Delivery On A Broom Or Review Of The Game Broom Service
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INTRODUCTION, OR: A BRIEF HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT
From his top 10 hit Great Western Trail to the surprise Kennerspiel des Jahres winner Isle of Skye, Alexander Pfister has become a respected creator in the world of board games.
In 2015, Pfister won his first Kennerspiel des Jahres award for Broom Service, a project he co-wrote with Andreas Pelikan. Broom Service is a board game adaptation of Pelikan’s 2008 card game Witches Brew, and uses many of the same mechanics. After its release, Broom Service was later “converted” to a card game format in 2016 as Broom Service: The Card Game. But let’s put the crystal ball aside—it’s time to take a closer look at the game itself.
RULES BREAKING
Broom Service is a highly competitive interactive role-playing game. Players take on the roles of witches, druids, and potion gatherers as they compete to deliver potions to towers scattered across the board. While Broom Service looks like a classic board game, 90% of the gameplay comes down to the identical decks of 10 cards that each player has.
Witch cards allow players to move their tokens around, trying to reach high-value towers and get a lot of points for delivering potions. Potion collectors allow you to receive potions of different colors. Druids deliver these potions - but only if one of your two tokens is next to a tower that matches the color of the potion.
These rules alone wouldn't make Broom Service such an exciting and intense game. The magic lies in how the cards are played, and that's what makes it so magical.
A PLACE WHERE MAGIC HAPPENS
Everyone works with the same deck of 10 cards. At the beginning of each round, you secretly choose four cards for your hand. These are the only cards you can play. If you look closely, each card has two action options: "brave" and "cowardly." The player chooses which option to use when playing a card.
You may have noticed from the example above that the “brave” option is usually better than the corresponding “cowardly.” So why would anyone choose cowardly in the first place? To answer this, we need to take a closer look at what happens when the card is played.
- The active player chooses one of his four cards. He plays it, declaring himself brave or cowardly—for example, “I am the brave fruit picker!” If cowardly is chosen, the player performs an action without risk, but with a small reward. If brave is chosen, he has to wait.
- The next player clockwise must play the same card, if he has one. He now also declares whether he is brave or cowardly, and the process repeats. (If there is no card, the player skips the turn.)
- The game continues in a circle, and everyone shows whether they chose the bold option.
- Only the last player clockwise who said "brave" actually performs the bold action. Everyone else who declared bold loses their turn.
And that’s what makes Broom Service such a thrilling game. Players are constantly biting their nails, wondering if it’s safe to play a bold card… or if they’ll be stopped by a friend who has the same plans. The whole game is a delicate balance, and everyone is like tightrope walkers, gently nudging each other.
There's something special about a game that's completely immersed in the interaction between players. With almost no randomness in the game, every exciting moment is a direct result of the actions of the people at the table. I didn't lose a delivery because of a dice roll - it was your fault! For those who are always trying to get ahead of their friends, always anticipating their next move - for such people Broom Service is a dream come true.
On the other hand, players who just want to do their own thing quietly won't find what they're looking for here. In Ticket to Ride, a good friend once told me that she likes it "when everyone can build their own trains in peace." For such people, Broom Service will be a real test of patience. Hard work and hassle, indeed.
WE CLOSING THE BOOK OF THE SPELL
I simply cannot say enough about Broom Service. It's rare to find a game that keeps players engaged not only with the board, but with each other. For a game that at first glance looks like an innocent, brightly colored storybook, it evokes a wide range of emotions - joy and laughter, no doubt, but also a lot of righteous revenge. It's no wonder the room is filled with cries of "NO! I AM THE BRAVE FRUIT PICKER!"
With its gorgeous fairy-tale design and accessible rules, Broom Service provides a comfortable hour of intrigue and trickery. The game even works well with any team from 2 to 5 players - a fact I was very skeptical about when I first saw the box saying: "A great game for 2 players!" But somehow, it just works.
As you can see, this is not just a review, but a love letter of sorts. I have played Broom Service dozens of times and conducted dozens of sessions for others. With the most lavish wave of my magic wand, I sincerely give Broom Service my highest recommendation.
