Wizards roam the land wielding the four elements in a quest to complete their brew - the elixir of life. Prove that you're the world's greatest alchemist by using powerful spells to control the elements and be the first to acquire the ingredients needed to complete your wizard's brew.
Components
- 1 Game Board
- 36 Spell Cards
- 112 Element Cards
- 6 Cauldrons - cardboard placards
- 20 Landmark Tokens
- 52 Ingredient Tokens
- 1 Grab Bag
- 60 Energy Cubes
- 1 Special Six-sided Wooden Die
- 1 Wizard Marker
- Horse Marker
- 2 Player Aid Sheets
- Rulebook
Setup
Place the game board in the middle of the table and the special die next to the 1 - 6 boxes printed on the board.
Each player takes 10 energy cubes and one cauldron. place any remaining cauldrons and energy cubes back in the box.
Separate the element cards by type, and place them in four face-up stacks next to the board. each player takes one element card of each type.
Put all the ingredient tokens in the grab bag and mix them thoroughly. drawing from the bag at random, place three-ingredient tokens in each of the four city areas on the board (see illustration following), and two in each other area of the board. put the empty bag back in the box.
Shuffle the landmark tokens face down. Randomly place one landmark token face-up on each forest, mountain, ocean, desert, and plains area of the board. Place no landmark tokens in the cities. (Landmark tokens create a different set-up for each game).
Randomly decide who will play first in the first round. this player places the wizard marker in front of him or herself and the horse marker in any of the four city areas.
Shuffle the deck of Spell cards, deal two to each player, and place the rest of the deck face down next to the board. Each player has one opportunity to discard one or both of these Spells and draw replacements.
Players must keep the new Spells they draw. When a player discards a Spell, either before or during the game, place the Spell card face down at the bottom of the deck.
In secret, players now place one or more Energy cubes on each of their two Spells. (Hide the cards with one hand while placing cubes on the cards). Once all players place their cubes, reveal the Spells.
Players will use their remaining Energy cubes to acquire and empower Spells later in the game. Note: Spells are always kept face up on the table in front of their owner.
Game Play
Wizard's Brew is played in rounds, with each round consisting of the following four phases:
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Spell Phase - Players bid on new Spell cards that will provide Elemental powers and/or special abilities in later rounds.
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Element Phase - Players receive the Elements generated by their Spells, if any.
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Ingredient Phase - The player with the Wizard marker rolls the die to determine the number of areas that players will visit to compete for Ingredients.
The die is then placed on the board in the corresponding box (3, 4, 5, or 6) and as the game is played it is moved downward as areas are visited.
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Energy Phase - Players remove one or two Energy cubes from each Spell they own, as indicated on the Spell cards themselves, discarding Spells that have no Energy cubes remaining on them.
1. Spell Phase
Spell cards equal to the number of players are auctioned one at a time, with each auction held according to these rules:
The player with the Wizard marker turns the top card of the Spell deck face up. This player either passes or bids a number from one up to the number of Energy cubes he or she has available (that is, not already on Spell cards).
Bidding proceeds clockwise around the table, and each player has one opportunity to either raise the previous bid or pass. The player to the right of the one who holds the Wizard marker has the final chance to bid.
After each player has either bid or passed, the highest bidder wins the Spell, takes possession of the Wizard marker, and places a number of Energy cubes equal to the winning bid on the card. A player may own any number of Spells during the game within the limit of his or her Energy cubes.
If no player bids for a Spell, the card is discarded and no replacement is drawn.
The player holding the Wizard marker begins the next auction by turning over another Spell card. Once the number of Spells auctioned and discarded equals the number of players, the Spell Phase ends.
Spell Cards
Each Spell card has a color, symbols and text that show when the Spell works and what it does. The effects of Spells always supersede the normal rules of the game.
Element Production - A Spell card with one or more symbols in the upper left-hand corner produces elemental force during the Element Phase (explained in detail below).
For each symbol in the upper left corner, the owner of the Spell draws one Element card of the appropriate type, as shown below. For each wild symbol, the owner of the Spell draws one Element card of his or her choice.
Energy Cost - The upper right-hand corner of a Spell card shows how much energy it takes to maintain that Spell each round. During the Energy Phase (explained in detail below), players remove the number of Energy cubes shown on the card.
