For tips on how to play potion explosion, see Tips_PotionExplosion

Game play

• Players start by picking two potions that they want to make.
• Players choose their first potion going clockwise around the table, and their second potion going anti-clockwise.

On Your Turn

• On your turn, take any marble ("ingredient") from the dispenser.
  • If two marbles (or groups of marbles) of the same colour collide when falling to close the gap in a column left by taking a marble, they explode and are also taken by the player.
  • This will repeat as "exploded" marbles are removed and subsequent groupings collapse.
• Exploded marbles are placed in the user's "hand".
  • i.e. the rectangle above the flasks in the player's board.
• One at a time, you can move these marbles to the matching colour on the potions in your board and/or to the "Pool" holding flask.
  • The pool can hold at most three but can hold any colour.
  • If there is available space in your pool you must fill it with marbles from your hand before ending your turn.
  • Any marbles left afterwards 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.

Other Actions

• At any time on your turn (before or after your regular marble pick), you may also:
  • Drink a potion from your potion area, to activate their effect.
    • You can only drink each potion once, and it still scores VP even after being drunk.
    • Hover over to see the effect.
    • You may drink multiple potions in a turn if you have them.
  • Once per turn, ask the professor for a Little Help.
    • This costs -2 VP, and lets you take any one marble from the dispenser, without triggering an explosion.

• At the very end of the turn, you must draw new potions to replace any that you completed (You cannot add marbles to these new potions until next turn).

Skill tokens

• The game is setup with ([# of players] + 2) skill tokens from the start.
• When you make your third potion of the same type (i.e., with the same power), or when you have made five different types of potions, take a Skill token for 4VP.
• With 5 or more players, you also gain a skill token when you complete your 10th potion.

Game End

• When the pile of Skill tokens has been depleted, that round is played out and then the game ends.
• Skill tokens are scored even after they have been depleted.
• The player with the most VP points is the winner.

Tiebreak

• In the case of a tie, all tied players (starting from the first player in turn order) each one at a time take one marble from the dispenser to try to trigger an explosion.
  • The player who takes the most marbles this way is the winner.
• Note: each player may get the skill token of 'the 5th different kind of Potion' once.
  • You do not get a 2nd skill token of 'the 5th different kind of Potion' after you collect the 2nd set.

Potion effects

There are 8 types of potion in the base game, but only 6 are used in any particular game. These 6 are chosen at random, unless the “Simple Game (fixed starting potions)” option is used, in which case the omitted potions are always Balm of Uttermost Stickiness and Filter of Lavamancing.

• Abyssal Draft: Take up to 1 Ingredient of each colour from the bottom row of the Dispenser slide tracks. You can only take 1 Ingredient from each slide track.
• Balm of Uttermost Stickiness: Take 2 or more adjacent Ingredients of the same colour from the same slide track of the Dispenser. No Explosions are triggered.
• Elixir of Blind Love: Steal all the Ingredients from 1 opponent’s Pool.
• Filter of Lavamancing: Discard up to 5 Ingredients of 1 colour from the same slide track of the Dispenser back into the tank. No Explosions are triggered.
• Potion of Magnetical Attraction: Take 2 adjacent Ingredients of different colours from the same slide track of the Dispenser. No Explosions are triggered.
• Potion of Prismatic Joy: You can place all Ingredients (up to 3) in your flask's ingredient Pool on any holes of your incomplete Potions, regardless of their colour.
• Potion of Wisdom: Take one Ingredient of your choice from the Dispenser. No Explosions are triggered.
• Sands of Time: Activate again the effect of 1 Potion you already used.

Variants

Fulminating Serum

• The fulminating serum will possibly be available.
• It discards 2 ingredients on the same track back into the Dispenser. No explosions are triggered.

Fifth Ingredient

Ghost Ectoplasm

• Ghost Ectoplasm is added as an extra ingredient. It is found in the Ghastly Cauldron.
• This ingredient can be used as any colour, both for explosions and for brewing.
• When you exchange an ingredient with the Ghastly Cauldron, you must take a marble from it (Ghost Ectoplasm if possible) and put another marble in its place. After that, gain 1 reward token.

New Potions

• Brew of Feather Touch: Take 2 or more ingredients of the same colour from the same row of the dispenser. No explosions are triggered.
• Chameleonic Varnish: All ingredients of a colour of your choice is changed to another colour of your choice (Except wild). How to use: Clicking on the Blue ingredient will allow you to choose the colour you would like to convert from and then clicking on the Blue / Red ingredient, allow you to choose the colour you want to convert to.
• Dram of Poltergeist Swat: Steal 1 ingredient from an opponent’s pool, then exchange it with the Ghastly Cauldron.
• Ghastly Concoction: Exchange an ingredient in your hand with the Ghastly Cauldron.

Professor Tiles

• A professor tile is chosen at the start of the game. Its effect apply during the whole game.
• Reward tokens (1 point each) and scolding tokens (-1 point each) might be gained during the game.
• List of professors:
  • Albedus Humblescore: You can discard 2 ingredients of the same colour from your hand to discard a little help token.
  • Antiqua Thriftymind: If your pool is full at the end of your turn, exchange an ingredient in it with the Ghastly Cauldron.
  • Gideon Prissymann: If you finish your turn with one or more ingredients still in hand, you recieve a scolding token.
  • Gravitha Tidygall: If you do not put ingredients in a potion from bottom to top, receive 1 scolding token after that potion is completed (max 1 per potion).
  • Overwhilma Explosiwa: If you collect 8 or more ingredients with your regular pick, exchange one of them with the Ghastly Cauldron.
  • Shi Zan Shuimo: You may instead activate the effect of a potion you have already used when you take a little help token.

(The effect of Gideon Prissymann, as described above, is different from that in the physical game. Also, the seventh professor — Anxiogenous O’Clockitt — is not used in the BGA implementation.)

Sixth Student

Mandragora Leaves

• Mandragora Leaves is added as an extra ingredient.
• During explosions, they are treated as a regular colour.
• When brewing, layers can be filled with only mandragora leaves instead.
• You cannot change the colour of mandragora leaves, even with potions.

New Potions

• Concentrate of Selfishness: Steal 1 ingredient from each opponent’s pool.
• Generosity Confection: Take one ingredient per player from a side track, which must be all adjacent. Then give 1 ingredient to each player. If an opponent’s pool is full, discard that ingredient instead.