Potions - Workshop (Improved version III edition). Potions Board Game Tips

Playing with the University Course add-on. The university course pleases with a variety of spells that radically change the strategy of the game. Let's take a closer look at some of them:

Spell of the Forbidden Forest. Destroying two of his creatures, the player gets 14 points, which in the face of fierce competition is a good help in the fight for victory. So you can build a strategy around this spell and creatures. It is advisable to play the Forbidden Forest again to pick it up.

The curse of diversity. Very often it is this spell that decides the outcome of the game. The secret is very simple: when there are 6-8 cards left in the deck, we play two variety spells in a row (or we play one, pick it up with a spell of magical knowledge and play again). Thus, we take the remaining cards into our hand, gain an advantage in the number of moves, and then leave the opponent “with a nose” with the elixirs and spells that came into the hand.

The spell of necessity. With the help of this spell, you can deprive the enemy of the mana of strong cards. The most commonly requested elements are the Phoenix Feather (to "knock out" the Forbidden Forest spell or the Great Talisman of Magic), the dragon's tooth (to "knock out" the manifold spell or the Great Talisman of Magic) or the elemental magem (to "knock out" Alchemikote, the talisman of Sorcery, a grain of Conscience) .
The appearance of junior talismans has significantly increased the variability of strategies. In case of an unsuccessful scenario, sometimes the only chance is to bet on them. You don't always have to take the lead. Sometimes, by slowing down a little and simply discarding cards, you can keep up with opponents, since the junior talismans of growth and income will give 1 point each, and the junior talisman of utility will bring 1 point for each discarded card. Thus, recipes that cannot be collected are discarded, and good cards will remain at the end of the game, where it will be possible to make a "feint with the ears" and get ahead.

A few tips when playing with the "University Course":
1. Always use the collected elixir of versatility on your turn, do not leave it for your opponent
2. Having received the Talisman of Sorcery in your hand, do not rush to collect it from the enemy’s junior talismans, it may be more profitable to collect it from your talismans in the last move.
3. Having received a grain of conscience in your hands, do not try to give it away right away, because. on the next turn it can be returned back. It is better to wait for the moment when it will be impossible to return it, and give this "gift" to the opponent.

Game with addition "Guild of Alchemists". The basic rule of the game with this addition is no bribe to the opponent. Because of what, a fierce struggle always ensues in the game.

A few tips when playing with the "Guild of Alchemists":
1. Try to always do 2 moves, so it is more likely that the cards you need for the sequence will come to you.
2. Cards in hand that are needed for the opponent's sequence, discard and use as ingredients for recipes.
3. To confuse the enemy, do not immediately put recipes in your sequence
4. Do not leave assembled recipes for the sequence lying on the table - immediately put them in the sequence.
5. Supreme Elixir and Great Talisman of Magic collect from those ingredients that the enemy needs for the sequence
6. Take your time to transmute at the start of the game, as there are 2-3 copies of the required recipes in the deck. Use this spell in cases where there are no required recipes in the deck, or your recipe is part of another and it will no longer be possible to extract it.

A game with 2 additions or UGA (university guild of alchemists) in the slang of potions. When using 2 add-ons, the game becomes very tactically diverse at the same time, however, it can seem a bit long (especially for two players). Due to the larger number of cards, the sequence is more difficult to collect, which means that it is necessary to obtain the necessary recipes with all the spells at hand. Try to focus on your sequence by playing the trismegist spell and the manifold spell as soon as it comes into hand. If you have a magical or common knowledge spell, use it to pick up used spells and play them again. Otherwise, use the tips for playing with the "University Course" and "Alchemy Guild".

same sequence . If you and your opponent have the same sequence when playing with the Alchemists Guild add-on or with 2 add-ons, get ready, a noble battle is ahead. The transmutation spell is a treasure for this party, save it for the final push. Putting the next recipe in the sequence, try to "hide" the previous one from the opponent. To do this, use it as an ingredient for a more complex elixir or talisman, or send it to the closet with a transform spell.