Spell Text - Many spells have powers or effects that can influence game play. These powers are described in the text box located below the picture on the spell card.
Spell Color - The spell cards are color-coded to indicate during which phase their power takes Effect.
Green - Element Phase
Blue - Ingredient Phase
Yellow - Energy Phase
Red - Element, Ingredient, and Energy Phases
2. Element Phase
Most Spells produce elemental energy, which players will use during the next phase to try to acquire Ingredients. Starting with the player holding the Wizard marker and proceeding clockwise around the table, each player collects the Elements produced by his or her Spells.
If a Spell produces one or more Elements and no cards of that type are available, the owner of that Spell may take any other Element card (or cards) instead. All card draws are visible to all players.
3. Ingredient Phase
The player with the Wizard marker now rolls the special die to determine the number of areas that players will visit in this round to compete for Ingredients.
The die is then placed on the board in the corresponding box (3, 4, 5, or 6), and as the visits are made it is moved downward to keep track of the number of visits. In each area, players will compete in auctions, using their elemental powers to try to overwhelm opponents.
In the first round of the game, the first area to be visited will be the City area chosen during Preparation. In subsequent rounds, the first area to be visited will be moved to by the player with the Wizard Marker from the area where the Horse is located. T
he player who wins the auction (described below) claims an Ingredient from this area, takes possession of the Wizard marker and moves the Horse to the next area to be visited (also described below).
Auctions
Players compete in an auction for one of the Ingredients in the area where the Horse is located. Each auction follows these rules:
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When bidding for ingredients in a city, players may use all of their element cards. in all non-city areas, the landmark type (monument, tower, temple, or fountain) dictates the single type of element that players may use to bid for ingredients (see below).
Unless players own spells that let them do otherwise, no other elements may be used to bid for these ingredients.
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The player with the wizard marker goes first, either bidding any number greater than zero or passing.
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Bidding proceeds clockwise around the table with each player either raising the previous bid or passing.
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Once a player passes, that player may not re-enter the bidding. unlike the auctions held during the spell phase, for auctions held in the ingredient phase players may bid more than once.
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Once all players but one have passed, the final bidder discards a number of element cards equal to the winning bid, discarding any type or types of element cards if bidding in a city or the single acceptable type of element card if bidding in a landmark area.
This player then takes one ingredient from this area and places it on his or her cauldron.
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If a player does not have enough of the proper type of element cards to pay for a bid, this player does not claim an ingredient and discards all element cards he or she possesses.
The player with the wizard marker then begins a new auction in the same area.
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The player who wins the Ingredient takes the Wizard marker, then immediately moves the Horse to another area.
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Once the number of areas visited this round equals the die roll, the Ingredient phase ends.
Note: If no player bids in an area, the Ingredient Phase for this round immediately ends.
Horse Movement
The player with the Wizard marker must move the Horse as follows:
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After an Ingredient has been claimed from the current area, the player must move the Horse to an adjacent area that has one or more Ingredients.
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If all adjacent areas have no Ingredients, the player moves the Horse through vacant areas in a straight line until the Horse hits an area that does have Ingredients
(The player doesn't have to choose the closest area that has Ingredients, only one that can be reached by moving in a straight line).
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If all areas that can be reached by moving in a straight line have no Ingredients, the player moves the Horse to any area that does have Ingredients.
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The player may move the Horse to an area that was already visited during the current phase.
4. Energy Phase
First, starting from the player with the Wizard marker and moving clockwise, players owning yellow Spells carry out their effects or pass on using them.
Then for each Spell a player owns, that player removes Energy cubes from each card equal to the cost given in the upper right- hand corner of that card. Energy cubes removed from Spells are returned to the player's pool of available Energy Cubes.
Finally, players discard any Spell card that has no Energy cubes on it, placing the card face down at the bottom of the Spell deck.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately when one player gathers enough Ingredients in his or her Cauldron to complete the wizard's brew - the elixir of life! The number of Ingredients required depends on the number of players in the game.
Players | Victory Conditions |
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3-4 | 7 differently colored ingredients or 8 total ingredients in any combination of colors. |
5 | 6 differently colored ingredients or 7 total ingredients in any combination of colors. |
6 | 5 differently colored ingredients or 6 total ingredients in any combination of colors. |
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