Board game flat world witch star. Board game Discworld. The Witches: A Discworld Game. Impressions and conclusions

More than half of the Nameless Continent is occupied by the Ovtsepik Mountains, on the territory of which there are many kingdoms, one of which is Lancre. It is known for certain that the Ovtsepiksky ridge is located across the “standing magic wave”, as a result of which discharges of magic appear between the hills, which fall to the ground like lightning. This region was chosen by the witches of the Disc, whose bright representatives we will meet. Today on the Pink sofa is the “problematically giggling” board game “Disk World: Witches”.

Inside a standard box from the company" Star" there are playing cards, a stack of tiles, chips, dice, player boards, a map of the kingdom of Lancre, a reminder for a novice witch and a treatise on headology. The internal space allows witches to make training flights and drink tea in the spacious hall.

The kingdom of Lancre, forgotten by all maps, from a height of flight on a broom...

Sights connected by roads, dissected by a sinkhole, are located not far from the famous Lancre Castle - this is where the main events of the game will unfold.

Each witch, according to tradition, wears a pointed hat on her head, which is not only an integral clothing accessory, but also a symbol of the profession. Players will take control of four multi-colored wooden pieces and fight troubles with the help of magic dice. On one side of the hexagon, instead of "one", there is a giggle symbol equal to "zero" (all other numeric values ​​are standard).

Each witch has an individual ability, listed on the tablet under the character's portrait. Four rectangular cards reflect the player's achievements, containing a quick guide to the number of cards in hand and bonuses to the dice roll.

It’s a pity that the most colorful character of the Discworld is missing from the tablets - the witch Gita Ogg, whose love of life and optimism can become an example for everyone. And what songs she sang to the accompaniment of a banjo!

You can hit the hedgehog, or you can kick it,
You can poke a hedgehog in the belly with a cane,
You can shoot a hedgehog with a revolver...

Sorry, I got distracted, and the song is not entirely decent. It’s not for nothing that even men blush from her...

Players will have to fight against many adversities. The 30 green simple problem tokens contain illness, pregnancy, and death (witches are guides of souls from one world to another). The hexagon indicates the number of victory points, and the white circle indicates the difficulty level.

The 17 challenging problem tokens are structured similarly, allowing for a respectable amount of points to be earned, but also challenging to solve. As you remember, elves are vile and nasty creatures, therefore, during a massive invasion, they completely capture Lancre and lead to the defeat of all participants in the game.

The 55 cards serve many functions in the game. They allow you to increase the result of the throw; use magical abilities; move to any point on the map; indicate a region with another misfortune and contain a spectacular illustration of a Discworld character, creating a unique atmosphere...

Pay close attention to the top symbol of the card, which indicates either magic (2 points per die roll) or headology (one per roll), or makes it possible to move to any part of the map using a broom, ignoring the basic rules of movement.

Three square tiles that match the color of the witch cards give the corresponding character a one-time bonus, detailed on the individual board. 12 “Black Alyssia” tokens will reduce the total amount of victory points by “one”.

By the way, “Black Alissia” is the most powerful witch of the Disc World who went over to the side of evil. It was with her light hand that the whole castle fell into a lethargic sleep, and the pumpkin turned into a real carriage (although some dispute this fact). It’s good that she was roasted in the oven of a gingerbread house by kind children who had lost their way...

12 crisis tokens will worsen the situation in the region and make it more difficult to solve problems. These round pieces are also a kind of counter in the game - as soon as their reserve runs out, the game is lost for everyone. The 16 giggle tokens are accumulated by players and can lead to a “Black Alyssia” tile, which, remember, takes away one victory point in the final tally.

Problematic Lancre.

Before you set off, you need to prepare the playing field (the review provides an example for a three-player game). Next to the Lancre card, place the number of giggle tokens specified in the rules, and nearby place the dice, a stack of “Black Alyssia” tiles and crisis rounds.

The challenging problem tiles are shuffled and placed face down in the areas marked with a purple square. In the location with the green square, randomly place the simple problem tokens face up.

At the bottom right of the field there is an area with six cells. In them you need to first place in stacks the tokens of complex problems with the picture down, and on top - cardboards of simple troubles with the picture up. Let's call this area the "trouble pit."

