Test a Potion on a Student or on Yourself: Choose two ingredients and scan them with the app. It will tell you what type of option you just made. It will either be one of 6 different potions… or just water. However, 3 of the potions are harmful and there will be consequences for drinking those. What I like to call “the worst job in board gaming”, one player takes a cardboard grid at the start of the games and assigns each ingredient an alchemical. Instead of using the app, one player asks the game master what his pairing produces. The game master tells him and the player records it in his notes. And that’s it for the game master… for 2 hours. If really don’t want to use the app and prefer to go with the game master, I’d suggest inviting someone you hate over, because this role seems pretty horrible. Seriously though, if you hate the app integration that much, I’d suggest playing something else. The main logic is it takes a big circle and a little circle of a matching color and symbol to make a potion. So if you make a Red “+” potion (healing), then you know the 2 ingredients you used must have a red circle with a “+” sign in their alchemical. So you can safely eliminate every alchemical with a negative red circle. It’s through this process that you begin to figure out which ingredient goes with which alchemical.

The winner of the game is the player with the most victory points. Break ties using leftover gold pieces, as explained earlier. If players are still tied, they remain tied. Well done! But what arcane secrets do these strange ingredients hide? Now it is time to find out. Mix them into potions and drink them to determine their effects — or play it safe and test the concoction on a helpful assistant! Gain riches selling potions to wandering adventurers and invest these riches in powerful artifacts. As your knowledge grows, so will your reputation, as you publish your theories for all to see. Knowledge, wealth, and fame can all be found in the murky depths of the alchemist's cauldron. The artwork is vivid, detailed, sweet and often entertaining, and I love that the more you look at the board the more funny and cute things you spot. The rule book is also a very well written and amusing read! Final Thoughts on Alchemists You do not have to play here in the final round. Note, however, that ingredients in your hand are worth nothing during final scoring, so this is your last chance to make use of them.How do you tell if the unstarred seal is "properly" hedged? Look at the aspects of the incorrect theory. If only one aspect is incorrect, then seals hedged against that color are properly hedged and seals hedged against a different color are not properly hedged. If more than one aspect is incorrect, then none of the seals can be properly hedged.

Alchemists has two main mechanics (worker placement and deduction) and I’m going to talk about each of them in turn. Workers placement spots are resolved starting in the left most column, from top down. Then the next column gets resolved. Players can also earn money by selling potions off to adventurers, and buy artefacts and favours to help them along the way. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. Components & Artwork Each player then must choose which of the three patients they want to treat and place that essence card on their alchemist’s flask board. Multiple players can select the same patient. After each player has chosen, return all other essence cards to the box. If you choose this space, you draw no cards, but at least you will get to go first ... or maybe second. Paying GoldThen it's time to move on to the top alchemist award and the other end-of-round business. Setup For Next Round If you do not get the result you claimed, move your cube to the space. You lose 1 point of reputation. You start your day with a leisurely walk through the forest, looking for interesting things to grind up in your laboratory. Or perhaps you spend some time doing favors for people around town ... in exchange for favors later, of course. If you successfully exhibit 2 different signs of the same color during the exhibition, then you have demonstrated mastery of that color. Score 2 points of reputation. (More than one player can score this bonus).