About the rules. In the process of getting to know the game, we, like many Potions masters, had questions regarding some aspects of the game. For answers, I had to turn to the author of the game, Sergey Machin, who dotted all theі for which many thanks to him.
The following are questions and answersauthoron them:
1. New sequences appeared and, in connection with this, the question arose - does the junior talisman work if it lies at the extreme in the sequence? - Yes
2. When an opponent plays a necessity spell, I discard the indicated element in a cabinet that does not contain the element. Should I be added for this point? And if so, are the talismans of utility currently working? -No. No.
3. Regarding spells: on the spell of destruction, transformation, knowledge, it is written "play one more card", but on the spell of necessity, magical knowledge, it is written that "the player MAY play one more card", i.e. Is it necessary to play another card? - Yes. Exactly.
4. A game situation when my opponent takes my 3 junior talismans of universality with the talisman of Sorcery. Therefore, he gets 8 points for the talisman of Sorcery, and I - for the use of my universals, 3 constituting * 4 points * 3 minor talismans = 36 points. Is it correct? Have we correctly understood the essence of the talisman of universality? - You get 12 points - half (8/2) for each of the recipes taken from you, regardless of the number of Talismans of Universality you have.
5. The rules say that a grain of conscience cannot be given away if it is the last card in the hand. Is it possible to give it away if it is not the last one, but the opponent has already finished the game, and you still have a lot of cards in your hand? - Yes, you can.
6. The last card cannot give away a grain of conscience, you cannot play the anatorum spell, because. for this you need at least one more card, variety and transmegisters, because there are no cards in the deck, but the rest of the spells can be? Many of my friends are sure that the last card if this spell can only be played as an element. So is it possible to play the forbidden forest with the last card? destruction? transform, etc.? - "Forbidden Forest" is perhaps possible, but "Destruction" and "Transform" - no, due to the considerations set out in question "3"
7. When using the spell of necessity my opponents don't have the requested element and I do, should I play a card from my hand in this case? - Must.
8. I also heard from one person that the spell of necessity can only be cast if the element is not in the closet, because it is a spell of necessity, and since it is in the closet, then there is no need to request it. Is it correct - Well, formally, there is no such condition. I think you can still play.
9. As it became known, the points received for each of the taken recipes do not depend on the number of Talismans of Universality available. And what about the junior talismans of utility? If there are two or more utility talismans, does the player who owns them still get one point for each element dropped into the cabinet? -In my opinion, junior talismans act like this:
MT of Utility - 1 point per card played as an element, REGARDLESS of the amount of MT of Utility the player has;
MT of Universality - the player receives half points for each element once, REGARDLESS of the number of MT of Universality the player has;
MT of Growth - the player receives 1 point FOR EACH MT of growth;
MT of Income - the player receives 1 point FOR EACH MT of growth.
I must say that some reputable Potions tournament judges are of the opinion that a player gets 1 point regardless of the number of Growth (Income) Talismans he has.

Home rules . At our company, we have made changes to the rules:
1. when playing with the Alchemists Guild or UGA expansion, recipes cannot be placed in a sequence from the hand
2. The game continues until the end of the cards in the decks.
We assure you: the game will become more strategic and fun, because there will be more opportunities for dirty tricks, and luck will play a smaller role than before.

Potions class begins. The best grade will be received by the student of the School of Wizards and Mages who will create the largest number of magical elixirs and powders, and perhaps even be able to create magical creatures or enchanted talismans.
For each element of the potion found or successfully collected alchemy recipe, the player receives victory points. The more complex the recipe, the more points. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Recipes. The recipe is located at the top of the card. Above is the name of the recipe and how many points the player who collects this recipe receives. On the left are the ingredients needed to collect it, on the right is the result obtained when collecting the recipe. The result can be: a simple elixir (assembled from two elements), a complex elixir (assembled from three elements), a great elixir (assembled from two simple elixirs), powder (assembled from a simple elixir and an element), a talisman (assembled from a simple and complex elixirs ), creature (assembled from a simple elixir and a complex elixir or powder), great talisman (assembled from any two talismans), supreme elixir (assembled from any two great elixirs).
A player can collect a recipe on their turn only if all the necessary ingredients are present on the table.

How to play?