The number of squares depends on the number of players and is indicated in each cell. Place the remaining Trouble tokens in the box. For example, for three players, two tokens of each problem type must be placed in the first square.

The deck of cards is shuffled and placed in the center of the table.

Each player selects a character, takes a tablet, a cone chip, the required bonus tile and three cards from the deck. The chip must be placed on the field in any free area.

Now everything is ready, let's start the game.

At the beginning of each round, one card is removed from the deck. Take a look at the bottom text - it indicates in which area you need to place a trouble token taken from the leftmost "trouble pit" pile. A tile can only be placed in a free cell of the corresponding location.

Please note that some Lancre landmarks contain multiple tiles. The token can be placed in any free square of the player’s choice.

If there are already troubles in the location and there are no free cells, then take the crisis token and place it on top of the problem square. The people are agitated, and from now on it becomes more difficult to defeat the attack, since the population is in “indignation.”

The removed card is discarded. Note: You must continue to remove cards until the required Trouble token is placed on the board. Thus, multiple crisis tokens can be placed on Lancre locations.

After troubles appear, the time of witches comes. In turn order, players move pieces around the field and try to solve problems, thereby earning victory points.

You can move either on foot to a neighboring location along the road (go through up to two locations in a turn), or on a broom to any point in the kingdom (to fly, you need to play a card with the “broom” icon).

The witch cannot ignore the problem, so she stops at the location with the token and tries to help the locals (the complex problem square is turned upside down). However, "invisibility" allows you to bypass this rule and pass through the problematic location.

Rely on magic and luck to solve a problem. As a result of magical passes, the player must score the number of points indicated in the white circle. Crisis tokens add a “two” to this value and make the witch’s task more difficult.

First roll two dice. You can write down the result, but when counting, remember that the smiling witch symbol is worth “zero” points and one giggle token. Then the witch must either run to an adjacent empty location (there may be another witch's token in it), or continue the magic ritual. If you escape, you will not face any trouble...

To increase the result, you can use cards from your hand: headology adds “one” to the result, and “magic” adds two points (but you have to take one giggle token). The result is also influenced by some cards and the player’s achievements reflected on the tablet. So, every two tokens of solved difficult problems add one point to the total.

After playing the cards and adjusting the result, the player rolls two more dice. If after this the problem is solved (the required number of points are scored), then the token is removed from the location and placed on the winner’s board.

Each pair of simple problems allows you to hold one more card in your hand, and each pair of difficult ones adds one point to the final result when solving a problem in a location.

If you are defeated, you must retreat to an adjacent area and take one giggle token. Additionally, the special property of the trouble token is triggered, and terrible punishments fall on the witch (or all witches, depending on the situation).

For example: The Evil Man sends all the witches to prison, from which it is not so easy to get out...

Some cards, marked with the "power of three", can automatically solve absolutely any problem without rolling any dice. Unfortunately, collecting this “trinity” is quite difficult...

I often mention giggle tokens. These round beads gradually drive the witch crazy, and as soon as the supply of tokens runs out (and the active player must get one from the supply), the owner of the maximum number of round beads giggles loudly and receives the “Black Alyssia” tile.

You can get rid of tokens and improve your peace of mind by meeting the witches over a cup of tea. In this case, those who enter a free location with player tokens discard up to three tokens, and those in it discard up to two.

At the end of the turn, the player draws his hand to the maximum possible number of cards (depending on the number of solved problems on the board).

So, the witches move around the field, solve problems and drink tea - everything is not so complicated. It remains to be seen when this chaos will end.

Defeat for all players occurs in two cases: the reserve has run out of crisis tokens and the population is outraged by the actions of the witches, or at the end of any player’s turn there are three open elf tokens on the field, which plunge Lancre into the abyss of chaos.

As soon as the last token from the "trouble pit" is on the board, the magical ritual ends and the players find out which witch becomes Queen of Lancre. To do this, we add up the victory points on the earned tokens, subtract one for each “Black Alyssia” and brag about the result obtained - the largest amount reveals the winner.

Over Lancre, riding on a broom.

Witches is the second part of the “game” Discworld trilogy. In comparison, the players’ tasks have become simpler, the gameplay has acquired a “cooperative” flavor and has become family-friendly, as evidenced by the fact that the recommended age of opponents has been reduced by a year.

