Czech Games Edition CGE00027 Alchemists Board Game

Product Information

Remove the old adventurer tile if it's still hanging around. Put the next one on the adventurer space. If this reveals a conference, it will occur at the end of the next round. Set the conference tile on the conference space, after the Drink Potion action space. Conference or no, turn the top adventurer tile face up. You will always know which adventurer is coming to town one round ahead. Conference I love logic puzzles, especially ones that use a deduction grid (matrix?). In fact, almost a decade ago I bought a logic puzzle book on my honeymoon in the Caribbean. I’ve brought that little book to every beach vacation since then and it’s definitely showing some wear. But there is nothing like sitting on the beach in the sun and working on those little puzzles (SAT questions as my friend calls them). For me, I love the sense of discovery when I figure one out. When it is your turn to exhibit a potion, remove your cube from the action space and place it on one of the six potions depicted on the exhibition board. This is the potion you are promising to exhibit. (You can't choose a potion you have already successfully exhibited. The neutral potion is not depicted because no one is impressed by toad soup).

Sometimes you don't even have time to make breakfast. Instead, you buy fresh rolls from the baker and eat them on your way through town. To choose this space, you must pay 1 gold piece. If you don't have the gold, you can't choose this space. Mix them into potions and drink them to determine their effects or play it safe and test the concoction on a helpful assistant! Gain riches selling potions to wandering adventurers and invest these riches in powerful artifacts. As your knowledge grows, so will your reputation, as you publish your theories for all to see. Knowledge, wealth, and fame can all be found in the murky depths of the alchemist’s cauldron. Conflict tokens do not matter at this point of the game. The seals score positive or negative points regardless of conflict tokens. (If you are playing the apprentice variant, you aren't using conflict tokens, anyway). If you are the first player to successfully exhibit that potion, you gain 1 point of reputation. Put your cube on the space.Each potion you make will be one of 3 colors, and have either a “+” or ”-“ symbol. Using the game’s logic, you can begin to eliminate specific alchemicals after you make a potion. Every alchemical has a green, red and blue circle on it, each of which has a “+” or ”-“ symbol. If you do not get the result you claimed, move your cube to the space. You lose 1 point of reputation. In the first round, nothing changes. But then each round, and growing each time, you should be able to control your destiny a little more. At the end of the preparation phase, you will move your essence marker along a certain number of spaces. One space for each different colour chip you pulled that round. Another space if your neighbour’s cauldron exploded. And another space if the white chips in your cauldron totals exactly seven! The amount needed to explode. So, now you get a benefit from exploding but only if you explode perfectly!

What I like to call “the worst job in board gaming”, one player takes a cardboard grid at the start of the games and assigns each ingredient an alchemical. Instead of using the app, one player asks the game master what his pairing produces. The game master tells him and the player records it in his notes. And that’s it for the game master… for 2 hours. If really don’t want to use the app and prefer to go with the game master, I’d suggest inviting someone you hate over, because this role seems pretty horrible. Seriously though, if you hate the app integration that much, I’d suggest playing something else. I should note that there have been reports of issues with the player screens in the first edition of the game (the holes were a bit too small), but I didn’t encounter this with my copy of the game. CGE has also volunteered to replace any game parts of the game that aren’t up to their high standards.

Setup

The player with the most seals on the theory board gains 1 point of reputation. If no theories have been published, no one gets this award. If players are tied, all tied players gain 1 point. As the start of the Essence Phase, the essence marker is placed on the 0 spot. Nothing is kept from a previous round, so just like in the Prepare phase, you’ll start from the beginning every turn. Next, you look at the following three steps: I like this opportunity to add some control to the game. It is not given for free. You need to earn this power, and your opportunity to do this increases with time, round by round. This works brilliantly with the game. As your bag fills up, you will be building larger and larger potions. Your opportunity to control this a little more each time grows at the same rate. It is a very clever system.

The types of potions you have already made, your grants, your artifacts, your number of gold pieces, and the number and types of cards in your hand are always public knowledge. Playerboard Alchemists is technically a worker placement game, but I’d say that the worker placement element is fairly light. There is really no action denial in Alchemists. For the most part, if you want an action, you can take it (other than selling potions). There is still a benefit for going first though, be it card selection or trying to publish first. The artwork is vivid, detailed, sweet and often entertaining, and I love that the more you look at the board the more funny and cute things you spot. The rule book is also a very well written and amusing read! Final Thoughts on Alchemists Mostly, alchemists try to impress each other, but once in a while it can be satisfying to demonstrate our skills to the masses. Prepare two ingredients in your laboratory as you do for experiments, tap on the card reader, and scan the ingredients. Discard the ingredients afterwards, as usual.Buy an Artifact: Artifacts are powerful items that help you break the rules and earn you reputation points. Cleanup – Cards are refreshed, reputation awarded or penalized, and the first player token is passed. Special cases: If a player has the Magic Mirror, that player should count up points for the Magic Mirror first, before other artifacts and grants. If you choose this space, you draw no cards, but at least you will get to go first ... or maybe second. Paying Gold