Image taken from https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8249526/witchdom

Designer: Michal Peichl
Publisher: Albi
Artist: Veronika Vondrová

Witchdom is a cute, light set collection game about witches and brewing potions. I played two ways solo; as two independent witches (essentially a two-player game) and I also tried the true solo mode where the player faces off against Ostara. Right off the bat, you need to know that I did not enjoy the dedicated solo mode at all. I didn’t finish the game I tried, and it really turned me off to the game originally, but I’m glad I played “two player solo” because the game is much better than the solo mode initially led me to believe.

Each round, players use witches to acquire resources, cauldron/potion cards, and more witch cards. The main area that houses these items is separated into three sections which they call locations – mountains, forest, and lake. Each witch card denotes which locations the player can gain items from and how many. After collecting these cards and resources, the player can brew a potion assuming the witch they utilized for their turn can brew the specific potion, they have all required resources and tools, and they have a cauldron that can handle the potion. Only one potion can be created each turn, and it’s never mandatory.

At any point the players can rest and regain all played witches back to hand. If a player is ever out of witches in hand, they must take this action. The consolation for the missed turn is actually really solid – you can take two resources and/or cards from any location(s).

The bulk of points scored at the end of the game are accumulated through set collection and each witch and cauldron also has a victory point value on it. There are also easy and challenging race objectives that can be acquired throughout the game for additional points.

The solo mode for me felt very unbalanced. I also just preferred getting to play as two witches with different strategies and goals rather than keeping up with Ostara and myself. I’m sure others will like it, and I appreciate its existence, but it’s not a solo mode for me.

Despite the solo play, I enjoy this game. It’s a solid lighter game that’s fun, a little different, and has nice componentry for the price point. I also find the artwork adorable. My two main issues are game length and replayability, but neither is a deal breaker. In terms of the length, the games last a little longer than necessary. That said, I fully recognize that the players are in control of when the last round gets triggered, but sometimes it can be difficult to make it there quickly based on the luck of the cards and objectives. While I’m on the topic of luck, I do think that’s also a minor qualm; it’s quite prevalent and can influence both game length and success. Regarding replayability, there are a lot of cards for some good inherent variety, but the core gameplay loop from game to game is similar, so it’s not one I could play a lot of continually. I wish they had included some optional asymmetric witch powers or something. Regardless, I’m really looking forward to getting this one out again during spooky season and trying it multiplayer (with other actual humans)!