Home > Categories > Games & Puzzles > Board Games > Potion Explosion review
Itâ ™s senior year at the Horribilorum Sorcery Academy for Witty Witches and Wizards. All the hard work and studying comes down to this: the final exam! Under the helpful tutelage of the Headmaster, players have learned how to handle volatile ingredients and turn them into fantastical potions!
In Potion Explosion 2nd Edition, players take on the role of students trying to pass their final exam for the year. To do this, theyâ ™ll be creating potions by pulling marbles from the new plastic dispenser. These represent ingredients in the various potion recipes. When a marble is taken, the rest slide down the ramp. If two same-color marbles touch, an explosion happens and the player can take those marbles, too! More explosions means more marbles and faster potion-making. Each completed potion also grants a special ability when drunk. At the end of the game, the player that scores the most points is deemed head of the class and graduates with top honors.
FEATUREs
• New Plastic Dispenser - The new plastic dispenser in Potion Explosion 2nd Edition has been redesigned for easier use and storage, all in new, durable plastic.
• Same Exploding Action - When two samecolored marbles touch, it creates an explosion, letting players take those marbles as well, adding them to their ingredient pools to create more Potions faster.
• Reach the Head of the Class - Finishing a Potion grants players the ability to use its special ability. Create the best combination and theyâ ™ll graduate at the head of the class.
Product reviews...
Potion Explosion is a game that was suggested to me when I asked for something with little to no reading and something that a range of ages could easily understand and enjoy, and I've enjoyed the game enough that I ended up buying the official game app for my phone... The game comes with a plastic dispenser (that doubles as a holding case) in which you place all the marbles, of which there are four different colours. You then select your first two potions that you wish to complete, which when finished will give you points towards you endgame score, but also grant you a special ability which you can then use, once per completed potion, during the game. The rule book has a handy, full page, list at the back, which shows what each potion looks like and what ability they provide.
The fun here, I find, is in planning which marble you want to take out of the dispenser, pick the right marble and you can have a great string of explosions. If say, you take out a blue marble and this then cause two marbles of the same colour to hit each other, you gain all of that colour that is touching, if by removing those you cause another two of the same colour to hit, you get those too, meaning you could end up with quite a few! These then get placed on the matching colour spots on your potions, or up to three can be kept for use in your next turn. Pick the right marble, drink the right potion at the right time and you could end up brewing up a storm.
I really enjoy the strategy needed to play this game and that because the marbles land differently every time, there's always going to be the element of luck and chance to it. I will eventually get a copy of the expansion to allow for more players and new potions to be brewed.
Random listing from 'Games & Puzzles'...
It couldn't be simpler! Just 8 cubes... yet it is devious and addictive!
Simply integrate all 8 cubes into a single larger cube such that no bars or half-circles are visible on any of the faces of the large cube. Only complete circles or blank faces should be visible on the outside of the final cube.
Challenge: Can you solve it in under 15 minutes?
Part 8 of the ... more...
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is like an bacon-and-eggs breakfast: the chicken was 'involved' but the pig was 'committed'"
anonymous