Gamehelppotionexplosion

Basic gameplay

On your turn, take any marble ("ingredient") from the dispenser. If, as a result of taking the marbel, two separated marbles or groups of marblee, in the same row, and of the same color collide when closing the gap, they "explode" and are also taken by the player. This will repeat as "exploded" marbles are removed and subsequent groupings collapse.

Taken marbles can be placed in the user's "hand" which is the rectangle above the flasks in the player's board. One at a time, you can move these marbles to the matching color on the potions in your board and/or to the "pool" holding flask (which can hold at most three but can hold any color).

At any time, you can activate a potion (the right-side-up potions in the row below your board). These can be used for a number of effects described by the mouse hover description.

Any marbles left in your hand at the end of your turn are returned to the dispenser.

When all the holes of a potion are filled, that potion is completed and it moves to your potion area, becoming worth its VP at the end of the game. You can drink these potions at any time during your turn, to activate their effect. (You can only drink each potion once, and it still scores points even after being drunk.)

Once per turn you can ask the professor for a Little Help (in addition to your regular move): this costs -2 VP, and lets you take any one marble from the dispenser, without triggering an explosion. As this does not trigger an explosion, this option should be used before the player's taking of a ingredient, if possible, to set up an explosion chain.

When you make your third potion of a type, or when you have made five different types of potions, take a Skill token for 4VP. When the pile of Skill tokens has been depleted, that round is played out and the game ends.

Potion effects

Potion of Wisdom

Take one Ingredient of your choice from the Dispenser. No Explosions are triggered. "Nothing’s out of reach if you think it through."

Potion of Magnetical Attraction

Take 2 adjacent Ingredients of different colors from the same slide track of the Dispenser. No Explosions are triggered. "I don’t think this is what they mean when they say “magnetic personality”."

Sands of Time

Activate again the effect of 1 Potion you already used. "We can always learn from our past mistakes... but we can gain even more from our past good moves!"

Elixir of Blind Love

Steal all the Ingredients from 1 opponent’s Pool. "Why bother with theft, when all you need to do is unleash your dazzling charm?"

Filter of Lavamancing

Discard up to 5 Ingredients of 1 color from the same slide track of the Dispenser back into the tank. No Explosions are triggered. "Not exactly a surgical strike type of thing, but undeniably powerful."

Potion of Prismatic Joy

You can place all Ingredients in your Pool on any holes of your incomplete Potions, regardless of their color. "Marbles? Colors? Who cares... let’s party!"

Balm of Uttermost Stickiness

Take 2 or more adjacent Ingredients of the same color from the same slide track of the Dispenser. No Explosions are triggered. "This stuff is stickier than molasses! The thing is... how do you unstick this mess?"

Abyssal Draft

Take up to 1 Ingredient of each color from the bottom row of the Dispenser slide tracks. You can only take 1 Ingredient from each slide track. "This is what is called “scraping the bottom of the barrel”. A huge barrel."