This game has been out for a while but much to my surprise we have yet to publish a formal tabletop review for Potion Explosion here at BGQ! I have had a lot of gameplay time with this over the years and I’m so happy to say that I finally have my own copy for all the good marble action. Gone are the days when I needed to go to someone’s game night to play a game that, in my opinion, continues to hold its own.
Potion Explosion is a puzzle and set collection game for 2-4 players that takes about 45 minutes to play. The best experience is with four players for more variability in the marble dispenser patterns and additional potion chaos.
Gameplay Overview:
Players take turns choosing one ingredient marble from the dispenser, which can trigger one or more explosions. An explosion is defined as two ingredient marbles of the same color colliding, which enables the player to take all of the same-color ingredients connected in that collision. If additional explosions take place after taking the initial ingredients from the first collision, those are also taken by the player, and so on until there are no valid collisions left.
At any point, once per turn, the player can ask for a Little Help from the professor to take one ingredient marble from the dispenser without triggering explosions. However, each of these tokens is a 2-point deduction at the end of the game. Players can also augment their turn by drinking a completed potion for its corresponding effect.
Ingredients from explosions can be placed in the player’s Ingredient Pool or on a corresponding color of a Potion tile, with the goal of completing the potion for both its effect and the set collection scoring. Players are trying to complete their third potion of a kind and/or fifth potion of a different kind to collect skill tokens, and each potion is also worth a varying number of points at the end of the game.
Game Experience:
In a world of cards, cubes, and dice, it’s exciting to find more games that like to use fun components like marbles! It also adds a silly atmosphere to the table because trying to pick up and control components that want to just roll away or not stay put in general is always a goofy time. While this means that the game box itself and quite possibly the price point will be a bit heavier, I think it’s worth it to have at least one marble game in your collection. If you think about it, it’s about the same cost as having a card-focused game and needing to buy a lot of sleeves.
The draw of this game for me is the exercise of balancing flexibility and self-determination when reviewing options for explosions. This is especially true the more players are at the table because there is never any guarantee that the marbles you are pining for will be there when it gets to your turn. Having backup plans ahead of time will not only help you but will also significantly reduce the gameplay time at the table.
Safety is also an illusion in this game as several potions implement take-that tactics to steal precious ingredients from an opponent or change the state of the dispenser slide tracks. On the other hand, players who can only keep one plan in their head at a time may feel slightly awkward staring at the dispenser for longer than they need to.
Like any board game, imbalanced powers do exist in Potion Explosion, and while the theory may be that the set collection aspect discourages players from going all-in on a specific power that isn’t always true in practice. We’ve also found that gameplay time varies wildly, especially with players who are overwhelmed at the options of help from the Professor, drinking a potion, and taking a regular turn.
It’s very easy to think of all the possible combinations for a successful explosion and unlike other games, you cannot just redo your turn if you made a mistake. The marbles in each slide track will not behave if you try to put them back from whence they came. If you’re not paying attention, you can also lose track of which marbles you should or shouldn’t be picking up from a successful explosion.
Final Thoughts:
This game is for both casual and experienced players alike who are looking for something more dynamic to bring to the table. The eye-catching marble dispenser and the good clickety-clack sounds of marbles crashing add an additional dimension to the tabletop gaming experience. Potion Explosion increases that interactivity with its take-that style potion powers and additional players add to the challenge of making backup plans should things go awry. However, players looking for more fairness, predictable gameplay time, or less housekeeping may have less of a fun time with this one.
Final Score: 3.5 Stars – Step into the potions lab of a sorcery academy and use your sharp wits to make big explosions for maximum potion output
Hits:
• Good game for marble fun
• Engaging take-that tricks
• Builds flexible critical thought
Misses:
• Imbalanced potion types
• Can feel too long or too short
• Easy to forget explosion order
