presentation

The Perfumer

Smell and win!

As novice perfumer, you learn to distinguish fragrances, meet customer orders and try to decode the secret recipes. The game uses real fragrances on Fragrance cards, which you slightly scratch to free the fragrance.

The Apprentice version is played over one round only and lasts about 60 minutes, the Perfumer version is played over two rounds in 90 minutes.

All players choose a helper and then you play in turn; a move comprises returning of all fragrance material, use of five action points for five actions, taking of a Fragrance card at the corresponding location and then taking of a Fragrance Strip. Then you can – during the turns of the other players – learn the fragrance of the card you currently hold. Action options are Moving your Perfumer, Taking an Ingredient – you can hold maximum five ingredients, Fill a Customer Order, Open shop, Combine and Bottle a fragrance or Take a Research Marker.

The core mechanism of the game is correct identification of fragrances. You will manage this by smelling the fragrances, listening to descriptions of players on “public” fragrances and also using the cards giving the name and the image of the plant. When the last order is revealed and placed, all have one more turn and then player recipes are checked and scored; you can only win if you have used the action of Combining and Bottling a Perfume.

The standard mechanisms of moving, collecting and meeting orders become challenging and interesting due to the fragrance component; despite fragrances being the core of the game, you can play without them, but then you have only a run-of-the-mill average game.

Players: 2-5

Age: 10+

Time: 90+

Designer: Chu-Lan Kao

Artist: Alexandra Petruk

Price: ca. 48 Euro

Publisher: Big Fun Games 2016

Web: www.bigfungames.tw

Genre: Move, collect, identify fragrances

Users: With friends

Version: en

Rules: en

In-game text: no

Comments:

Fragrances provide the allure of the game

Rules not well formulated

Can be played without fragrances, resulting in an average game at best

Compares to:

Smellory, La route des epices

Other editions:

Currently none

Chance (pink): 0

Tactic (turquoise): 0

Strategy (blue): 0

Creativity (dark blue): 0

Knowledge (yellow): 1

Memory (orange): 2

Communication (red): 1

Interaction (brown): 2

Dexterity (green): 0

Action (dark green): 0