All cards are collected in a deck, which is thoroughly shuffled. Each player is dealt four cards, after which the deck is placed face down on the table. Then the top four cards from the deck are revealed and placed on the table in the cabinet of elements. They can be used already on the first turn.
Who goes first is determined by lot (for example, one of the players, closing his eyes, draws one of the players' chips laid out on the counter table). The player on the left goes next, and so on clockwise.

During the move the player must take the top card from the deck into his hand, and then play one card from his hand. The card can be played either as an element or as a recipe.

If a player used ready-made recipes collected by other players to collect his recipe, then each of the players whose recipe was used also receives points, but half as much as the player who collected the recipe this turn.
Even if a player has taken a few ingredients, they still only get half the points awarded to the player who collected the recipe. If a player has collected a recipe using only their own ingredients, they only receive points for collecting this recipe, but other players do not receive anything, so it is always more profitable to collect recipes with their own ingredients.

Usually, after a player has taken one card from the deck and played one card from his hand, his turn ends and the next player goes. But if a player uses spell cards, then he plays several cards per turn.

Spell cards

There are three types of spell cards: "Spell of Knowledge", "Spell of Destruction" and "Spell of Transformation". These cards do not contain a prescription. Spell cards can be played as elements or as spells. In the latter case, they are also placed in the element cabinet, but do not bring points, after which the player can perform the actions provided for by the played spell. If the element cabinet already contains the same elements as the spell card, the spell is always placed on the bottom of the matching element stack.

The spell of knowledge. With a knowledge spell, a player may put any of the recipes (but no other spell) that are in the Elemental Cabinet into their hand. In this case, you can take only the top recipe in a pile of cards of the same element. After this spell is played and the recipe is put into hand, the player may play another card—for example, collect the recipe just taken from the cabinet, or play the card as an element, play another spell, or another recipe.

Destruction spell. This spell can destroy any of the recipes collected by the player. Recipes of other players cannot be destroyed. When destroying a recipe, a player may leave any of the recipe cards that make up the recipe to be destroyed on their table. It can be one of the ingredient cards, or it can be the recipe card itself. A recipe left on the table is considered collected (but the player does not receive points for it again) and can be used to create other, more complex recipes. All other cards used in the destroyed recipe are returned to the cabinet as elements. Thus, this spell allows you to drop the necessary ingredients into the cabinet without losing the collected recipe, or even get a completely new, ready-to-use recipe, the card of which was previously used as an ingredient (or perhaps just as an element) of another, previously collected recipe player.

Transform spell. The player can transform any of the recipes he has collected into another, located in the cabinet as an element. In this case, the player selects one of the recipes in the cabinet of elements and puts its card in front of him on the table, all cards of the recipe that the player transforms, previously collected by him, are returned to the cabinet as elements. The recipe obtained as a result of the transformation is considered to be collected, but the player does not receive points for it. For transformation, you can only use recipes lying on top of a stack of similar elements in the cabinet of elements.
After this spell is played, the player may play one more card.
Since two cards are played during the turn as a result of using this spell, at the beginning of his next turn, the player draws not one card from the deck, but two.

It may happen that during the course of a turn a player will play several spells in a row. In this case, at the beginning of his next turn, he will have to take not one card from the deck, but several, so that he has five cards in his hand.

Supreme Elixir and Great Talisman of Magic. These cards exist in a single copy. Unlike other recipes, collecting these powerful artifacts does not require specific ingredients. The Supreme Elixir can be assembled from any two Great Elixirs, and the Great Talisman of Magic - from any two talismans.
In addition, the map data includes three elements at once. Therefore, when a player plays these cards as elements, he can score from 0 to 3 points depending on which of the elements represented by this card are present in the element cabinet. These cards are placed in the element cabinet separately from other elements, but it is considered that the elements represented by them are already in the cabinet. The player collecting the recipe can use as an ingredient any of the elements (but not two or three at once) located on the cards of the Supreme Elixir and the Great Talisman of Magic when these cards are in the cabinet of elements.

When during the course of the game the ingredients of collected recipes are returned to the cabinet as elements (for example, when collecting a more complex recipe or destroying / transforming a player's recipe), the sequence in which they are placed in piles of similar elements is determined by the player whose turn it is.

