As long-term readers of my blog will know, one of my hobbies is playing boardgames. I particularly enjoy games with a magical theme. Witchstone is one I've played recently so I thought I'd give it a review.
To start with, it's a complicated game - definitely aimed at those who enjoy plenty of strategy and aren't daunted by a long set of rules. However, if you aren't put off by that it's worth playing.
The concept behind it is that witches and wizards have gathered at an enchanted stone to regenerate their magical powers. They also compete to be Master of the Witchstone. To do this they must brew potions in a cauldron to connect different energies, but the potions require special ingredients.
Game play involves managing resources represented by counters with various things on them including crystals, wands and pentagrams. Each player's cauldron is represented by a card with hexagons on it. You place the counters on the hexagons, attempting to get clusters of the same symbol together as that scores more points and also enables more actions on the main board. Actions there include creating energy lines, moving witch figures about to collect ingredients, and connecting with the Witchstone itself.
I've only played Witchstone twice, and I've enjoyed it both times. I'll happily play it again. However, it feels more like an abstract strategy game than one specifically about being a witch. I don't feel it quite embraces the topic to the same extent as Septima, which I reviewed back in October. You can read what I wrote about that here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/10/witch-games-septima-build-coven-avoid.html
Witchstone is designed by Reiner Knizia and published by R and R Games.
The photo at the top shows the main board and two cauldrons with some of the counters and crystals.
Other previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2019/10/witch-games-witching-hour-reviewed.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2019/10/witch-games-witching-hour-reviewed.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/05/witch-games-frog-juice-potion-making.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/07/supernatural-games-horrified-fighting.html
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