“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog […]” is perhaps one of the most famous witchcraft quotes from Shakespeare’s Macbeth, but none of these ingredients are to be found in AEG‘s newest spooky game: Whirling Witchcraft. The recipes are almost as wicked, and what you will find is a combination of simpler elements brewed together to create a game that includes drafting, set collection, engine-building, and tableau-building, as well as take-that mechanics. This concoction creates a crafty gamer’s delight and made it into our hands just in time for this spooky holiday season. This 2-5 player card game plays in about 30 minutes and was released both as a Kickstarter campaign leading up to GenCon 2021 as well as at the convention itself for AEG’s Big Game Night event.

Whirling Witchcraft is one of Erik Andersson Sundén’s most recent designs. The game won the Best Board Game Award at Fastaval 2019 and is currently being published by AEG (a.k.a. Alderac Entertainment Group). Sundén himself is a nuclear physicist at Uppsala University and has been designing multiple gaming projects for close to a decade. Illustrations for the game were provided by Weberson Santiago. More of Santiago’s works can be found in games such as Pot de Vin, The Bloody Inn, and Rolling Ranch. Personally, we are always excited to see Santiago’s work as we greatly enjoy his art style and his use of vibrant, bold colors.

Set up will have players brewing concoctions in no time! Each player begins by taking a workbench and cauldron from the box and putting them into their play area along with an arcana tracker, a player aid, and one of each arcana token. Four recipe cards are dealt to each player, which they can look at but should keep secret, as well as two personality cards from which they should choose one for the game before returning the other to the box. Starting ingredients for each player will be on the back of their personality and should be taken from the common supply after it has been placed in reach of all players. These ingredients are placed into their respective places on each witch’s workbench.

Each round, players will choose one recipe from their hand to play face down. Once each player has made their decision, the recipe cards are simultaneously revealed. Witches will then take ingredients from their workbench and try to fill the recipes in their growing tableau. Filled recipes cause ingredients from the common supply to be placed in the cauldron they are currently brewing in. Used ingredients are returned to the supply. Cauldrons are passed to the right while hands of cards are passed to the left and refilled to four cards. Cauldrons are then emptied to the new controller’s workbench and any ingredients they do not have room to hold are given back to the overly generous player who gifted the ingredients to them. These “extra ingredients” count as points and are placed in the Witch’s Circle in the receiving player’s workbench. If no player has reached five points then another round begins.

The toad warts are in the tidbits when it comes to Whirling Witchcraft because, while the rules are pretty straightforward, players will soon find themselves making difficult decisions as the depth of their dilemma divulges. Players will quickly find themselves trying to decide what recipe to choose from their hand, knowing that those they leave behind will be given to the player trying to bring about their downfall. Does one choose the recipe that will earn them points? Do they choose one that will let them spend their workbench supply to avoid giving points to their opponent? As a third option do they choose a recipe that will give them arcana and the boons they provide, which may or may not help them in the long run? These all need to be considered, and often the choice is not as plain as the wart on your face. While the game can be played at 2 players, and we did enjoy it as such, it really begins to shine with more witches stirring their cauldrons at the table. We had so much fun sending piles of perverse potions one direction while fending off the frantic offensive coming from our left that we were somewhat sullen when each game ended. The good news is that rounds go quickly and you can get in several games without taking up too much time. What cackling creations will you compose as you design the dastardly downfall of your nemesis? Find yourself a copy of this great game by AEG this spooky holiday season and find out for yourself!

All photos of AEG products were taken and edited by Krista.