My family of various ages (10+ & up) played this game. The game itself (board, movers, die, etc) is good quality. The game is pretty basic, but at the same time some of the cards/instructions are confusing. There are three levels on the board, and you have to collect ingredient tokens with a hidden amount of stars under them. To move up to the next level, you have to get a certain number of stars, but one confusing thing to us is do you have to collect that exact number of stars or is that number or higher ok. The instructions say "collect the right number of stars". When we looked at a video, made by the company, the examples showed people collecting the exact number of stars. But, at one point my daughter and I both had 19 stars and there are no ingredients with 1 star under them. You have to get 20 on the first level. There is no way to choose to put back an ingredient (but you do lose them randomly during play). When we started playing the game, we were trying to collect the exact amount on the first level, but then we decided to switch to trying to collect at least that amount (again, 20 on the first level). The combination of trying to get exactly 20 (which 2 players were able to do) and then not losing an ingredient during play (both players who got exactly 20 lost an ingredient before they reached a cauldron) and landing exactly on the cauldron was taking FOREVER for any of us to accomplish, which is why we switched to picking up at least 20 stars. If you land on certain spaces, you pick up a consequence card. We also found those to be vague. My son picked up one that basically said choose a player from the lowest floor to move up to the next floor. At the time, we were all on the lowest floor, so he chose to move himself up. It doesn't say the player chosen can't be yourself, so we weren't sure if he had to choose someone else or he could in fact move himself up. Another consequence is to take the lowest point ingredient from every player on your floor and if you have enough stars to make the potion (so you can move up a floor) you place the stolen ingredient back on the board. It says ingredient singular. My husband interpreted that he could keep the ingredient that made it where he could move up and place the remaining ingredients back on the board. My son (who is very good at game instructions) thought you had to put the ingredient that could help you back on the board and give the other ingredients back to the players you took them from. What do you do if you don't have enough stars to make the potion? Put the ingredients back on the board or give them back to the players? We play games like Pandemic, Settlers of Catan, etc., so we are used to reading novel-like instructions. This game just isn't very clear. The game description says this ignites strategic thinking, but we didn't see any strategy to this game. It is pretty much all luck. You roll, you pick up ingredients, you lose ingredients, etc. You have to roll an exact number to get on a cauldron to add ingredients to move up a floor. We played this for over an hour, with 3 players on the 2nd floor and 1 still on the first floor. It says 6 and up, and I don't see a six-year-old having the patience to keep playing this. Even when we changed to getting the required number or up, we kept losing ingredients (stars) before we could land exactly on a cauldron. Like I wrote, the board and pieces are nice quality. The magic element is cute, and the instructions come like a scroll which is fun. I think I will tweak this game to play with my two youngest children. (This would help smaller children with counting since you have to add up the stars.) As is, none of us liked this game. My husband said it's luck based like Candy Land but the confusing version of Candy Land, haha! I look at reviews a lot when shopping. I hope this review helps! Read more

I love games based on magic and love when I can share them with my kids. Every Friday we play a board game at the end of pour homeschool game and this is one I don't mind playing with my kids. My 3 year old needs a lot of help but the game is easy enough he gets into it and my 8 year old was able to play the game on her own after one or two rounds. The cards are the best part each time you draw one it could make you closer to winning or it could knock you into last place really quick. The box is sturdy and the pieces are durable which I always love for kids games. We played this with my husband at the last family game night and he also enjoyed it but said that it took forever to get to the end he couldn't imagine that I play it with our three year old. Read more

my children and i had fun playing this game. its pretty straight forward basically luck based, no strategy involved. it all depends on rolling the right number for which spot you need that contains the ingredient you need. you're supposed to have a certain number of stars before you can go to the next level. at the end, we didn't even bother with having enough stars, it was just whoever finished first won. i like the theme of the game and the illustrations are cute. for $8 its not a bad game to have in your collection. Read more

This game is really fun, even as a grown up. It’s really fair too! I got to the top floor first, confident that I’d win, only to be pushed back down by one of the cards I drew and got beat by my son. 😂 It’s easy enough for a kid to grasp, but complex enough for parents to enjoy. Read more

This board game comes in a sturdy box for storage -- a small child could probably stand on it without it breaking. The circular board is heavyweight and the paper at the creases doesn't tear easily if you try to unfold it in the wrong direction. The individual pieces and cards are of good quality and have nice graphics and the print is easy to read. The object is to roll the die and advance through the three circles of the board by collecting tokens of different star values and putting them into your cauldron to make "spells." If you are against magic as a game concept this is soooo no t the game for you. But if you find the idea of collecting feathers, mushrooms, etc. into a pot to make spells fun and whimsical you will like it. The concept is simple with a few twists like you have to say the game's name when you move up a level or else you move back down. The cards can be negative, like skip a turn, or positive, like roll twice, and some of the cards can change who is winning the game. At the interior circle, half the spaces come with drawing a card, and we almost ran out playing with three people. The game pieces that sit on the board don't have any spares, and the large die will knock them off the board if you roll it onto there, so be aware that if you lose them you will have to make another out of cardboard. The game is fun for all ages although you might want to have your own piece to move if you don't like the people pictures that are provided. I would have liked it better if there were a couple choices of an owl or a cat or something besides people, since it's a whimsical game about magic. The large wooden die has rounded edges and there's a bit of suspense before it settles onto a number, so that is fun too if you've got a good group. If you are playing with little kids, this game will help them practice colors (there is a blue level, green level, and pink level) and counting (you need to have the right number of stars to advance) and of course taking turns and the hand eye coordination of moving the pieces around and rolling the die. The game is visually interesting, easy to pick up the rules as you go, durable, and entertaining. Pretty much a win. Read more