like suffering from the side-effects of Ambien CR, you know: dry mouth, headache, muscle aches, nausea, nose or throat irritation, sluggishness, stomach upset, severe allergic reactions (rash, hives, itching, difficulty breathing, tightness in the chest, swelling of the hands, legs, mouth, face, lips, eyes, throat, or tongue, unusual hoarseness), abnormal thinking, behavior changes, chest pain, confusion, decreased coordination, difficulty swallowing or breathing, fainting, fast or irregular heartbeat, hallucinations, memory problems (eg, memory loss), mental or mood changes, severe dizziness, shortness of breath, suicidal thoughts or actions, and vision changes.

That’s what I expected. What I got was something else altogether.

Normally, MMO installation takes gigs and gigs of hard drive space. Wizards took about 8 megs to start. Which is stupid small. The game starts you off asking a series of questions about who you are, your favorite hobbies, and what kind of animals you like so it can generate a character based on your answers. That’s brilliant. You are immediately involved in making your character, and the game is making it highly personal to you.

For the record, I came up as a Death Wizard.

What? The game says they are brave and loyal champions. No, really. It says that.

Anyway.

What’s brilliant about asking a series of questions, you ask? Well, I’ll tell you. In the matter of a download that was less than 2 minutes, I was no longer installing a game but answer questions about what kind of character I might want to play.

That’s insanely fast entry in to game play.

Now, here’s where things get better. While I’m answering questions, the game is downloading and installing the tutorial. While I go through the tutorial to learn the game skill set and combat rules, the game installs the newbie zone. While I’m in the newbie zone, the game…you get the idea.

That’s nuts! The game is installing while I’m playing it! Crazy talk, I know!

As far as graphics go- it’s underwhelming. You could install this game on a netbook. No joke. That’s how lowball they brought this game in on the graphics side.

Which is smart thinking really. In today’s game market, the average gamer is now in their late twenties and early thirties. They can afford the high-end systems and pass their old rigs onto their kids.

You know, the ones with access to the credit cards.

Like every other MMO, the game is built around fighting creatures and npc’s, and Wizards is no different. The game borrows several pages from Yuh-gi-oh, Magic the Gathering, and Pokemon in that the “spells” cast by the player are done so from a deck of cards.

True Story: way back in the day when Magic first came out, I started playing. I had access to this neat new program called Photoshop. Now, if you’re thinking that I made my own cards and used them against unwitting players you’d be right. I totally did that. Very specifically, I made the Throat Wolf. For 5 generic mana I could tap to destroy target player. I even used it in a few tournaments before someone caught on. After getting thrown out I sold the Throat Wolf to a card shop for $50.

What?

Anyway, Wizards uses a similar system. You cast your spells using cards, and then the animation for that creature fires off. Every single time. At first it’s kinda neat to see the Fire Cat come to life and attack your foe, but after the 500th time it kinda loses its charm.

For all the things Wizards does well, it does a few things wrong.

The largest failing I feel is the lack of regeneration of health and mana for the characters. Unlike every other game on the market, the player characters do not restore their own health and mana (the ability to use the cards) on their own. When you deplete your resources, you are forced to retreat to the main city and play the mini-games in the center of town.

Which is a fun sounding idea, to replenish your energy you get to play mini-games that are nostalgic re-do’s of the popular 80’s games. And I get why the game is set up that way, it pushes players to assemble in a common area and provides a lot of opportunity for socialization and conversation but I feel the leash is far too short. Every time I was ready to push forward deeper into Krokotopia and really get into the mix I was forced to return to the main city to rebuild my energy.

There is a pvp system built into the game, these guys did create Shadowbane after all. But, the turn based nature of the card combat takes the dynamic risk factor out of the fight, even if you are battling against another player. It’s just really hard to gank someone with a deck of cards.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Shadowbane was an extremely ruthless MMO to play. My assassin would routinely perform what I called High Speed Elective Kidney Removal Surgery on other players. I had a blast, although from the number of in-game death threats I received others may not have. Wussies.

Wizard101 is really light weight on the competitive side. Beyond selecting a particular card there isn’t much to combat. Crafting is elementary in its finest moment. While there is some customization to the avatar’s, you’re pretty much going to look the same through the whole game. Wizard101 is a game built to appeal to children, and I would even call Wizard101 an entry-level mmorpg for adults.

If your significant other doesn’t play Warcraft and you’re looking for a way to get them involved in a MMO or you’ve never played an MMO and want to see what all the fuss is about- Wizard101 is the game for you. Easy entry into the game with a deliberately simple style of game play make Wizard101 hugely accessible to a young or novice player.

If you’re looking for a replacement for your Warcrack or even another griefing engine; this is not your game .