Games
How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Witches: Double, double toil and
Beastie Boys: TROUBLE!
Witches: Fire
Beastie Boys: BURN!
Witches: And Cauldron
Beastie Boys: BUBBLE!
Quacks is the latest iteration of the bag building, cauldron bubbling, explosive (but hopefully not too explosive) push your luck game from Wolfgang Warch. You step in as con-artist potion brewers (Quacks, if you prefer) who are sneaky enough to brew fake concoctions for gold and points but aren't quite smart enough to not put an ingredient called freaking boomberries into their cauldron.
I can only assume there was a divorce and Quacks dropped the “Quedlinburg” and went back to it's Maiden Name. Or maybe it was for street cred, a single name like Tupac or Rakim, for a game that is synonymous with 80's rap....if only in my head canon.
L'Trimm: We like the potions, the potions that go BOOM! We're Tigra and Bunny and we like the BOOM!
Quacks is all about bag building. At the start of the game each player takes 4 white 1-chips, 2 white 2-chips, 1 white 3-chips, 1 orange 1- chip and 1 green 1-chip, and puts them into their bag. Those white chips? Those are called Boomberries and they are boom...err...bad. Worry not, you'll be adding more, non-explosive ingredients into your bag as the game progresses though the nine rounds.
I'm not going to do a rote recital of all of the rules for Quacks. If you want to learn how to play, go check out Quinns explaining it in detail. Suffice to say that you don't want to go over seven boomberries in a potion otherwise it explodes, taking either your points or the money you would have earned this round with it.
Let's talk about the physical bags you'll be adding your ingredients to in Quacks. They are expansive but they are also the most disappointing component in the All-In Box. We spent the first few games cutting errant strings off the bags and cauterizing them with a lighter to prevent any possible unraveling. I could almost hear the Crown Royal bags calling from the liquor cabinet saying “Put me in Coach!” On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Bakelite Tokens because, yea, if you are pulling chits from a bag, you want it to feel right and this feels great. And they have a texture to them, which bodes well for longevity.
Quacks excels because the ingredients you add to bag can have different powers from game to game. Don't care for the power on a specific tile? Flip the scoring criteria over and a different one is on back. Don't care for that one? You have three different tiles to choose from with varying/increasing complexity...except Pumpkins. The glorious six power, twenty-two cost Pumpkin needs no tweaks. I love all the quirky things you can throw into your brews, like Crow Skulls, which I call the Lookouts (Where are my Dark Tower Cuthburt fans at?).
Public Enemy: I was wheeling
With the BOOM! in the back
The treble was level
I like it like that
I was rolly-roll-a-roll rollin'
Boomberries came out and said hold it
And I stopped still
I never got ill
It's the stopping pulling ingredients that is key to Quacks. Knowing when to bow out of brewing and taking your money AND your points is important. Pulling in the early rounds is both easier and harder. The decision of when you should stop is easier since the boom outnumbers the bang you'll get for progressing farther in your cauldron. You'll realize that sometimes there is simply nothing good left in your bag. But as you add new items, you'll likely lose track of what all you have in the bag and you'll convince yourself that there has to be some good tiles left...as a matter of fact, that damn six power pumpkin you bought rounds ago hasn't showed up yet. It's due to come out, right? RIGHT?!?
Quacks includes Fortune Teller cards, which are random events that happen every turn that keeps the action from getting stale. One of the best things about the game is that almost everything is covered on the player cauldron and the main scoring board. So, at the end of the drawing phase, you simply walk through the end of round actions as they are displayed. No fear of missing a step or going in the wrong order. I personally use the bonus die (the very first post-drawing action is the rolling of this die) to show everyone where we are in the progression of end of round actions.
N.W.A.: Straight outta Quedlinburg, crazy potionbrewer named Ice Cube
From a gang called Wizards with Attitude
Don't expect a ton of interactivity with the other players during a session of Quacks. You will be pulling your ingredients from the bag simultaneously. So the game's biggest moment, when someone blows up their potion, will likely only be noted with a muttered “Damn it!” from across the table. Actions that other players take do have impact but in a more passive way. Being able to roll the die for a bonus hinges on who progressed farther in their brew. And the Rat mechanism (that boosts where you start brewing each round in your cauldron) as a little ketchup (catch up) in the potion based on how other players have fared so far. The optional final round rule of players pulling and revealing chits at the same time is as close as it gets to head to head interaction. Don't get me wrong, that particular interaction is great during a tight game and lets you try to nudge/taunt your fellow players into the boom.
RUN DMC: In the 'burg, the people swerve and try to make us brew
I think it's funny, without money, I won't make whats true
And in this kettle, made of metal, you'll never know what you spied
This bag ain't see through, I don't know what's inside
This edition of Quacks has improved readability of the boards, which I really appreciate and the new Claymation art style is one I prefer over the original art. If you have the means, I heartily suggest the All-In version. The Bakelite tiles are perfect and having the 5th player components and two expansions included means the game can grow with you as you explore it. Or, if you know you already love the game, it's a one stop all-you-can-brew solution.
Quacks is a entertaining game, whether the players are just tossing ingredients into a cauldron and hoping for the best (and not the BOOM!) Or if they take a more measured gaming approach. The all or something mechanism when you 'splode (You either get points or money) means it isn't too punishing for players. Once again, CMYK has brewed up a game that satisfies both the casual and the hobby gamers.
A review copy of this release was provided by the publisher. Therewillbe.games would like to thank them for their support.
If you enjoyed this review, please consider tipping via My KOFI. All proceeds go to buying more games for review!
