From 7a231cbe1bd4dd4b56f359a3a22f03e747b7bbbd Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Eric Wagoner <ewagoner@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:43:09 -0400
Subject: [PATCH] About: the story of the game, told on the box lid
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

A handwritten "about this game — a labor of love" link on the box lid
opens a new About tab in the booklet: what Wiz-War is, that Tom Jolly
created it in 1983, that this is a faithful reproduction of the
out-of-print Chessex sixth edition (with its one expansion) that Eric
and his friends played for countless hours in the early nineties —
rebuilt from that very copy, card by photographed card, wall by
verified wall, with the original hand-inked token art. It names Steve
Jackson Games as the current rightsholder, states plainly that this
is an unofficial, non-commercial fan work made with love and
admiration, and closes by pointing anyone the game delights toward
the edition currently in print and a real table.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 packages/web/src/App.svelte  | 22 +++++++++++++--
 packages/web/src/Help.svelte | 55 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
 2 files changed, 71 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/packages/web/src/App.svelte b/packages/web/src/App.svelte
index b170268..08ce350 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/App.svelte
+++ b/packages/web/src/App.svelte
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
   let joinCode = $state("");
   let claimPhrase = $state("");
   let showHelp = $state(false);
+  let helpTab = $state<"play" | "rules" | "cards" | "about">("play");
   let hotseatCount = $state(2);
   let setupName = $state("");
   let setupColor = $state(0);
@@ -526,7 +527,7 @@
       <button class="mast-leave" onclick={() => net.requestTransferCode()}>transfer seat</button>
       <button class="mast-leave" onclick={() => net.leave()}>leave table</button>
     {/if}
-    <button class="mast-leave" class:mast-help-solo={!net.roomId} onclick={() => (showHelp = true)}>
+    <button class="mast-leave" class:mast-help-solo={!net.roomId} onclick={() => { helpTab = "play"; showHelp = true; }}>
       help &amp; rules
     </button>
     <span class="mast-status" class:offline={net.status !== "connected"}>
@@ -535,7 +536,7 @@
   </header>
 
   {#if showHelp}
-    <Help onclose={() => (showHelp = false)} />
+    <Help initialTab={helpTab} onclose={() => (showHelp = false)} />
   {/if}
 
   {#if net.catchUp && net.catchUp.length > 0}
@@ -608,6 +609,9 @@
       <div class="boxlid-inner">
         <div class="boxlid-title">Wiz-War</div>
         <div class="boxlid-tag">A game of magical combat in a stone labyrinth</div>
+        <button class="about-link" onclick={() => { helpTab = "about"; showHelp = true; }}>
+          about this game — a labor of love
+        </button>
         <label class="field">
           <span>Your wizard's name</span>
           <input bind:value={name} maxlength="20" placeholder="e.g. Mordecai" />
@@ -1144,8 +1148,20 @@
   .boxlid-tag {
     font-size: 0.95rem;
     color: #6b5a41;
-    margin: 0.5rem 0 1.4rem;
+    margin: 0.5rem 0 0.4rem;
   }
+  .about-link {
+    background: none;
+    border: none;
+    font-family: "Caveat", cursive;
+    font-size: 1.05rem;
+    color: #8a6d3f;
+    text-decoration: underline;
+    text-decoration-style: dotted;
+    cursor: pointer;
+    margin-bottom: 1.2rem;
+  }
+  .about-link:hover { color: #43331f; }
   .field { display: block; text-align: left; margin-bottom: 1rem; }
   .field span {
     display: block;
diff --git a/packages/web/src/Help.svelte b/packages/web/src/Help.svelte
index ee18ceb..57fd332 100644
--- a/packages/web/src/Help.svelte
+++ b/packages/web/src/Help.svelte
@@ -3,9 +3,16 @@
   import Card from "./Card.svelte";
   import { HOW_TO_PLAY, RULES_SECTIONS } from "./rules";
 
-  let { onclose }: { onclose: () => void } = $props();
+  let {
+    onclose,
+    initialTab = "play",
+  }: {
+    onclose: () => void;
+    initialTab?: "play" | "rules" | "cards" | "about";
+  } = $props();
 
-  let tab = $state<"play" | "rules" | "cards">("play");
+  // svelte-ignore state_referenced_locally -- the initial tab is intentionally a one-time value
+  let tab = $state<"play" | "rules" | "cards" | "about">(initialTab);
   let search = $state("");
 
   // The playable pool: every card actually in the 6e game (base + Exp1).
@@ -45,12 +52,54 @@
         <button class:current={tab === "play"} onclick={() => (tab = "play")}>How to play</button>
         <button class:current={tab === "rules"} onclick={() => (tab = "rules")}>The rules</button>
         <button class:current={tab === "cards"} onclick={() => (tab = "cards")}>Card library</button>
+        <button class:current={tab === "about"} onclick={() => (tab = "about")}>About</button>
       </nav>
       <button class="close" onclick={onclose} aria-label="close help">×</button>
     </header>
 
     <div class="booklet-body">
-      {#if tab === "play"}
+      {#if tab === "about"}
+        <div class="about">
+          <h3>What this is</h3>
+          <p>
+            Wiz-War is a game of magical combat in a stone labyrinth: two to six
+            wizards prowl a maze, hurling fireballs, walking through walls,
+            summoning trolls, and stealing each other's treasure. It was created
+            by <strong>Tom Jolly</strong> in 1983 and first published under his
+            own Jolly Games label; the edition reproduced here is the
+            <strong>sixth edition</strong>, published by Chessex in 1993, together
+            with its one expansion — monsters and magic wands included.
+          </p>
+          <h3>Why it exists</h3>
+          <p>
+            In the early nineties, a group of friends played this exact edition
+            for countless hours — the slammed doors, the ambushes around
+            corners, the goat charges, the laughter. That box is long out of
+            print, and its cardboard is worn soft at the edges. This digital
+            table was built from that very copy: every card was photographed and
+            transcribed word for word, every board layout verified wall by wall,
+            and the tokens on this screen are the actual hand-inked art from
+            those counter sheets. It is a faithful reproduction of the game as
+            it was played at that table, made so the same friends — and their
+            friends — can keep playing it.
+          </p>
+          <h3>Whose game it is</h3>
+          <p>
+            Wiz-War is Tom Jolly's design, and the rights to it now rest with
+            <strong>Steve Jackson Games</strong>, who publish the current
+            edition. This project is an unofficial, non-commercial fan work,
+            made with love and admiration for the original — nothing here is
+            endorsed by or affiliated with Tom Jolly, Chessex, or Steve Jackson
+            Games. If this game delights you, honor it the right way: buy the
+            edition currently in print, and deal seven cards to somebody at a
+            real table.
+          </p>
+          <p class="colophon">
+            Wiz-War © Tom Jolly. Sixth edition published by Chessex, 1993.
+            Built by Eric and a very enthusiastic AI, 2026.
+          </p>
+        </div>
+      {:else if tab === "play"}
         {#each HOW_TO_PLAY as section (section.title)}
           <h3>{section.title}</h3>
           {#each section.body as p, i (i)}<p>{p}</p>{/each}