Teach the Game
A short teaching script for marble collisions, potion powers and the exam finish.
How you win
You are students taking a practical potions exam. Over roughly 30–45 minutes, collect ingredients, finish recipes and use the resulting powers to brew faster. The student with the most points wins.
Choose one marble, collect the chain reactions it creates, and fill your two recipes. Completed potions score their printed points and give a one-use power; achievements add 
Skill tokens worth 4 points.
The boards
- First burner — holds one recipe in progress.
- Second burner — holds the other; a completed potion moves below the Desk.
- Ingredient Pool — saves up to three unused ingredients between turns.
- Tank — return ingredients here randomly.
- Slide tracks — choose from the first eight visible marbles of a track.
A turn
- Take your regular pick: one accessible marble, followed by all explosions it triggers.
- Fill matching recipe holes. A full recipe becomes a completed potion immediately.
- You may drink potions and take one Little Help, before or after the regular pick. Those extra removals do not explode.
- Finish the turn: save up to three spare ingredients, discard excess, refill empty burners, claim achievements, and check the end trigger. New recipes wait until your next turn.
How the game ends
Emptying the Skill-token countdown stack, or exhausting the potion supply, triggers the finish. Complete the current round so everyone has the same number of turns. Add completed potion values and 4 points per Skill token; subtract 2 per Little Help token. Scoring and tie-break.
Ways to score
| Source | Points and timing |
|---|---|
| Completed potion | Printed value at game end; drinking does not reduce it. |
| Three potions of one kind | One Skill token, once per kind. |
| Five different kinds | One Skill token, once in the game. The same potions also count for matching-kind achievements. |
| Skill token | 4 points at game end. |
 Little Help | −2 points per token at game end. |
| [Fifth] Rewards / Scoldings | +1 / −1 each; see The Fifth Ingredient. |
| [Sixth] Ten completed potions | One extra Skill token in the 5–6 player game. |
What each resource is for
| Resource | Why, how you get it, and how you use it |
|---|---|
| Ingredient marbles | Take from the dispenser or gain from powers; fill holes of matching colour. |
| Pool | Keep three ingredients for later, then move them into recipes on your turn. |
| Completed potions | Keep for points; rotate a potion upside down when drinking it for its power. |
| Little Help token | Take with one extra non-exploding pick; its end-game penalty is 2 points. |
| Skill tokens | Earn from achievements; the countdown stack also controls the game length. |
Teaching tips
- Demonstrate a collision, then a second explosion exposed by the first.
- Remove the middle marble of three identical colours: the other two collide and explode.
- Explain the pool and new-recipe timing before anyone starts a turn.
- For a first game, follow the rulebook’s suggested six types: leave out Balm of Uttermost Stickiness and Filter of Lavamancing.