The Starter Game comes with 1 tower mat (the fabric game board, which doubles as a pouch to carry most of the game), 12 casting stones, 2 casting cards, 12 turret gems, and the instructions (which are printed on the opposite side of a large chart which shows *all* of the available casting stones). The game's collectible element comes into play with additional casting stones which can be purchased separately.

To play the basic game, each player selects five casting stones from three categories (1 character stone, 2 artifcat stones, and 2 element stones). They then shake them and drop them from about six inches above the table. The stones have a different sticker on each side, so what happens next is determined by how the stones land.

If you do well, you are said to have cast a spell, a potion, or a charm. In true rock-paper-scissors spirit, a spell beats a potion, a potion beats a charm, and a charm beats a spell. If you don't get any of the three, you "bungled" that casting and lose to any of the three other possibilities.

If you win with a spell, you get to place a turret gem (the goal of the game is to place four adjacent turret gems). If you win with a potion, you can swap one of your in-play turret gems with one of your opponent's or you can swap a casting stone from your hand with one that's currently not being used by either player. If you win with a charm, you can remove one of your opponent's in-play turrent gems from the board or knock one of their casting stones out of play.

There are rules for three games -- basic, intermediate and advanced. Even the basic game provides for some decision-making, as players get a chance to pick up some of their casting stones for a second attempt (a la Yahtzee) in each round.

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