In this magical game, you are a student in the Horribilorum Sorcery Academy. All the wizards will go through the final exams of the Potions class.

You have to vie with other players to grab marbles from a dispenser and then use those ingredients to accomplish potion tiles.

The players will have their own workbenches, which are just cardboard cutouts with spaces for two of the potion tiles to rest and beakers that can hold three more marbles.

When preparing your Potions, take one ingredient marble from the Dispenser each turn and make them collide with another of similar color to create explosions, and then take them too. bigger explosions mean potion brewing will be faster

You may need four to seven ingredients to make up each potion recipe which is represented by the holes on the potion tiles. Your PotionPotion is complete when all of the holes have been filled with marbles of the corresponding color.

There are variant types of Potions in this game, each with its own unique properties. The more ingredients you use in each PotionPotion, the stronger power they grant will determine how many points it is worth when completed.

If the player completes 5 Potions with 5 different powers or 3 Potions with the same power, he will get a Skill token. Each Skill Token is worth 4 points.

The game ends when the needed number of skill tokens has been awarded. The player who achieves the highest score wins.

Game Components

The Potion Explosion board game comes with a clever theme. Kids who love Harry Potter will like this wizards, witches, and potions theme.

The first edition of Potion Explosion comes with a cardboard dispenser which you need to assemble. In contrast, the second edition comes with a sturdy pre-assembled plastic dispenser that looks great.

And the potions are manufactured from nice thick quality cards. While the other components have a nice appearance

The PotionPotion has no text on it to tell you what to use it for. All that you will find are just symbols that don’t mean a lot at first. Therefore before you play your potions, you should go to the back page of the rulebook to know what to do first.

The game is a lot of fun and will be enjoyed especially by kids. The theme fits seamlessly with the gameplay and components, which makes for an immersive experience that is worth giving a try.

Game Setup

1-Every Player places his own desk board in front of him; the players must leave some space below and above the desk board

2- One player is chosen to start the game; he will take the first player token. Then the other gamers will play by turning in clockwise order.

3-Grab the Potion tiles, which are 8 various types of Potions. Then remove 2 of them either by choice or randomly. After that, place them back into the box. Players will not use those Potions during the game.

4- Take 2 random starter Potion tiles from the 6 remaining types of PotionPotion, then place them out in the middle of the tabletop, with the recipe side facing up

5- The first player will start the game then the others proceed clockwise. Every player will take one Starter Potion tile. Once all the players are done with this step, they will take a second Starter Potion tile. But this time, they will start from the last player and proceed counterclockwise.

6- All the players place their two starter Potion tiles, on the two Bunsen burners of their Desk, with the Recipe side up. it will be the Brewing area

7- Once each player has chosen his Starter Potion tiles, the remaining tiles are shuffled together and then divided into five combos, with the recipe side facing up

8- Place all the marbles in the Dispenser tank. You have to ensure that they roll down in order to fill the five tracks of the slide completely.

9-Close to the Dispenser put the Skill tokens and the Little Help tokens. Place some of the Skill tokens in a countdown stack. the number of players will determine the number of Skill tokens to be put in this stack

For example, for 2 players, you put 4 Skill tokens. And for 3 players, you put 5 Skill tokens. And for 4 players, you put 6 Skill tokens. Now you are ready to start your game.

How to Play The Potion Explosion Board Game?

Potion Explosion board game is played in turns. Each gamer takes his turn in clockwise order. In your turn, you have to select and pick up one Ingredient marble from the Dispenser, which may lead to one or more explosions.

More than that, players may ask the Professor for a little help and drink one or more of their accomplished potions at any point during their turn.

Taking Ingredients

In this step, the player will simply select and take an Ingredient marble from the Dispenser. You can take anyone you want that is visible on the Dispenser, except for the 9th Marble on every slide track. It is a regular pick for the turn.

Triggering an Explosion

When you remove an Ingredient marble from the slide, the other marbles above it will start rolling down in order to fill the gap. That is how the Explosion occurs.

When 2 Ingredient marbles with a similar color collide, they will explode. When this happens, other Marbles of the same color connected to them will explode as well. All the exploding Marbles are then removed from the Dispenser.

After you remove the exploding Marbles, if other Ingredients of the same color collide, then there will be a new explosion. Those exploding Marbles will also be removed from the Dispenser. You continue removing the exploding Ingredients until this chain reaction stops.