The design of the cards is consistent in style, as is their size. The only thing that upset me about the "Witches" edition was the lack of an organizer that the "" box was equipped with. There are no complaints about the printing, cardboard or cutting quality - the edition was printed abroad, so the quality is at the highest level.

"Witches" is a semi-cooperative game in which opponents travel through locations and use dice and cards to earn prize tokens. Despite the fact that there is only one winner in the game, opponents have to solve common problems of preventing the appearance of elf tokens and restoring order in locations in order to avoid depleting the reserve of crisis tokens. It is also beneficial for opponents to meet to discard dangerous giggle tokens together. Therefore, without coordinated actions, the whole team will lose...

I would like to note the low level of difficulty, which will allow you to travel around Lancre with children from eight years old (in my opinion, the recommended age is too high). A nice bonus will be the single-player mode, and through simple official changes to the rules, the semi-cooperative game turns into a fully cooperative game, and players solve one common problem. In my opinion, such “transformations” make the game interesting both for clubs and for home gatherings with family and friends.

You can read a review of the first part of the trilogy by following the link: .

I'm looking forward to finishing the trilogy. I hope that the company" Star" will also localize the third box, the contents of which you will certainly learn about on the pages of my website.

It really pleased fans of Terry Pratchett's fairy-tale Universe and pleasantly shook up our flat tabletop world;) However, we will not dwell on the past, but turn our attention to the distant and mysterious Lancre, where the chief doctors, police officers, psychologists, veterinarians and agronomists are witches, that is, you, since you have decided to become interested in this mysterious and very beautiful game. :)

Even if you have never held a single Pratchett book in your hands, then you certainly know who the classic witches are. They have pointed hats on their heads, a high-speed broom between their legs (sorry), some pink mushrooms in their pockets, a pinch of strange flowers and body parts of unpleasant animals, and absolutely no idea what is on their minds. Although in this case we can try to guess what is going on in the minds of the unfortunate trainees of the Witch Rescue Service of all Lancre - in Devil's Oak a farmer's sheep died, in Fish Streams a young peasant woman is about to give birth, and in Dancers Elves in tight leggings have appeared again.

All these problems need to be solved, and solved urgently, but, alas, the level of development of science and technology does not allow suffering citizens to resort to any other methods of improving their standard of living, except for magical help. So, except for the four of you (and this is the maximum), no one is able to make the inhabitants of Lancre happy!

So what should you do? - you ask, putting on an apron and lighting a burner under an enamel ladle, ready to cook strange potions from oregano and garlic. Not so fast! All you need is your personal tablet (it shows your portrait, the color of your game piece, your special skill and eight square fields, on each of which you have to add two solved problem tokens).

The playing field is a detailed map of Lancre, which has a lot of settlements connected by narrow and bumpy paths. During your turn, you can either pick up skirts and go on a walking journey (in one turn you can walk two steps forward maximum), or tie your hair in a tight knot, ride a broom and go to any location at your discretion (although for this you will need to play card that gives you the right to air travel). And hurry, without sparing your legs, arms and broom, you will go to where unresolved problems await you!

Problems affecting peasants and their families fall into two categories: simple (such as an outbreak of influenza) and complex (such as the visit of the Comte de Sorocula). You have to solve problems by throwing two pairs of dice so that their total result is equal to the face value of the problem you have chosen. However, even if you have a very light hand in life, you can immediately deal with complex problems in Witches will be almost impossible. For example, in order to expel the Elf King from the village, you will need to roll as many as 22 points (and this is with a maximum of 24!). But you should still try.

With the first throw, you throw two dice made from the bones of your enemies and look at the result. If you get an unpleasant witch face, it means that with this die you rolled a zero (and not a one, as in classic hexagons), and you also take yourself a giggle token, which we will talk about later. After such a crushing and unpleasant failure, you have two options: run (move your piece to any neighboring village that is not in trouble or has another witch) or use the cards from your hand (of which you only have three at the beginning of the game), which can give you +1 or +2 bonuses to die rolls. However, if you use magic (which will count as using certain bonus cards), then you will have to take another giggle token!

