Mage Wars Academy features gameplay similar to Mage Wars Arena (née Mage Wars) with two mages in head-to-head combat to see who will be victorious.

Mage Wars Academy is a two-player starter set that features two mages, two spellbooks, and a new "boardless" gameplay design that's more portable and fast-playing than Mage Wars Arena. All of the spell cards included in Academy are compatible with those in Arena.

Multiple core sets (or future expansions) can be added together to create a 3 or 4 player game.