Ask For a Little Help From The Professor

After or before your regular pick, you may ask the Professor for a little help. You can do that only once per turn. this means you will choose one Ingredient marble from the Dispenser and get a Little Help token

However, the Ingredient marble you take using this way cannot trigger an Explosion even if two Ingredients with a similar color collide. Also, when the game ends, you will lose two points for every Little Help token.

Using The Ingredients

Once you get your Ingredients, you can start using them. Start with placing any Marbles in your hand in an empty hole with a similar color to any Potion tiles brewing on your Desk. For example, the blue Marble goes on a blue hole.

Once you place all the Ingredients on a Potion tile, you can not remove them until the PotionPotion is accomplished.

Suppose there are any Ingredients that can not be placed on any Potion tile in the Brewing area. You have to put those Marbles in the Ingredient Pool, which is a small retort flask on your Desk. you may freely move the Marbles between your hand and the Pool during your turn

You can keep up to 3 Marbles in the Ingredient Pool at a time. you can hold the Marbles in your hands only until your turn ends.

Completing a Potion

When you fill all the holes of the Potion tile with Marble, your PotionPotion is ready. Place the Ingredients from the PotionPotion back into the Dispenser. After that, flip the Potion tile from the Recipe side (it’s front ) to the Completed side (it’s back) and move it to your Potion area (the area below your Desk)

When the game ends, you will score points for every completed PotionPotion. Also, you can drink them to activate a one-time special magical effect.

Drinking Potions

You may drink one or more of your completed PotionPotion to activate its magical power. Those Potions are one-time use special powers. Once you drink it, you can not drink it again.

To drink a potion, just rotate it upside-down. After that, you can use the Potion special power. If you take Ingredients from the Dispenser by using those Potions, You can not trigger an Explosion. Only your regular pick for the turn can trigger Explosions.

You will not lose the Potion tile when you drink it. At the end of the game, it will count as a completed Potion, and you get the same number of points.

End Of The Turn

Once a player has taken his regular pick for the turn, drunk all the Potions he wants to, and asks for the Professor’s help when needed, then his turn is ended. After each turn, these steps must be followed in order.

If the Ingredient Pool is full and there are still Ingredients in your hand, those Marbles must be discarded back into the Dispenser tank.

If your Brewing area contains less than two Potions, you have to select and take new Potions from the top of any of the five stacks available, then Put them on your Bunsen burners.

Check if you get any of the Skill tokens. And also to know If the specified number of Skill tokens has been awarded and the game reached the end.

End of the Game

When you set up the game, a certain number of Skill tokens are placed into a countdown stack. For example, for 2 players, you can place 4 Skill tokens; for 3 players, you can place 5 Skill tokens; and for 4 players, you can place 6 Skill tokens.

The game ends when the last Skill tokens have been awarded. But the game can also end when there are no more Potion tiles available at the end of any gamer’s turn.

The game continues, in clockwise order, until all the gamers have played an equal number of rounds during the game.

Even if the Skill tokens placed into a countdown stack have already been taken, more Skill tokens can be earned from the general Pool; if the players are able to do so

Then the players will calculate the points they get from their Skill tokens and their complete Potion tiles. And deduct two points for every Little Help token they asked for. The player with the highest score wins

Can the Entire Family Play Potion Explosion?

The potion Explosion board game is both a fun and engaging game. It is a great board game for the whole family. This game is a set-collection type game. Instead of collecting and matching colored cards like in many other family board games, such as the Ticket to Ride card game, in this game, the players collect colored marbles. Both kids and adults enjoy this type of game.

The players have to match up the marbles with brewing potions in order to both generate points and use special abilities.

Kids will enjoy collecting and matching colored marbles to their potions. In contrast, older kids and adults will try to find the best combinations they can. They’ll also love thinking through how to strategize their moves in order to win. That is right; The game has a level of strategy that may not be noticed at first glance.

Potion Explosion board game will provide hours of fun. it is the best choice for a fun family game night

Our Opinion About The Potion Explosion Board Game

Potion Explosion is a unique board game with mechanics that adapt tried and true puzzle formulas to provide a different board game experience. This game takes you on a journey to the land of Potions.

It is designed for all family members. Kids will find it fun to play with the colored marbles, taking them from the Dispenser and watching the marbles slide down.

But this fun game also has some clever strategies involved in choosing the Marble you will draw, making it enjoyable for adults. That is why it has high replayability. The game has easy-to-learn rules. It is a good choice if you want to introduce your kids to the board games.

The potion Explosion board game has 2 expansions. The Fifth Ingredient includes a new ingredient, and The Sixth Student has bigger halls, a new dispenser, and more players. If you love puzzle board games, this game is your best choice.