Quacks

One More Ingredient. Just One More.

That's the lie you tell yourself every time you reach into your bag. The cauldron is almost full, the rewards are getting richer, and surely this next draw won't be the one that blows everything up. And then it does. And somehow that's the most fun you've had all night.

Quacks is a push-your-luck game of potion brewing from CMYK — winner of the 2018 Kennerspiel des Jahres, the prestigious German award for more complex games with broad appeal, and a fixture on The New York Times Wirecutter's list of the best board games. Each player draws ingredients from their own bag and places them in a spiraling cauldron. The further out you push, the bigger your rewards — but every bag is packed with white ingredient chips, and if too many land in your cauldron, the whole thing explodes. You score points, you buy new ingredients, and your bag slowly transforms into something uniquely yours.

No two rounds play out the same way. Each ingredient type carries its own wild effect — some let you move faster, some protect against explosions, some bend the rules in ways you didn't see coming. The game has a beautiful chaos to it that keeps everyone at the table engaged even when it's not their turn, because watching someone else's cauldron spiral toward disaster is half the fun.

This Standard Edition features fully updated artwork on a game that has earned its place as a modern classic. It plays two to four players, suits ages ten and up, and sits comfortably in the light-to-medium range — easy enough to teach in minutes, engaging enough to play again immediately. It's a strong choice for family game nights, casual gatherings, and anyone being introduced to hobby gaming for the first time. Games run roughly 45 minutes, and the "just one more round" pull is very real.

Component quality is clean and functional, with the bag-drawing mechanic at the heart of everything — each player has their own bag that evolves as the game progresses, giving Quacks a satisfying sense of personal progression that sets it apart from most luck-driven games.

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