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

Product Information

So let’s talk about the empty gin bottle in the room (I know a few gin drinkers who will have shuddered at the thought of that sentence) The distilling mechanic is very random. Sell Phase - Players bottle their spirits, score spirit points, receive money and gain a label bonus. The head and tail are normally put back into the next batch you are distilling (don't worry its distilled again and no longer bad for you).

The trick here is to add enough into the washback to make the spirit you want knowing that two of the cards will be removed, but not to waste a bunch of resources. I was given a copy of the retail version of the game, so while I don’t have fancy metal coins or a metal first-player marker, everything else here is top notch. In this phase you will take turns purchasing items from the market or pay to unlock an extra spirit recipe. It’s a really clever way of integrating a little thematic touch to the game and it also stops that distilling phase from becoming a mechanical hoop to jump through each round.

The components are all crafted really well, even down to the outstanding material quality of the cards and the rulebook. When you make and sell a spirit you’ll also gain a label of that type (if available) and use it to cover one of the bonus spaces on your player board. You then see which cards you have left in your hand and see which spirit you can make on your clipboard out of the recipes you’ve learned.

Every batch of booze you distil needs ingredients; namely water, sugars (grains, vegetables, or fruits), and yeast. It’s a great game with a lot going for it, and it’s an easy recommendation to anyone who enjoys that Quacks-like mixture of strategy and luck, just with less luck involved. Distilled puts you in the shoes of someone who has inherited an old abandoned distillery and is tasked with bringing it back to the prosperous business it used to be.I brewed all-grain, which is starting from the grain, hops and yeast, and ending up with tasty, brown, dancing fuel. 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. Most players will watch an instruction video, or read the rules just once, and be off and running during their first game. Once in the warehouse, age your spirit to enhance its flavor and bottle it to sell it for major profits!