- BGG rating
- 7.0
Whirling Witchcraft: Fantastic Familiars
- 2–5 players
- 15–30 min
- 2026
- BGG rank
- BGG #2,016
- BGG rating
- 7.2
Whirling Witchcraft
2021
Rules assistance for Whirling Witchcraft
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–5 players
- 15–30 min
- 14+
- Complexity 1.8/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Whirling Witchcraft
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Whirling Witchcraft is a board game released in 2021 for 2–5 players, 15–30 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by Erik Andersson Sundén and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Take That, and Simultaneous Action Selection.
Expansions
About the game
Being a witch is all about wielding powerful magical ingredients — but a witch can wield only so much power before everything blows up in their face. Choose your recipes wisely to clear your workbench and stick others with too much raw material because the first player to overflow their nemesis' cauldron with enough ingredients wins! In Whirling Witchcraft, you start with a hand of four recipe cards, as well as a number of ingredients on your workbench; ingredients come in five types, and you have a limited number of spaces for each type on your workbench. Everyone plays simultaneously during each round. You all choose and reveal a recipe from your hand at the same time, then you can use as many recipes in play in front of you as you wish to convert and transform ingredients. Maybe you'll turn a mushroom into the harder-to-find mandrake, then you can turn two mandrakes (using an older one and the one you just created) to make three mushrooms. You can use each recipe at most once a round, and when you're finished, place all of the final ingredients into a cauldron, then pass it to your neighbor on the right. They must then fit all of these ingredients on their workbench — and if they can't, they must return the "extra" ingredients to you for placement in your "Witch's Circle". If you now have at least five ingredients in your Witch's Circle, the game ends and you win; otherwise you all pass your recipe cards in hand to the player on your left, refill your hand to four cards, then start a new round. The game includes personality cards you can use to give each player a unique power, in addition to a different set of starting ingredients. Some recipes can be played in either of two directions to help you customize how you transform ingredients, and recipes might also have arcana symbols that give you bonus powers when you collect enough of them. Can you put together the right cookbook to land your neighbor in hot water?
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Hobby World
- Popcorn Games
- Ігромаг
- Alderac Entertainment Group
- Schwerkraft-Verlag
- 株式会社ケンビル (KenBill)
- Bad Boom Games
- Upgrade Games
Questions and answers
Whirling Witchcraft supports 2–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Whirling Witchcraft is 15–30 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Whirling Witchcraft for ages 14 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Whirling Witchcraft has a complexity rating of 1.8 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Whirling Witchcraft belongs to these categories: Fantasy. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Take That, and Simultaneous Action Selection. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Whirling Witchcraft are: Erik Andersson Sundén. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Whirling Witchcraft as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.