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GAMES MAGAZINE

"Add this quick, refreshing brew to your collection ... "

Reviewed by John McCallion
Games Magazine

To beer, or not to beer? This game is thematically convincing and entertaining, and no knowledge of the subject is required. Ingredient Cards represent Hops, Malt, or Yeast.

Each indicates from one to six beers (Ale, Lager, Stout, Porter, Wheat, or Belgian) they can be used to brew. Start by dealing everyone six cards. Reveal the top card of the face down stack to start the discards; shuffle the Event Cards and place them face down.
Players begin turns by drawing from the deck or by taking the top discard. One card each of Hops, Malt, and Yeast may be used to brew one of five beers; Belgian requires two Yeast. Discard the ingredients used, and place a Marker in your color on the brewed beer’s board space. Spaces accommodate a stack of three Markers at most; if you brew for a space that’s full, you must remove the enemy Marker closest to the stack’s top. 
Using the notoriously unpredictable Adjunct Malt requires a die roll: If you roll a one or two, you discard without brewing.

After each brew, draw an Event Card. Five cards are Beer Festivals, in which a die roll determines the winning beer. You get a trophy for most Markers on the winner’s board space or, in the case of a tie, for having yours on top. Other Events cause you to gain or lose beer, ingredients, or turns. The draconian Big Breweries card nastily forces the top Marker on each board space to revert back to its owner’s supply.

End each turn by discarding one card before redrawing to six -- an unusual mechanism often requiring a difficult decision. Play concludes with the last trophy earned. Trophies and Markers on the board earn a point each. Highest score wins.

Add this quick, refreshening brew to your collection and enjoy its hidden depths over a drink of anything!

(This review appeared in the November 2002 issue of Games Magazine. The magazine followed up by naming The BrewMaster Game to the "Games 100" list in the December 2002 buyer's guide issue. The game was recognized under the family game category.)

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