If there are no cards left in the deck, players continue playing as long as at least one of them has cards left in their hand. When all players have run out of cards, the game ends. The player with the most points is declared the winner.

(c) S. Machin, 2005 (c) KB-Games, 2005 (c) DG Capital, 2005

Game example

First move. The player has the following cards in hand: Polyglotum Potion, Fire Salamander, Transformation Spell, Great Resurrection Elixir. The Elements Cabinet contains: "Bat Wing", "Thought Energy", "Fern Flower", and "Blood Stone".
The player draws a card - this is the Elixir of Invisibility. The player uses this card as a recipe, places it on the table in front of him, takes the "Thought Energy" and "Air Crystal" elements from the cabinet, and places the card's data face down on the recipe he has collected. The player has created an Elixir of Invisibility and receives 2 points. His turn ends.

Second move. The player has the same cards in his hand as in the previous turn. In the cabinet of elements there are: "Mandrake", "Blood Stone", "Dragon's Tooth" and "Mushrooms". The player draws a Telepathic Potion card from the deck. He must now play a card. Since there are no ingredients on the table to collect any of the recipes he has, he plays "Fire Salamander" as an element. This card depicts the Phoenix Feather element. The card is placed in the element cabinet. Since there is no Phoenix Feather yet, the player scores 1 point. His turn ends.

Third move. In the player's hand: "Potion "Polyglotum", "Telepathic potion", "Spell of transformation", "Great elixir of rebirth". The Element Cabinet contains: Mandrake, Blood Stone, Dragon Tooth, Phoenix Feather, and Spring Water. The player takes a card from the deck - it turns out to be "Powder of Destiny". There was an opportunity to play a tricky combination. The fact is that on the card with the element "Stone of Blood" there is also a recipe for "Infusion of Divination", which is necessary to create the "Powder of Destiny". How to get it? The player uses the Transformation Spell. He will transform the "Elixir of Invisibility" he collected on the first turn into "Infusion of Divination". The player announces the use of the spell and places the spell card on the table as a Mandrake element. Since there is already a "Mandrake" on the table, the played spell card (as with all spell cards) is placed on the bottom of the stack of cards with the "Mandrake" element. The player then swaps the Elixir of Invisibility that they had previously collected for a Flask of Auspex. The ingredients of Elixir of Invisibility (Energy of Thought and Crystal of Air), as well as the Elixir of Invisibility card itself, are returned to the element cabinet as elements. For all these operations, the player does not receive points. However, he used a spell, which means he can play another card this turn.

He is now assembling the recipe for Powder of Destiny, using the Infusion of Divination and Phoenix Feather he just obtained from the Elemental Cabinet as ingredients. As a result, the player receives 4 points.

The Potions board game will make you feel like a real alchemist. By mixing various ingredients, you can get simple potions, which can later be mixed into more complex compositions, which in turn serve to create even more powerful things and even magical creatures.

Real alchemists know that creating a real Dragon is very simple. To do this, you just need to mix the elixir of strength with the powder of control. To distill the elixir of strength, you need astral energy and a blood stone, and the powder of control can be obtained by mixing a love potion with a Dragon's tooth.

In turn, a love potion can be obtained by combining a blood stone with a mandrake root. That is, to create a Dragon, you will need a mandrake root, a Dragon tooth, astral energy and two blood stones.

Where can you get all these ingredients? Come on, take it in the locker.

This is what you will have to do in the potions board game from the Right Games company.

The author of the game is Sergey Machin. The game is distributed as a basic version of Potions. Practicum", and also has two additions - "University Course" and "Guild of Alchemists". But there is also a deluxe edition that includes the base game, both expansions, and a few bonuses not found in other editions of the game.

The Right Games company sent me exactly this, the most complete version of the game, for which I thank them very much.

The outer design of the box is stylized as a book intercepted by two fastener straps. It is much larger than the base version.

In the box we find a colorful brochure with the rules of the game, printed on good glossy paper, seven cardboard tables, three decks of cards (Practice, University Course and Alchemists Guild cards) and a bag with twelve chips in six colors. That is, each player has two chips.

Now let's take a look at the tables taken out of the box.

The winner in Potions is the player with the most points, so two of the tables are point counters. On one of these counters units are marked, on the other - tens. That is why players need two chips each.

