Quacks rules: how to play and how to score
Reviewed on 16 October 2026 against the publisher’s rulebook. How we check
Quacks plays 2 to 4 players over nine turns: everyone draws ingredients from their bag to fill their pot, without blowing it up. Here are the essential rules, setup and scoring, based on the official rulebook.
- Players
- 2 to 4
- Play time
- About 45 minutes
- Winner
- Most points; on a tie, the fullest pot in the last turn
Quacks quick rules
- The goal
- You are a quack doctor at a great town market. Each turn, you draw ingredients from your bag to fill your pot: the further the potion goes, the more points and coins it earns to buy better ingredients. But too many white cherry bombs, and the pot explodes.
- Starting a turn
- The start player reads a Fortune Teller card, which applies to everyone. From the second turn on, each player not in the lead places their rat stone after their droplet, as many spaces as there are rat tails printed between their marker and the leader’s.
- Brewing the potion
- Everyone draws at the same time, one chip at a time, without looking in their bag. Each chip is placed as many spaces as its value after the last chip, or after the droplet or rat stone for the first one. After each chip, you keep going or stop.
- The explosion
- Only white chips count: if their total value goes over 7, your pot explodes. You place the last chip, then stop. An exploded pot doesn’t roll the bonus die and must choose between points and buying.
- Chips and the flask
- Blue, red and yellow chips act as soon as they are placed; green, purple and black chips at the end of the turn, as the open books say. Your full flask puts the last white chip you drew back in the bag, unless it just made your pot explode.
- Evaluating the turn
- The space right after your last chip gives coins, points and sometimes a ruby. The intact pot that went furthest rolls the bonus die, then black, green and purple chips are resolved. Everyone takes their ruby, even after an explosion, then scores points and buys chips.
- Buying and rubies
- With your coins, buy one or two chips of different colors; leftover coins are lost. All the chips in your pot go back into your bag with your purchases. Two rubies move your droplet one space for the rest of the game, or refill your flask.
- Turn by turn
- The yellow book opens on turn 2, the purple book on turn 3. On turn 6, everyone adds a white 1-chip to their bag. On turn 9, everyone draws together, on the call “Stir!”
- Game end
- After the ninth turn, two rubies are worth one point, and a pot that did not explode can buy one point for five coins. The marker furthest along wins.
- Beginner traps
- Only white chips explode, not the others. All chips go back into the bag every turn, explosion or not. And early on, buying good ingredients usually beats taking a few points.
How to score Quacks
- Points this turn
- Each turn, the points of your scoring space, plus everything that moves your marker: bonus die, chips, Fortune Teller cards, expansions. Exploded pot: you choose points or buying.
- Coins in the last turn
- After turn 9, if your pot did not explode: 1 point per 5 coins.
- Rubies left
- After turn 9: 1 point per 2 rubies.
- Space reached in the last turn (tie-breaker)
- No points: on a tie, the pot filled the most in turn 9 wins.
Worked example
Mia scores 4, 6, 7, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 11 points over her nine turns (72), keeps 23 coins in the last turn without exploding (4) and 5 rubies (2): 72 + 4 + 2 = 78 points.
Common mistakes
- Converting the coins of a pot that exploded in the last turn: only intact pots can buy points.
- Scoring one point per ruby: it takes two for one point.
- Leaving bonus die or chip points out of the turn’s total.
- Taking both points and buying after an explosion: it’s one or the other.
How to set up Quacks
Allow a few minutes to sort the chips; for a first game, use the set 1 books.
The middle of the table
- Lay out the Scoring Track, the flame on space 1 of the Turn Indicator, and the 4 seal tiles 0 side up on their spaces.The 50 side is used once a marker goes past 50 points.
- Put the rubies and the bonus die next to the Scoring Track.
- Sort all ingredient chips, except the white ones, into three piles: the chips worth 1, worth 2 and worth 4, colors mixed.
The books
- Open the orange book and the black book, on the page for your player count: 2, or 3 and 4.These two books are used in every game. The right page shows the matching number of pots.
- Choose a set and open the green, blue and red books of that set.Sets are marked by the number of bookmarks at the bottom of the books. For the first game, use set 1.
- Keep the yellow and purple books of the same set ready to one side, closed.The yellow book opens at the start of turn 2, the purple book at the start of turn 3.
Each player
- Each player takes a pot, the side without test tubes up, a bag, and places their scoring marker on the seal tile of their color.
- Each player places a droplet on space 0, in the middle of their pot.The other droplets are for the test tube variant.
- Each player places their flask full side up, their rat stone in the bowl, and one ruby on the ruby bag left of the pot.
- Each player puts 4 white 1-chips, 2 white 2-chips, 1 white 3-chip, 1 orange 1-chip and 1 green 1-chip in their bag.This start is shown on the pot.
- Depending on the number of players, add white 1-chips to the pile of chips worth 1, and put the other white chips away.On turn 6, everyone will add a white 1-chip to their bag.
- The start player, whoever most recently cooked something, shuffles the Fortune Teller cards and places the deck facedown in front of them.The deck passes to the next player each turn.
Frequently asked questions
When does a pot explode in Quacks?
When the total of the white chips in your pot goes over 7. Chips of other colors don’t count.
Who goes first in Quacks?
The player who most recently cooked something; after that, the Fortune Teller deck passes to the left each turn.
How much are rubies worth at the end of Quacks?
Two rubies are worth one victory point after the ninth turn. During the game, two rubies move your droplet or refill your flask.
Ludingo’s Quacks sheet was last reviewed on 16 October 2026, based on: rulebook (PDF), BoardGameGeek.