The Quacks of Quedlinburg

Medicine, in the loosest possible sense.

You are a travelling quack doctor at the market in Quedlinburg, brewing potions that would not survive a health inspection. Each player has a cauldron, a bag of ingredient chips and a strong suspicion that the next draw will be fine. Designed by Wolfgang Warsch, it won the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2018, and it is still the first game many people reach for when they want something with a bit more to it than a party game.

Everyone draws chips from their own bag at the same time, adding ingredients to the pot one by one. Too many cherry bombs and the pot explodes, which means choosing between victory points and coins for that round rather than taking both. Between rounds you buy better ingredients for the bag, so the luck is yours to shape. After nine rounds the most points wins. Everyone plays at once, which keeps the table loud and the waiting short.

Perfect for: The person who says "just one more" at the pokies, the buffet and the bookshop, and is now about to say it about a white chip.

2–4 players | Age 10+