Accumulating a large number of giggle tokens is not something to laugh about, but rather the opposite, because, if unfortunate, owning a large number of these tokens can lead to receiving a Black Alyssia token, which will give you a minus one point in the final scoring.

The good news here is that when two or more witches meet in the same village, they immediately have a tea party where they discuss the latest pointy hats, the fastest brooms and the latest recipes for wart growth creams. Oh yeah, we almost forgot - they also get rid of three or two giggle tokens at a time, depending on which of them organized the giggle hen party. In general, a lot of benefit for the players, but no benefit for the alarmed townspeople...

At the beginning of her turn, the first thing the witch does is place another problem in the city she was given. If there is already a problem in that city, then a crisis token is sent there, which adds two points to the value of the problem and, naturally, increases the unrest among the people (after all, a dead sheep has been lying in the square for the third week and no one is doing anything!) .

If you place all the crisis tokens on the board, or if three Elves appear on the board at the same time (they are regarded as difficult problems), then the game immediately ends in universal defeat. Otherwise, the game will end when you run out of problem tokens. Then it’s time to count the points and find out whose nose is longer, whose voice is shriller, and whose hat is pointier!

To summarize, I would like to note that Flat world. Witches is remarkable not only for its stunning fairy-tale design and quality of components, not only for its simple, exciting and multifaceted game mechanics, not only for the family-like nature and coziness of a solid fairy-tale world, but also for the ability to play it in different ways.

Not only that in Witches you can even play alone, but you can also play it both against each other and cooperatively, as a result of which the game begins to slightly resemble a simplified Pandemic. All these methods and small changes in the rules, depending on the mode you choose, are described in detail in the brochure with the rules of the game, which also offers you ways to complicate the game if you are no longer new to the world of witchcraft and piloting wooden household items :)

Family board gameWitches It features simple rules and very fun and exciting gameplay. The game is semi-cooperative. Players are invited to play the role of witches who, as expected, have magical powers. These forces will need to be used to fight various dirty tricks and problems that the inhabitants of the valley are making for themselves. The winner is the player who completes all the tasks faster than the rest.

Due to the fact that players will have to unite to achieve a common goal, there is practically no competition here, and therefore the game party will definitely not cause disagreements. This board game is the best choice for all fans of the English writer Terry Pratchett, who gave us a series of satirical fantasy books about the Discworld.

Preparing for the game

Before starting the game, you need to decide which hero this or that player will play for. Regardless of the chosen character, they are all candidates, or rather, candidates for future witches. Each witch has its own characteristics. For example, the blue witch has the superpower of turning invisible, although this can only be used once during the game. The red witch has additional magic and so on. After choosing a character, the player is given a tablet of the corresponding color, a special token, and three game cards.

Next, you need to prepare the playing field: you need to lay out cards on it with problems that the witches will have to solve. Fascinating board gameWitches proposes to arrange the cards into two decks: green cards contain simple problems, and purple cards contain complex ones. In addition, the game involves adding new cards with problems to the playing field during the gameplay.

The main tool for dealing with problems is game cubes. After the playing field is prepared and the character chips are placed in the appropriate game cells, it’s time to roll the dice and set off with your heroes towards new adventures.

How to play?

Each player will need to go through three phases:

• Cards with problems. The player will need to take a token from the general pile and move it to the appropriate area on the open map. If the player already has a token at this moment, then he will have to move the crisis token to that zone;
• Moving around the playing field. You can move your character one or two areas, or fly to any area on the map if you are lucky enough to pull out a card with a broom. During the gameplay, players will face both simple and complex problems. They are solved by throwing dice. For each solved problem, players are awarded bonus points. When two or more witches are in the same area, you can have a tea party (a favorite activity of witches... after magic, of course). Drinking tea allows players to get rid of "giggle" tokens, which do not have the best effect on players' points. And during the game you can simply do nothing if you get to the corresponding cell of the playing field;
• Finding missing cards. Players need to get enough cards to have three of them again. In addition, one more card is required, which are issued for every two solved problem tokens.

The game is over when all tokens are on the board, or the player needs to place a crisis token but does not have one in the reserve. Also, the game is considered to be over if at the end of the player’s turn there are at least three elf tokens on the playing field. It is worth noting that the solo mode is not the most interesting, so it is best to play with a group (from 2 to 4 people). In this case, the gameplay becomes very entertaining, and time flies incredibly quickly.

