Queen Games has set the bar high with fresco, and fans of this title also have high expectations for the perfume board game. At the moment, the purchase price at Amazon is pretty low at around 9 euros. Reason enough to take a closer look at the promising title. The setting of perfume is unused and this fact of uniqueness should be capitalized on a board game.

How well Queen Games perfume entertains board players and whether it is worth buying can be found in the following article.

Do you smell that

A trip into the world of fragrances sounds exciting, sensual and somehow pleasant. For board players, the topic is pretty much new territory and that's why the expectations of perfume are particularly high. In addition, the fact that the author duo Marco Ruskowski and Marcel Süßelbeck are behind the title suggests high-quality entertainment - after all, it was Fresko a masterpiece and nominated for Game of the Year 2010 for a reason; In the end, Fresko could not prevail against Dixit, but the 1st place at the German Games Prize at least made up for it somewhat. But now back to Perfume!

Super noses have known since their last visit to one of the perfumery chains that the fragrance industry is highly competitive. And board players expect nothing less than tough battles for customer shares from PerfumeEach of the 2 to 4 players slips into the role of an ambitious perfumer who not only wants to create breathtaking scents, but also has to bring his scents to the customer. Without diligence, no price - and certainly no supremacy in retail. So the trick is not only to compose fragrances from valuable raw materials, but to meet the tastes of the customers. There are plenty of game accessories available to players for this purpose:

  • 1 double-sided game board
  • 4 perfumeries
  • 42 fragrance notes
  • 4 counting stones
  • 15 essence cubes
  • 25 customers
  • 25 well tiles
  • 25 bottles
  • 7 watches
  • 1 shop closing token
  • 1 cloth bag
  • 1 set of instructions

With such a well-filled game box, good entertainment should be guaranteed, right? The equipment of Perfume at least convincing.

If you smell what Queen Games is Cooking?

Perfume can basically be played by any board player and no prior knowledge of special game mechanisms is required to understand the rules of the game. The game system basically works with two components: the skilful selection of suitable essence cubes on the one hand and the consideration of customer requirements on the other. The raw materials for the fragrance creations must first be rolled. That sounds exciting, because dice mechanisms always produce unpredictable results, but it only works moderately against the background of the fragrant game mechanism, as any difficulty is nipped in the bud.

Flies can ensure that important raw materials are denied; however, this problem can just as easily be circumvented using water droplets. There is therefore no real tension in relation to the extraction of raw materials. It's a shame, because the passion of many board players to collect could have brought a lot of entertainment out of the game. In addition, even rare materials are never in short supply. After throwing the dice, all of the essence dice are put back in the bag and are available to all other players in their turn. Tricky trading strategies and tough negotiations are also eliminated. Perfume So it is reduced to the bare essentials all by itself.

As a further game campaign, the perfumers can sell to particularly discerning customers. Of course, this only makes sense as soon as a perfume is finished. The completion of fragrances ends with the receipt of wooden perfume bottles that are really nicely presented. These can then be brought to the customer until the demand is met or the warehouse is empty.

Infobox

Number of players: 2 to 4 players
Age: from 8 years
Playing time: 45 to 60 minutes
Difficulty: easy
Long-term motivation: medium

Publisher: Queen Games ► 
Year of publication: 2015 
Author: Marco Ruskowski / Marcel Süßelbeck
Language: German
Cost: 20 Euro

Summary

It's actually a shame: Queen Games' perfume smells like mediocrity. And that although the unboxing initially reveals real treasures. As usual from Queen Games, the game material is excellent. The illustrations are pretty and underpin the game theme with matching graphics that capture the mood wonderfully. Only the spark wants when playing Perfume don't really skip it. On the one hand, this is due to resource management that is too simple and, on the other hand, the fact that 2 to 4 players play quite independently of each other. With more interaction between players, the quality of Perfume sure to rise. Also the mini extension The Secret Essences don't tear it out anymore.

The bottom line is that this is a decent board game that is regularly available at asking prices. Whoever gets hold of perfume at a bargain price is sure to have a few hours of fun with it. Discerning board players prefer to use fresco.