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Distilled: A Spirited Strategy Game, Highly-Thematic Euro Game, Strie for The Title of Master Distiller, 30 Minute Play Time, for 1 to 5 Players, Ages 14 and up

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Distilled gives players a choice of two different distillery owners, from a pool of about ten, depending on the pre-game setup. Each distillery owner offers an ongoing power and slightly different starting resources. There is so much to love about Distilled. Everything about the game and its production has been lovingly crafted. It would have been so easy for the designer to create a simple game wrapped in the theme of spirit brewing. But they have gone above and beyond in every possible way. They have taken what must have started as a simple game idea and transformed it into an excellent gaming experience. If you want to play it on Distilled's dedicated Discord server, find it here: https://discord.gg/Th9WFcX I haven’t played Distilled 50 times, so I will never know if this imbalance between the distillery owner cards is real or imagined. But, it feels off. Starting money is really important in Distilled, since this gives you a chance to possibly buy an upgrade card from the market in round one, which grants an ongoing power all game, which then snowballs from there.

At its core, Distilled is a basic Euro-style gaming experience. Variable player powers are assigned to each player in the form of their distillery owner, a mix of characters that grant a very minor power for the entire game. A shifting card market means that each game is a little different, with barrels, specialist cards, ingredients, and distillery upgrades available for a range of prices. I find the mechanic of collecting bottles from different regions as one too many in Distilled. It gives one extra thing to think about during gameplay, which I often forget about. Although I have known many people over the years that have collected interesting bottles, for a game about distilling, it seems a little mismatched. But I understand the need for it there, to offer some end of game scoring. Over the course of seven rounds you will acquire ingredients, bottles, barrels, recipes, equipment upgrades and staff to create and distill the best spirits around. Sell Phase - Players bottle their spirits, score spirit points, receive money and gain a label bonus. Points and money are awarded for the cards that make up your spirit (including a barrel) that has been distilled in the previous phase.As a slight disclaimer, it is worth noting that the pics I have provided for this review were taken from my Signature Blend pledge level copy of the game. So, there may be elements not present in the base game, such as brewers from the Middle Eastern expansion, metal coins, coasters, shot glass, neoprene mat etc. But, that said, the base game and components are all produced at an excellent standard and the retail version of the game is still superb. Distilling a spirit is a science, it is a craft that is finely tuned and perfected over a number of years. Distilled is in essence the embodiment of this craft. Distilled is a well crafted and tasteful blend of mechanisms that when mixed together leaves a very appealing taste on the metaphorical gaming pallet. Teng Whay is the community liaison for Distilled. He is a college student majoring in Chemistry. Hailing from the little red dot of Singapore, Teng Whay is an avid gamer who loves board games and video games alike and hopes to one day be able to design, develop and publish his own board game. His favorite categories of board games are medium to heavy-weight strategy games and is always up for a challenge. David Digby is the solo designer for Distilled. David is a designer, developer, and rulebook editor based in Colchester in the UK. David has also designed solo modes for Chocolate Factory, Eternal Palace, Swatch, Fantastic Quests, Undaunted: Reinforcements(with David Turczi) and Tinners Trail(which he also redeveloped for the new edition).

However, Distilled accommodates up to five players. That means that for your first four- or five-player game, you are looking at possibly a three-hour experience. For my final review play, I tried Distilled at five players, with three of the five players being experienced Distilled players. That game took two hours and 45 minutes.

Can I Borrow a Buck?

Erik Evensen is the official artist and graphic designer for Distilled. Erik was the artist and graphic designer for Marrying Mr. Darcy, a strategy card game based on Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice. Mostly known for his comics work, Erik’s projects have been featured online at AV Club, Nerdist.com, Twitch, and Geek & Sundry, and in print in Graphic Design USA and the Washington Post. Achieve the title of Master Distiller by having the most victory points at the end of the game. Points are obtained by distilling and selling spirits, which results in the creation of Unique Spirits. It is really hard to find fault in this masterpiece. But I do have a job to do… “Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” Frank Sinatra It is really hard to find fault in this masterpiece. But I do have a job to do… “Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” Frank Sinatra For a game that comes in such a big box, Distilled is deceptively simple. From set up to scoring, everything flows smoothly and is a game that can be taught easily. Throughout your turns you will be acquiring various sugars, grains, upgrades, barrels, bottles etc all so that you can brew the best spirits that you can. And at the highest profits of course.

Annnnd that about sums up everything that I have to say that veers on the negative side. And trust me, I needed to scrape the bottom of the barrel to find something to put in this section. “The golden nectar of life is sweeter when shared over games” Dan Hilton A typical round is made up of four phases; Market, Distill, Sell and Age phase and players will gain “Spirit” points over the course of seven rounds. At the end of the game the player with the most spirit points is the winner. A typical round is made up of four phases; Market, Distill, Sell and Age phase and players will gain "Spirit" points over the course of seven rounds. At the end of the game the player with the most spirit points is the winner. There is a lot of depth to the game but it doesn't feel complicated or rules heavy. Everything flows nicely from round to round and there is a ton of variety straight out of the box. It also has an amazing solo mode which I have been enjoying a lot. The way the goals are displayed and figuring out your "path" through them is really fun and adds a nice twist to the gameplay. It is apparent that the team behind Distilled are passionate people. Passionate about both good tiples and good games. And considering this is the first foray into the world of game design for this team, they have done an outstanding job. Every aspect of this game has been lovingly crafted and all the small details that have gone into it have been well received.There is a lot of depth to the game but it doesn’t feel complicated or rules heavy. Everything flows nicely from round to round and there is a ton of variety straight out of the box. It also has an amazing solo mode which I have been enjoying a lot. The way the goals are displayed and figuring out your “path” through them is really fun and adds a nice twist to the gameplay.

The other thing that might turn off some players: money. That’s because, for at least a round or two (and maybe more if you aren’t able to generate a handsome product), you aren’t going to have any cash. However, all players can make moonshine or vodka right out of the box. So, even if you don’t make the recipe you want during the distill phase, you’ll still always make something. (Normally, your goal should be to NOT make moonshine or vodka, since those recipes score you almost no points.) This will turn off some people—specifically, strategy gamers—expecting the recipe fulfillment elements of distilling spirits to be more deterministic.Richard Woods is the Developer for Distilled. Richard is based in Lancashire in the UK and enjoys playing and designing board games in his spare time. Richard fell in love with Distilled after joining a play test in summer 2020, and has been helping Dave to refine and balance the game ever since. Don’t get me wrong, I am far past the ‘iron liver Dan’ days of my youth and waking up in car show room entry ways holding on to half eaten cheesecake slices. True story. Don’t ask. But I do still enjoy the odd tiple. Especially if that tiple happens to be unusual and interesting. And coincidentally, that is pretty much a perfect depiction of Distilled: unusual and interesting. On a scale of one to Pipeline (the game I still place as #1 on my “I can’t believe I still don’t have any money” list), the first three rounds of Distilled would probably rate as a 9.

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