Matthew BaileyGame 2 of our “October Half-term Mini Marathon”. is “Wunder Kessel” (Magic Cauldron) played by Jack(7), Toby(4) and myself.
Wunder Kessel is a Haba game that has flown under the radar and I only purchased it when it was on sale at Meeples Corner.
Essentially the game is a tile-matching game where a potion ingredient is selected and you have to try and find that ingredient in a grid of ingredients. You then move 3 spaces and gain a coin for a perfect match, 2 spaces for a matching icon and 1 for a matching colour. Every time you rotate the whole board you gain an ingredient. You can also trade in 3 coins for an ingredient of your choice. 3 matching ingredients or 3 different wins (which is odd but whatever).
What is really cool is the way the icons are selected. The board is made up of layers and has a cool key mechanism that moves an icon layer around the colours (see the video).
It’s quick, fun and an interesting spin on the matching pairs formula which the boys enjoyed. Components are the usual Haba high quality and the usual lack of an insert.
Now I got this on sale for £12 which I am happy with but as cool as the mechanism is I do not think I would pay the £29.99 RRP that this seems to go for online. It is also a big box for what is essentially a matching pairs game.
Not a miss but not a direct hit.