On the back of the tens counter is a chart for collecting basic recipes. Another such scheme is in the box with the game in the form of a separate table. Such an additional scheme is one of the bonuses of the gift set.

The other four tables depict the Sequences of the Great Work. They will be useful to us for the "Guild of Alchemists."

First, let's look at the basic version of the game.

Potions is played by two to six players. Their task is to collect various compositions to score as many points as possible.

The game is played with cards. Each card is divided into two parts.

At the top of most cards is one of the available recipes, which includes an image and the name of the finished composition, the ingredients needed to create it, as well as the number of points given for preparing it. The more complex the recipe, the more points you can get for it.

At the bottom is one of the alchemical ingredients, and two cards with the most difficult recipes carry three ingredients at once.

Each card can be used as a recipe or as an ingredient. On their turn, players draw one card from the deck and play one card from their hand. If a card is used as an ingredient, it is laid out on a specially designated place on the table. This is a closet where all players can take ingredients to work from.

If such an ingredient is not yet (or already) in the cabinet, the player receives one point for it.

Also, the player can collect one of the recipes that he has on hand, if the table has all the necessary elements for this.

To collect the recipe, you can only use the contents of the cabinet, as well as the compositions previously collected by you or other players. You cannot lay out ingredients from your hand for this purpose.

If you use a simpler recipe collected by another player to assemble a recipe, then in this case he also receives points.

Some of the cards have different spells instead of recipes. In the basic version, there are only three such spells: the spell of knowledge, the spell of destruction, and the spell of transformation.

The spell of knowledge allows the player to learn one of the recipes from a card placed in the cabinet as an ingredient.

The destruction spell allows you to disassemble one of the collected recipes into its component parts and put one of its components on the table as another recipe already assembled. You will not receive points for such an action, but you can use the resulting recipe to assemble other, more complex recipes.

The transform spell allows you to replace an already collected recipe card with one of the recipes laid out in the cabinet as an ingredient.

After using the spell, the player immediately plays another card.

The University Course add-on significantly expands the capabilities of the basic version of Potions. The game now involves two decks, so the players have more cards in their hands.

The turn now consists of as many as three phases, during which players draw and play cards.

A new element has appeared - Elementary Magem. Actually, in a deluxe edition, it is available in a single copy already in the basic version, on a bonus card with a recipe for creating a magical creature Alchemikote. In the "University Course" it is already used to its fullest.

The value of Elemental Magem is that when creating a recipe, it can replace one of the basic elements. True, if someone subsequently uses the composition you assembled with it to assemble a more complex recipe, you will not receive additional points.

Points are also not awarded for placing Elemental Magem in the closet.

To create advanced recipes, the elixir of versatility works in a similar way, but it will first have to be prepared according to one of the new recipes that have appeared in the game.

Another versatile item is Powder of Life. When creating a creature, it can replace any of the powders.

But the biggest changes to the game are the minor talismans that appeared in the expansion, as well as new spells.

Minor talismans are assembled in the same way as regular recipes, but in addition to victory points, they bring additional benefits to the players who created them.

For example, the minor talisman of utility allows the player to receive one victory point when placing elements in the cabinet, even if such an Element is already in the cabinet, as well as for placing an elemental magem. And the junior talisman of growth gives its owner one point at the beginning of each turn, if one of the players has more points than him.

This expansion introduces ten new spells that also introduce many changes to the gameplay. Players can now learn spells placed in the cabinet as items, obtain missing items from other players, return ingredient cards of collected recipes to the cabinet, and do other interesting things.

Another innovation is the possibility of team play.

I find the addition "University Course" very successful. Thanks to him, Potions begins to play with new colors, and the options for developing a winning strategy are significantly expanded.

True, the game becomes a little long, which is not surprising with so many cards. As a solution to this problem, the author recommends playing until one of the players reaches a predetermined number of points.

A small flaw is related to the description in the rules of the Elemental magem. The fact is that the rules are divided into three sections according to the number of game options. The description of the magem is given in the section with the rules of the "University course", which is quite natural for an addition to the regular edition of the game, because there is no magem in the basic Potions.

