← all games

Quacks

#244521BGG ↗

2018 · 2-4 players · 45min · weight 1.94 · 58,846 ratings

v2 v3

BGG raw

ID
244521
Name
Quacks
Year
2018
Rank
208
Min players
2
Max players
4
Playing time
45
Min playtime
45
Max playtime
45
Avg weight
1.9406
Num weights
1414
Bayes avg
7.66845
Average
7.80487
Users rated
58846
Num owned
93535
Wanting
1234
Wishing
13011
Num comments
7763
Fetched at
Sat Apr 25 2026 16:15:37 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Mechanisms (12)
Catch the LeaderDeck, Bag, and Pool BuildingDelayed PurchaseDice RollingDie Icon ResolutionEventsNeighbor ScopePush Your LuckScore-and-Reset GameSimultaneous Action SelectionTrack MovementVariable Set-up
Categories (2)
FantasyMedieval
Description (1002 chars)

In Quacks, which was first released as The Quacks of Quedlinburg, players are charlatans — or quack doctors — each making their own secret brew by adding ingredients one at a time. Take care with what you add, though, for a pinch too much of this or that will spoil the whole mixture! Each player has their own bag of ingredient chips. During each round, they simultaneously draw chips from their bags and add them to their pots. The higher the face value of the drawn chip, the further it is placed in the pot's swirling pattern, increasing how much the potion will be worth. Push your luck as far as you can, but if you add too many cherry bombs, your pot will explode! At the end of each round, players gain victory points and coins to spend on new ingredients, depending on how well they managed to fill up their pots. But players whose pots have exploded must choose points or coins — not both! The player with the most victory points at the end of nine rounds wins the game.

LLM v2 (wide)

Core verb
draw chip from bag
Decision shape
probabilistic
Reward schedule
engine_compounding
Aesthetics
["Sensation", "Challenge"]
Core loop pitch
Pull chips from your bag one by one, push your luck before cherry bombs blow up your potion, then buy more chips.
Translation difficulty
Easy
Difficulty reason
Bag-builder loop with stochastic pulls is tailor-made for tap-to-draw mobile; official app already exists.
Direct digital port
The Quacks of Quedlinburg (mobile/Steam, Outline Development)
Port kind
first_party
Closest loop translation
Balatro
Primitive tags
["bag_composition_meta", "push_your_luck_bust_threshold", "track_advancement_payout", "ingredient_synergy_unlocks", "score_and_reset_round"]
Confidence
0.9
Extracted at
Mon Apr 27 2026 11:40:03 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Raw v2 JSON (925 chars)
{
  "game_id": 244521,
  "name": "Quacks",
  "core_verb": "draw chip from bag",
  "decision_shape": "probabilistic",
  "reward_schedule": "engine_compounding",
  "aesthetics": [
    "Sensation",
    "Challenge"
  ],
  "core_loop_pitch": "Pull chips from your bag one by one, push your luck before cherry bombs blow up your potion, then buy more chips.",
  "mobile_translation_difficulty": "Easy",
  "translation_difficulty_reason": "Bag-builder loop with stochastic pulls is tailor-made for tap-to-draw mobile; official app already exists.",
  "direct_digital_port": "The Quacks of Quedlinburg (mobile/Steam, Outline Development)",
  "direct_digital_port_kind": "first_party",
  "closest_loop_translation": "Balatro",
  "primitive_tags": [
    "bag_composition_meta",
    "push_your_luck_bust_threshold",
    "track_advancement_payout",
    "ingredient_synergy_unlocks",
    "score_and_reset_round"
  ],
  "confidence": 0.9
}

LLM v3 (deep)

Not yet enriched at v3 (deep pass).