Description of cards

This board game offers a huge number of cards, each of which has something special. The advantage is that during the gameplay, players can play any cards, which means they can get to know each of them better.

Here are some of the most interesting cards that players should definitely play:

• Invisibility. Such a card allows the player to pass through areas of the playing field and not have to deal with related problems, as well as tea drinking. In addition, when a player finds himself on a cell with a difficult problem, he himself decides whether to ignore the task or stop and complete it;
• Transmutation. This card allows you to discard all your cards and take new ones in return, in the same quantity;
• Favor. This card allows players to view two challenging task cards in secret and return them to the deck.

It's not easy at all to be an apprentice witch. Get up early, go to bed late, receive a small salary (or not receive it at all) - and, of course, no free medicine or safety measures. Today you spend the whole day trying to cure farmer Gorokur’s sick pig, tomorrow you have to fight off the invasion of elves. Luckily, you're not alone, and just when you think things can't get any worse, Granny Weatherwax is there to lend you a helping hand.

Now let's talk about the board game Discworld: Witches, authored by the eminent Martin Wallace. Localization – Zvezda, for which many thanks to them. I’ll say right away that this game will be slightly overrated by me, because... I am a fan of Terry Pratchett's work, and this game is based on his books. I’ll say right away that comparing this game with its predecessor – Discworld: Ankh-Morpork – is wrong! Witches are much easier and faster to play! Therefore, there will be no comparisons between these two board games here.

Let's start with an image of the components. Everything here is beautiful and there is a lot: a large playing field, 55 cards, 90 game tokens, 4 witch tablets, 4 wooden chips, 4 special cubes, a memo and rules of the game. To be honest, squeezing out the tokens made me a little tired, although the tokens were easy to squeeze out (probably due to the quantity).

The rules of this board game are explained quickly. The only thing I would like to note is that for an explanation of some game cards you have to look into the rule book.

So, first we place the difficult problem tokens face down on the playing field. Now we place the simple problem tokens face up. The remaining tokens are placed next to the field. Players receive a witch tablet, which they will play for. Everyone takes a chip of their own color and places it on the playing field. Everyone receives three cards per hand.
The goal of the game: solve more problems than other witches. The winner will graduate with honors in the witchcraft, while the losers will remain farm wives for the rest of their lives.

Each player takes turns going through the following three phases:

1) Place a problem token. You need to take a token from the stack and place it in the area according to the open card. If there is already a token there, a crisis token is placed in that space.

2) Movement of the witch. You need to move the witch to one or two adjacent areas, or you can play a card with a broom and fly to any area. Problems are solved by rolling the dice and adding points on the cards to the value (optional). During the game, a “tea party” is possible - this is if several witches are in the same area. When you have a tea party, you can discard giggle tokens, which have a bad effect on players' victory points. And here you can be lazy and do “nothing” - in an empty area you need to do nothing.

3) Adding cards. You need to add enough cards to your hand so that you have three cards in your hand again, plus one card for every two solved simple problem tokens (simple problem tokens on your witch’s board).

The game ends when all problem tokens have been placed on the board, or if you must place a crisis token and there are none in the reserve, or if there are three or more elf tokens on the board at the end of a player's turn .

Board game Discworld: Witches- very simple (I don’t know if this is a plus or a minus). The solo mode is quite boring, only solving complex problems is of interest, because... the result can be anything, so I didn’t like playing alone.

The advantages for me were simple rules and an excellent hint sheet - it contains all the information for a quick start (except for the arrangement). The game introduces us to another wonderful place - Lancre. Overall, playing with four players is fun and the time flies by. I think that this game is strictly family friendly and will suit almost any inexperienced board gamer. That's all, actually!

Witches are different from wizards in many ways. First of all, they have no hierarchy. There is no “main” witch to whom all the others obey; each witch makes decisions and is responsible for their consequences herself.

Witches prefer privacy. In rural areas, they usually live in a cottage located somewhere in the deep forest, and serve several villages in the area, which they call their allotment. They do housework and go around the villages, providing all possible assistance - mainly treating both people and animals, resolving conflicts, delivering babies and burying the dead, and also making sure that lonely old people are not left unattended. They are not allowed to take money for their work, but they receive payment in the form of food and good, used clothes, but most importantly, the respect they enjoy from the local population. It is considered unacceptable to interfere in the affairs of neighboring plots, but the opinions of older witches are always listened to [ ] .

