Kickstarter Game Preview: Cauldron

There’s trouble a-brewin’ in this debut design by our friend Artem Safarov, a neat little mixture of light-hearted “take that” and strategic resource management that keeps everyone in the running until the last potion pops.

Quick Links:

Who would like this game? >
Cauldron kickstarter page >
Cauldron on BoardGaming.com >

The following is a preview of a prototype copy of Cauldron. The artwork, components and rules may not be in their final form.

Overview

Alchemists can be a prickly lot, always stealing supplies and messing with each other’s recipes. Such is the path you’ve chosen, so you’ll have to be dirtier and meaner than your peers if you want to be the Grand Infusionist. And you know you do.

Gameplay

Cauldron plays over an unspecified number of rounds, each consisting of two phases: Harvest Season and Market Season. Most of the play takes place in Harvest Season, when you’ll gather resources and brew potions necessary to earn victory points (dubbed “Magik” here – first to 35 wins). Once the resources are gone you’ll move to Market Season, where you can cash in some of your hard-earned Magik for additional potions or spells… and spells are where Cauldron gets dirty!

The play area of Cauldron is set up with a number of each of three basic Field Tiles (Spider Web, Frog Leg and Toadstool) equal to player count plus one (thus a four-player game would start with 15 Fields in play – 5 of each type). These Fields produce one of their associated Ingredients each round; during the Harvest Season players take turns collecting one resource until all Fields are stripped bare.

Each player starts with two Basic Potions and two Basic Spells. Magik is earned through brewing potions, which require different combinations of the seven available resources in Cauldron. Basic Potions are worth 1 to 5 Magik per brew, while Advanced Potions (available for purchase once the game progresses to a certain point) are worth up to 11. When you brew a potion you don’t lose the card – you can re-brew it as much as you want during the game, but relying on your Basic Potions too long will likely set you back.

When play moves to Market Season you have the ability to purchase just one item, and it will take a reduction in your hard-earned Magik to do so. While Market Season is the shorter part of the game, it’s where you’ll shape your strategy. You can go after powerful Advanced Potions that will score heaps of Magik; you can add Fields to the play area (while you start with three types of Fields in play, there are 4 other Ingredients – the ones those Advanced Potion cards require – that necessitate expansion of the Field for availability); you can purchase a Cellar to keep one good from going bad at the end of Harvest Season (without Cellars, you’ll discard any un-brewed Ingredients at the end of this phase); or (and this is where the game takes a wicked turn) you’ll go hard after the Advanced Spell cards that will destroy your opponents plans.

While the Basic Spells you start the game with are pretty innocuous – they’ll give you some small advantage without crushing your opponents – the Advanced Potions can be downright game-changing. With just one card, a player can go from far behind to leading and cause everyone they just leapfrogged to waste several turns forming a new plan. Unless, of course, they’re hoarding Advanced Potions of their own… in which case that newly-leading player will have a short stay in the limelight.

And that’s the odd but thrilling balance of Cauldron – one Advanced Spell card can change everything… but the next one will have as drastic an effect. There will be wild swings in momentum every minute, and nobody is out of it until the Grand Infusionist is named.

Who would enjoy this game?

Family Gamer {maybe}

Everything about Cauldron seems tailored for families with children in the 8+ range, but we’ve found one big caveat: if you’re a parent playing with children who don’t appreciate mom or dad doing something that destroys their plans, you’re going to have to avoid playing any Advanced Spell cards on them… which will hand them the game.

Social Gamer {yes}

The twists and turns in Cauldron are absolutely thrilling, and despite the publisher’s recommendations there’s no reason you can’t play with 7 right out of the box. You will laugh, you will shout… everybody will have a great time.

Strategy Gamer {no}

Cauldron encourages you to utilize light strategy… then eviscerates it with the play of a card. It will definitely frustrate strict strategists.

Casual Gamer {yes}

There are bunches of cardboard bits to Cauldron, but that doesn’t make it complicated. In fact, it’s downright easy to learn and to teach.

Avid Gamer {yes}

Very cool theme, easy to teach, sparkly components to entice… you’ll always find people to play this with.

Power Gamer {no}

Cauldron is a breezy, light experience for those that like their games in the around-an-hour variety. Far from the Power crowd.

Final Thoughts

Our first game of Cauldron was a shock. We were happily gathering resources and brewing for the first 20 minutes, strategically plotting our potion and Field purchases and tactically deciding when and where to take particular Ingredients based on what we think our opponents are planning… then one of us hit 15 Magik and the game completely changed.

It was a jolting shift, and once the initial shock of the devastating Advanced Spell cards wore off it put a big smile on our faces. This game is different. Very different.

You can’t wander about aimlessly with no plan. That will surely hinder you. But you have to understand that, regardless of the strength of your play, an opponent directing one or two unanswered Advanced Spell cards your way will give them a decisive advantage. Be the first to get dirty and your chances improve greatly!

While clearly not being positioned as such, Cauldron represents a great gateway to “take that” games. There’s much more here than simply shouting “A Ha! But I have this card, so you can’t do that fancy thing you’re trying to do… and in fact, you have to give me all of your Ingredients now!” There’s plenty of other stuff to do beyond lobbing daggers at each other. But shouting that is the funnest part of the game.

Support this game on kickstarter.com!

{Backing ends May 28th, 8:00am PST}
Go now >