How to Play

Potion Explosion

2-4 players 30-45 min 7.1 Board Game Geek Rating

Students compete in magical potion-making exams by pulling ingredient marbles from a dispenser. When marbles of matching colors connect, they explode for bonus collection. Players use gathered marbles to complete potion recipes, then drink them for special powers. Victory requires brewing the most valuable potions, not just speed.

Published 2015

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Assemble the dispenser

Carefully punch out dispenser parts and assemble according to the diagrams; once assembled, it fits in the box and never needs disassembly

Distribute desk boards

Each player receives a desk board and places it in front of themselves, leaving space above and below

Determine first player

The player who most recently made a drink takes the first player token; turn order proceeds clockwise

Select potion types

Take all potion tiles and remove 2 of the 8 different types (randomly or by choice) back to the box

Draft starter potions

Take 2 random starter potion tiles (marked with yellow star) per player and place them recipe-side up in the center

Place starter potions

Each player places their 2 starter potion tiles recipe-side up on the two bunsen burners (Brewing Area) on their desk board

Prepare remaining potions

Shuffle remaining potion tiles and create 5 face-up stacks with recipes showing

Fill the dispenser

Put all 80 ingredient marbles (20 of each of 4 colors) into the dispenser tank, ensuring marbles roll down to fill all 5 tracks

Set up tokens

Place all Little Help tokens and Skill tokens near the dispenser

Create countdown stack

Place Skill tokens in a countdown stack based on player count:

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Take one ingredient marble

Pick and take any visible marble from the dispenser, except the 9th marble on each track; this is your regular pick for the turn

Trigger explosions

When removing a marble causes marbles above to roll down:

Ask for Little Help (optional)

Once per turn, before or after your regular pick:

Place ingredients on potions

Place marbles from your hand onto matching colored holes on your potion tiles in the Brewing Area

Store excess ingredients

Place ingredients you cannot use on potion tiles into your Ingredient Pool (small flask on desk board)

Complete potions

When all holes on a potion tile are filled with matching colored marbles:

Drink potions (optional)

At any point during your turn, drink one or more completed potions:

End your turn

After completing all actions:

Refill the dispenser

When returning marbles:

Potion of Wisdom

Take any one ingredient from the dispenser; no explosions triggered

Elixir of Blind Love

Steal all ingredients from an opponent's Pool

Potion of Magnetical Attraction

Take 2 adjacent ingredients of different colors from the same track; no explosions triggered

Potion of Prismatic Joy

Place all ingredients from your pool on any holes in incomplete potions, regardless of color

Abyssal Draft

Take 1 ingredient of each color from the bottom row (1 per track maximum)

Sands of Time

Reactivate the effect of a potion you already drank

Balm of Uttermost Stickiness

Take 2 or more adjacent ingredients of the same color from the same track; no explosions triggered

Filter of Lavamancing

Discard up to 5 ingredients of one color from the same track back to the tank; no explosions triggered

Winning

How to claim victory.

Earn Skill tokens

Receive a Skill token when you complete:

Trigger end game

The end game begins when:

Complete final round

Play continues clockwise until the player to the right of the first player finishes their turn (all players get equal turns)

Calculate final score

Add together:

Determine winner

The player with the most points wins

Break ties

All tied players take turns (starting from first player, going clockwise) picking one marble from the dispenser trying to trigger explosions; the player who takes the most marbles this way wins