The main occupation of witches is to “watch the border” between worlds, so that dangerous creatures, for example, elves, do not penetrate from other realities. They monitor boundaries, helping a newborn to be born or opening the door to the other world for the soul of the deceased, which for some reason cannot find a way out. In particular, this is indicated in the book “A Hat Full of Sky”:

“...So this is what we do,” Tiffany thought, looking into the doorway, “We guard the borders. We help those who cannot find the way themselves..."

“...Sometimes things go wrong. Sometimes people die, but cannot leave because they do not know the Path. That’s why we are needed, to help them find the door so they don’t end up lost in the dark...”

Witches have no educational institutions. Typically, older witches choose girls with magical abilities as students and teach them the craft in exchange for help with housework. As a rule, there are no lessons in the usual sense. Witches don't teach you how to do something, they teach you how to understand what you are doing. Although magical abilities are inherited, it is not customary for witches to teach their daughters [ ] .

Some witches, such as Miss Penetration Tick, specifically search for gifted girls in areas where there are few or no witches, such as Mela. They look for mentors for such girls, since such abilities cannot be left unattended. Learning witchcraft on your own is an unreasonable and unsafe thing: you will understand what is wrong and slide into what is called among witches “becoming bad.” Witches fear little, but the most powerful witches fear “going bad” or “turning evil.” Because the more powerful the witch, the easier it is to slip into petty cruelty, just because you have power over people, and come to the conclusion that other people mean nothing. Witches who have gone to evil believe that they are above the concepts of “right” and “wrong.” An indicator of such depravity among witches is considered to be “giggling” (English: cackling). “Giggle” for a witch means not only an unpleasant laugh, but a sign that she is slowly beginning to lose her mind. Loneliness, hard work, responsibility and the problems of other people slowly drive the witch crazy and she begins to consider herself better than other villagers only on the basis that she knows more. Generally, witches do not like the company of other witches, but it is customary for them to visit each other to see if they have begun to giggle.

According to traditions, witches wear black clothes and a black pointed hat, which is not just a piece of clothing, but a kind of symbol of the profession. Some young witches become interested in occult jewelry and strive for sophistication in clothing as much as their means allow. Witches who are wise in life prefer convenience to beauty.

List of books

The most famous witches

Tiffany Aching

“...First, imprison her overnight in a moderately warm room and give her as much stew as she asks for. Carrot-lentil is suitable, but for better results we recommend leek-potato, cooked in a strong meat broth. The stew has been proven to greatly harm her magical powers. Don't give her tomato soup - it will make the witch too powerful! To protect yourself, put a silver coin in each shoe. She won't be able to pull out the coins because her fingers will burn.

Provide her with a warm blanket and pillow. This is how you trick her into falling asleep. Lock the door and make sure no one comes in..."

Miss Tick is a real teacher - when talking with an interlocutor, she automatically corrects pronunciation and grammar and will never pass by a crookedly hanging picture.

Magrat Chesnogk

Black Alissia

(eng. Aliss Demurrage). Alissia Demurage or Black Alissia, one of the most powerful witches of the Discworld. Among her most famous deeds are putting an entire castle and its entire household into sleep for a hundred years and turning an ordinary pumpkin into a carriage, although, according to Granny Weatherwax, she did not put the castle into sleep, but simply moved it forward in time a hundred years.

There are rumors that in her old age, Black Alissia lost touch with reality and turned to evil. They say she lived in a gingerbread hut and was roasted in her own oven by a pair of lost children. Her name may reflect her evil deeds, but Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg believe she was called that because of her black teeth and nails.

Nanny Ogg

Anagram Hawk

The young witch from the Tiffany Hurts series, narcissistic and selfish at first, later becomes a good, practical witch.

Eumenidia Teneta

The witch who trained Tiffany Aching. She was blind and deaf, but, thanks to “borrowing,” she could see and hear through the eyes and ears of a mouse or two crows. She used “Bofo” in her work - tricks and surroundings that create the image of a Real Witch, as the villagers imagine her.