![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Alea Analysis #21: Witch's Brew (Medium Box #4)
And so we finally come to the most recently released Alea game--and also the one I've played the most this year--Witch's Brew. It's a return to a lighter, filler sort of game, and I think the most successful one in that category other than the ground-breaking San Juan.
Witch's Brew is a pretty unique game that I'd ultimately have to say depends on role-selection, but with a lot of quirks. Basically there are 12 different actions (roles) in the game. Each round you select 5 that you're going to try to take. Then it turns into a bluffing game. One player selects a role. Then each other player who has the role either takes over the main power or else accepts a subsidiary (and less powerful) power. The catch with taking the main power is that one of the other players may then take it from you, if there's anyone who hasn't declared yet; you also have to go first next turn, which is almost always bad, since you have to try to take the main power, and usually don't get to do it.
The role cards ultimately let you engage in some resource management as you collect three different resources and try to turn those into victory points.
A couple of the players that I last played Witch's Brew with said they really enjoy the game because of the gotcha! factor--the way you can smugly grab a power from someone ahead of you after they thought they had it made. I rarely see a game with as much thrill of victory and agony of defeat as this one unless it's a dice game. And given that I think that dice games can be some of the most adrenaline-boosting and stomach-dropping games around, that's high praise.
There's a lot of other stuff that's good in the game. Though the results of an individual turn can be chaotic, you can still do lots of strategic planning before each round, and some of it will usually pay off. The chaos factor is decreased by the fact that a player's current set of resources can tell you a lot about what they're going to do. There's also some opportunity for nice brinkmanship, as you will probably occasionally choose cards that you can't immediately use in the hope that you'll be ready by the time someone tries to call the role.
Overall, Witch's Brew is a game that's fast but not necessarily light.
L1: Ra. A+. (Plays: 15) [ Read my Review ]
L2: Chinatown. B-. (Plays: 1)
L3: Taj Mahal. A+. (Plays: 7)
L4: Princes of Florence. A. (Plays: 4+) [ Read my Review ]
L5: Adel Verpflichtet. B. (Plays: 2) [ Read my Review ]
L6: Traders of Genoa. A+. (Plays: 3+) [ Read my Review ]
S1: Wyatt Earp. B+ (Plays: 2)
S2: Royal Turf. A- (Plays: 6)
L7: Puerto Rico. A+ (Plays: 11) [ Read my Review ]
S3: Die Sieben Weisen. C (Plays: 1)
S4: Edel, Stein & Reich. B- (Plays: 1) [ Read my Basari Review ]
L8: Mammoth Hunters. B+ (Plays: 5) [ Read my Review. ]
S5: San Juan. A+ (Plays: 32) [ Read my Review; plus Glory to Rome review. ]
L9: Fifth Avenue. C- (Plays: 3+)
M1: Louis XIV. B+ (Plays: 7) [ Read my Review ]
M2: Palazzo. B- (Plays: 6)
L10: Rum & Pirates. B (Plays: 3)
M3: Augsburg 1520. B+ (Plays: 2)
L11: Notre Dame. A (Plays: 6)
L12: In the Year of the Dragon. A (Plays: 5)
M4: Witch's Brew. A (Plays: 5)
And that concludes my analysis of all of the Alea games published to date. Over the last four publications, from Augsburg 1520 to the present, I think that the series has reached a Renaissance, and I hope it continues (although I wish there was more variety of designers among the big box games, even given the fact that I've generally like Feld's games).
If Alea Iacta Est makes it out this year (and who knows with Rio Grande!), I'll surely add it to the series, and I also plan to assess all the supplements when the Treasure Chest comes out. For now, though, keep your eyes peeled over at BGN, where I plan to publish a synopsis of some of my Alea thoughts on Thanksgiving.
Witch's Brew is a pretty unique game that I'd ultimately have to say depends on role-selection, but with a lot of quirks. Basically there are 12 different actions (roles) in the game. Each round you select 5 that you're going to try to take. Then it turns into a bluffing game. One player selects a role. Then each other player who has the role either takes over the main power or else accepts a subsidiary (and less powerful) power. The catch with taking the main power is that one of the other players may then take it from you, if there's anyone who hasn't declared yet; you also have to go first next turn, which is almost always bad, since you have to try to take the main power, and usually don't get to do it.
The role cards ultimately let you engage in some resource management as you collect three different resources and try to turn those into victory points.
A couple of the players that I last played Witch's Brew with said they really enjoy the game because of the gotcha! factor--the way you can smugly grab a power from someone ahead of you after they thought they had it made. I rarely see a game with as much thrill of victory and agony of defeat as this one unless it's a dice game. And given that I think that dice games can be some of the most adrenaline-boosting and stomach-dropping games around, that's high praise.
There's a lot of other stuff that's good in the game. Though the results of an individual turn can be chaotic, you can still do lots of strategic planning before each round, and some of it will usually pay off. The chaos factor is decreased by the fact that a player's current set of resources can tell you a lot about what they're going to do. There's also some opportunity for nice brinkmanship, as you will probably occasionally choose cards that you can't immediately use in the hope that you'll be ready by the time someone tries to call the role.
Overall, Witch's Brew is a game that's fast but not necessarily light.
L1: Ra. A+. (Plays: 15) [ Read my Review ]
L2: Chinatown. B-. (Plays: 1)
L3: Taj Mahal. A+. (Plays: 7)
L4: Princes of Florence. A. (Plays: 4+) [ Read my Review ]
L5: Adel Verpflichtet. B. (Plays: 2) [ Read my Review ]
L6: Traders of Genoa. A+. (Plays: 3+) [ Read my Review ]
S1: Wyatt Earp. B+ (Plays: 2)
S2: Royal Turf. A- (Plays: 6)
L7: Puerto Rico. A+ (Plays: 11) [ Read my Review ]
S3: Die Sieben Weisen. C (Plays: 1)
S4: Edel, Stein & Reich. B- (Plays: 1) [ Read my Basari Review ]
L8: Mammoth Hunters. B+ (Plays: 5) [ Read my Review. ]
S5: San Juan. A+ (Plays: 32) [ Read my Review; plus Glory to Rome review. ]
L9: Fifth Avenue. C- (Plays: 3+)
M1: Louis XIV. B+ (Plays: 7) [ Read my Review ]
M2: Palazzo. B- (Plays: 6)
L10: Rum & Pirates. B (Plays: 3)
M3: Augsburg 1520. B+ (Plays: 2)
L11: Notre Dame. A (Plays: 6)
L12: In the Year of the Dragon. A (Plays: 5)
M4: Witch's Brew. A (Plays: 5)
And that concludes my analysis of all of the Alea games published to date. Over the last four publications, from Augsburg 1520 to the present, I think that the series has reached a Renaissance, and I hope it continues (although I wish there was more variety of designers among the big box games, even given the fact that I've generally like Feld's games).
If Alea Iacta Est makes it out this year (and who knows with Rio Grande!), I'll surely add it to the series, and I also plan to assess all the supplements when the Treasure Chest comes out. For now, though, keep your eyes peeled over at BGN, where I plan to publish a synopsis of some of my Alea thoughts on Thanksgiving.