But as I said, in the deluxe edition, it is introduced into the game with a bonus card. As a result, the element exists, and its description has to be found in other rules.

The Alchemist's Guild expansion introduces players to a goal that has captivated the imagination of alchemists for centuries. They have to create the Philosopher's Stone. But before reaching this goal, they have to collect one of the Sequences of the Great Work.

The sequence consists of seven recipes collected in a strict order, the seventh of which is the Philosopher's Stone.

In total, there are three types of Philosopher's Stones in the game and you can collect several sequences at once. The game ends when one of the players reaches the goal or the cards in the deck run out.

Additions "Guild of Alchemists" and "University Course" can be combined with each other. The features of this version of the game are described separately in the rules.

The quality of the game components is good. The cards are quite dense and excellently designed, which, however, can be clearly seen in the above pictures.

I thank the Right Games company for providing the kit for review.

Board game

Number of players
2 to 6

Party time
40 to 90 minutes

Game difficulty
Light

Potions is a board game that is perfect for adults and kids alike. You can play it both with your family and compete with each other in tournaments. The player will receive points for each element for a potion, or collected magic recipe, which he receives. The more complex the recipe you collect, the more points you get for it. There are 77 enchanted cards in this game. Each card has two parts: the recipe part and the element part. Accordingly, you can play this card as an element or as a recipe.

Potions: the rules of the game

• The element is indicated at the bottom of the card. Each element has its own name and description. There will be 16 such elements in total. These elements will be used to create simple potions and elixirs. Found elements will be placed in the element cabinet, which is located in the center of the table. Elements from the cabinet can be used by all players. It will not be possible to take items to collect recipes from other players, they can only be taken from the center of the table (from the cabinet).
• At the beginning of the game, everyone has to choose a chip, of any color. With it, you will mark your points in the table. You have to move the chip around the fields of the table depending on the points you have scored (from 1 to 20). If the player scores more than 20 points, his chip turns over and continues to move around the second circle of the table (from 21 to 40).
• Next, each player is given four cards, after which the deck is placed on the table. The top four cards from the deck on the table are opened and placed in the center of the table in the cabinet of elements. Players can use these cards on their first turn.
• Next, you need to determine who will go first, the next moves will go clockwise.
  During the turn, the player needs to take cards from the deck, and then play one card that is already in your hand. The player can choose how their card is played, either as an element or as a recipe.
• If the card is played as an element, then it is placed in the cabinet. If there is already such an element, then the player receives no points, and if there is no such element, the player will receive 1 point. If the element is already in the cabinet, then you need to put the played card on this element.
• If the card is played as a recipe, then the card must be placed on the table. Next, you will need to put ingredient cards on it face down, but so that all players can see what recipes will be in front of the player.
• From the closet, you can use items, as well as ready-made recipes collected by you and other players. If you are building a complex recipe, but I am using the simple recipe that you have collected to collect it, then you will need to return the ingredient cards to the cabinet as normal. Having collected the finished recipe, the player will receive the number of points indicated in the box at the top of the card.
• If a player used a ready-made recipe collected by other players to collect his recipe, then other players whose recipe was used also receive points, but half as much as the player who collected the recipe.
  When a player has taken one card from the deck and played one card from their hand, their turn ends and the turn moves on to the next one. But if a player uses spell cards, then he can play several cards in one turn.

spell cards

spell of knowledge

With this card, the player can take any recipe (but cannot take another spell) that is in the cabinet. If there are several recipes in the stack, you need to take the top one.

Spell of Destruction

With this card, you can destroy any recipe you have collected (only your own, recipes of others cannot be destroyed).

Transform spell

The player with the help of this card will be able to transform any recipe he has collected, which is located in the cabinet of elements.

Supreme Elixir and Great Talisman of Magic

These cards are presented in the game in a single copy. The Supreme Elixir can be assembled from two Great Elixir cards, and the Great Talisman of Magic can be assembled from any two talismans. These maps include three elements at once. Therefore, if a player plays such a card as an element, he can get from zero to three points, scoring depends on whether there are elements of this card in the cabinet.

When the cards in the deck run out, players continue to play as long as someone has cards left in their hand. When all players have run out of cards, the game is declared over. The winner is the one who scores the most points.