''The Quacks of Quedlinburg'' (Die Quacksalber von Quedlinburg), also known as Quacksalber, is a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

Schmidt Spiele Schmidt Spiele is a German games publisher for a wide variety of games, especially German-style board games. Founder Josef Friedrich Schmidt developed Mensch ärgere dich nicht in 1907/1908, based on antique forerunners. Five years later his new ...

in 2018. After winning the

Kennerspiel des Jahres The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence ...

(Spiel des Jahres Connoisseur-gamer Game of the Year) in 2018, an English version of the game was released by North Star Games.

Concept

Every year the city of

Quedlinburg Quedlinburg () is a town situated just north of the Harz mountains, in the district of Harz in the west of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. As an influential and prosperous trading centre during the early Middle Ages, Quedlinburg became a center of in ...

holds a festival, where the greatest Apothecaries and Quacksalbers ( Quack doctors) compete against each other over several days to prove that they are the greatest

potion A potion () is a liquid "that contains medicine, poison, or something that is supposed to have magic powers.” It derives from the Latin word ''potus'' which referred to a drink or drinking. The term philtre is also used, often specifically ...

brewer of the land. Each year different ingredients are available for purchase in the markets, and each day a Fortune Teller will announce what strange occurrences will affect the competing Quacksalbers that day.

Gameplay

''Quacksalber'' is a drafting game for 2–4 players. Players start with the same core ingredients represented by tokens held in a cloth bag. Players draw tokens from the bag until they either decide to stop, or their potion explodes - whichever comes first. After each round each Quacksalber will win prestige and/or money for the potions they brewed (those with potions that didn't explode get both). Money is used to purchase more ingredients that will assist them to brew even greater potion the following day. The Quacksalber with the greatest amount of prestige (victory points) at the end of the game wins. Five of the ingredients (Blue, Green, Purple, Red, and Yellow) have two options, which adds to the variety of gameplay. The Fortune Teller cards also specify a special rule that will be in effect for each day (round). These two elements result in each game having variable gameplay, which add to the game's

replay value Replay may refer to: * Replay (sports), a replayed match between two sport teams Technology * Game replay, a recording of a game session. * Instant replay, in motion pictures and television, a showing again of part of a film * Replay Professiona ...

Reception

''Quacksalber'' won a

Spiel des Jahres The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence ...

award in 2018:

(Connoisseur-gamer Game of the Year).

References

BoardGameGeek BoardGameGeek (BGG) is an online forum for board gaming hobbyists and a game database that holds reviews, images and videos for over 125,600 different tabletop games, including European-style board games, wargames, and card games. In addition ...

''Review of Quacksalber''
by '' The Dice Tower'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Quacks of Quedlinburg, the Board games Spiel des Jahres winners Kennerspiel des Jahres winners German board games Board games introduced in 2018

Concept

Gameplay

Reception

References

External links