How to Play

Witchstone

2-4 players 60-90 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

In Witchstone, players are guild representatives positioning domino tiles on personal cauldrons to activate magical actions. Each domino shows two icons that trigger abilities when placed, with adjacent matching icons creating powerful clusters for multiple actions. Players build energy networks, deploy witches, manipulate crystals, and collect scrolls across eleven rounds, accumulating victory points through strategic tile placement and action optimization.

Published 2021

Witchstone

Get Ready

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

1
Place the game board
Position the game board in the middle of the table
2
Prepare owl tiles
Take the 10 Owl Tiles (round, gold edges) and sort them into two stacks of 5 tiles, numbered 7 at top to 4 at bottom, placing one stack on each owl space on the Pentagram
3
Prepare scroll cards
Shuffle the 40 Scroll Cards and reveal 6 cards face-up, one on each position (I-VI) of the Scroll Rack
4
Prepare special hex tiles
Shuffle the 15 Special Hex tiles and place them as a face-down stack at the centre of the Pentagram, then place 3 tiles face-up on the remaining uncovered points of the Pentagram
5
Prepare magic chips
Shuffle the 21 Magic Chips face-down, place one face-up on each location of the Crystal Ball (except the central Witchstone), and place the remaining 5 face-up on the purple tea-towel below the vial rack
6
Keep player aid handy
Place the Player Aid next to the game board
7
Choose player color
Each player selects a colour (R/Y/G/B) and takes their components: 1 Screen, 1 Cauldron, 15 Hex tiles, 12 Witch Meeples (1 big, 11 small), 20 Energy Units, 3 Owl Meeples, 1 Position Marker, 1 Animal Marker, 6 Crystals, and 1 Black Crystal
8
Set up cauldron
Place the Black Crystal on the centre spot of the cauldron and the 6 Crystal tiles one-each on the bubble-marked spaces
9
Position markers
Place the Animal Marker and Position Marker next to the cauldron
10
Draw starting tiles
Shuffle your 15 Hex tiles face-down, draw 5 and place them face-up behind your screen, leaving the remaining 10 face-down in supply
11
Determine starting player
The player who last stirred something in a pot goes first
12
Place starting witches
Beginning with the last player and proceeding anticlockwise, each player places their Big Witch upright in one of the 4 Tower Spaces (this becomes your tower), scores 2 VP, carries out the action of the Magic Chip at that tower, then takes that chip face-down behind their screen

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Select a hex tile
Choose one of the 5 Hex Tiles from behind your screen and lay it in your cauldron covering 2 vacant adjacent spaces
2
Resolve both actions
Carry out the two action types shown on the hex tile, one after another, in any order you wish
3
Draw a new tile
After resolving both actions, draw a new hex tile from your face-down supply and place it face-up behind your screen
4
Connect to clusters for power
If your hex tile connects to a cluster of the same symbol, resolve that action as many times as there are matching symbols in the cluster (including the one just placed)
5
Join two clusters
If your tile connects into two different clusters, resolve each action according to its cluster size after placement
6
No cluster connection
If the tile does not connect to any cluster, resolve each action once
7
Place energy units
Place 1 Energy unit from your personal supply onto a vacant connection space on the crystal ball for each Energy action
8
Start adjacent to tower
The first energy unit you place must be adjacent to your Tower
9
Complete before starting new
You must complete a connection you have already begun before starting a new one
10
Exclusive connections
If a player has started a connection, only they may finish it
11
Network expansion
New connections must either connect to your tower or continue expanding your connected network
12
Score completed connections
Earn 1/3/6 VP for completing a 1/2/3 unit connection
13
Add a new witch
Take 1 witch from your supply and lie them flat next to your tower awaiting deployment
14
Move a witch to location
Stand up a witch lying at your tower, immediately gain 2 VP, and move her to another location connected via a continuous network of energy units
15
Movement through own network
If the destination is connected via an unbroken network of your own energy units, the whole movement costs just 1 Witch Action
16
Movement through foreign network
Each foreign connection you use costs 1 additional Witch Action
17
Collect magic chips
If you are the first witch to arrive at a location, receive the Magic Chip there; use it anytime during your Witch Actions, then place it face-down behind your screen
18
Witchstone center placement
When placing a witch at the Witchstone, put them on the vacant space with the highest VP value still available and gain that bonus
19
Permanent placement
Once a witch has been moved to a location, they cannot move for the rest of the game
20
Advance on pentagram
Move your Owl Counter one space clockwise around the outside of the Pentagram for each Pentagram action
21
Grey space effect
Nothing happens when entering or passing a grey space
22
Gold space effect
Gain the topmost Owl Tile on that stack (or 2 VP if none remain)
23
Blue space effect
Gain the special hex tile on that space; if none available, get 2 Actions of any one type of your choice
24
Use once option
Select one of the two actions depicted on the tile and resolve that action twice, then flip it face-down behind your screen
25
Permanent placement option
Place the tile face-up in a vacant space of your cauldron where its symbols contribute to connected clusters
26
Move crystals in cauldron
Move one of your Crystals 1 space into a vacant space in your cauldron for each Crystal action
27
Exit to rim
Move a crystal at the edge of your cauldron onto the rim at designated arrow spaces
28
Place in vial rack (option 1)
Place the crystal on the shelf matching the rim symbol and gain 2 Actions of that type
29
Place in bottom shelf (option 2)
Gain 1 Magic Chip from the tea towel to use during your Crystal Actions
30
Black crystal bonus
The Black Crystal provides double the normal benefit (4 actions on upper shelves, 3 actions from Magic Chip)
31
Emergency crystal removal
Remove any crystal from your cauldron at any time, placing it next to your screen; costs 1/2/3 VP for removing the 1st/2nd/3rd crystal
32
Advance on wand
Move your counter one space on the magic wand for each Wand action
33
Light brown space
Nothing happens
34
Dark brown space
Gain a bonus action for every such space passed or reached; if furthest ahead after advancing, obtain twice the actions from dark brown spaces crossed this turn
35
Silver space
Gain VP if you meet the stated requirements
36
Resolve in order
Complete multiple bonus actions and interim scorings left to right as received
37
Take one scroll
Get 1 Scroll from the display; with only 1 Scroll action, take from position I (bottom)
38
Multiple scroll actions
Your choices increase to positions equal to your action strength, but you still only get one scroll
39
Refill display
After taking a scroll, cards above slide down and a new scroll is drawn to position VI
40
Using scroll magic chips
Each scroll magic chip lets you take 1 additional scroll from position I
41
Reinforcing spells
Single-use cards that increase depicted actions by the number shown (usually 2); can be combined; unused spells score 2 VP at game end
42
Prophecies
Task cards scoring 1/3/5/7 VP based on fulfillment level at game end

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Final round trigger
The game ends after 11 rounds, when each player has only 4 hex tiles left behind their screen
2
Score owl tiles
Add VP shown on collected Owl Tiles from the Pentagram
3
Score magic chips
Earn 2 VP for each Magic Chip collected, regardless of whether it was used
4
Score unused reinforcing spells
Earn 2 VP for each unused reinforcing spell scroll
5
Score unfulfilled prophecies
Earn 1 VP for each prophecy that did not meet minimum requirements
6
Score fulfilled prophecies
Earn VP according to the prophecy's scoring criteria based on fulfillment level
7
Highest VP wins
The player with the most victory points wins the game
8
Tiebreaker
In case of a tie, the tied player furthest ahead on the magic wand (or first to reach the end) wins

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

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FULL rules

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