Apotheca: The Secret Potion Society

After reading the instructions for this game, I was unsure what to expect when I played through it. As fan of anything produced by Renegade games, I had high hopes. And, after a few play-throughs, I can honestly say that it has lived up to my expectations.The game is basically a two player game that resembles some of the very popular electronic games such as Candy Crush and the like. It is very satisfying to use one of your acquired "powers" in the game to manipulate the board into a match of three potions - not unlike the feeling you get when playing candy crush! The difference here is that this is not on a cell phone or Ipad. It is a board game and the tactile feel of the pieces make it even more satisfying if that makes sense. The rules are scant and leaves some open-endedness and questions. But, nothing that a quick search on the internet can't resolve. It would have been nice to have a few examples of game play in the manual. That might have clarified some of the rules. But, it still works and I'm surprised that this game doesn't have more buzz surrounding it. It is truly a diamond in the rough. Each match is fairly short. A higher level of familiarity with the game tends to make the matches last a little longer.When playing with three players, the person that sits to the left of the weakest player most definitely has an advantage so keep that in mind. I have not yet played with four people, but that is a team version of the two-player match. And heck, there's even a solitaire mode that is very tough to do well in! Pretty good value for your dollar! This is not a heavy duty game, but it does have a lot of originality and thought all packed into it. Not really made for a hardcore gaming group - better for a light get together with more or a few friends.

Really great game. I've gifted two copies and I have a copy for myself. This is a lot of fun, and I can see how expansions to this would be simple. It's a bit of strategy and extremely easy to get started and understand for the amount of fun that it brings. Palate-cleanser type game. Good for kids too.

This has become my favorite game, and best of all, it can be played with one, two or more players. Beautiful artwork and easy to learn. So good to see board games making a comeback.

Easy to learn, plays quickly. Excellent addition to any game night lineup.

I've played the one-player variant and two-player versions of this game. The objective is to get three of the same color potion tiles in a straight line to satisfy an apothecary you've hired. The number of apothecaries you do this for is dependent on which variant of the game you play. I enjoyed the one-player more than I thought I would, it's puzzle-y, and different than the 2-player since you see almost everything going onto the board. You are attempting to satisfy as many apothecaries as possible while still being able to restock the board, once you cannot restock the game is over. Tile movement is done using the apothecary cards, but you need to "hire" their services. Gems are used to hire the apothecaries, and are obtained by revealing a potion tile. I enjoyed the 2-player more due to the uncertainty of what's on the board and the competition to be the first to satisfy three apothecaries...something I was unsuccessful in doing since I played the variant previous to the normal 2-player game and kept messing up my actions. I'm very curious what the many versus one variant would be like, I'm thinking that might be the most fun of all the play options Overall it was a quick, fun game, easy to teach/learn, the gems are different shapes - a small detail I appreciated, and the artwork is beautiful.

Shipping box is broken, and product box is danaged.

Love it. Highly recommend.

Not a good game very disappointed as a two player game. Many other games are a much better value or fun.