How To Play: Distilled

Overview

Distilled turns careful planning into bottles of glorious booze. I have played it with friends, and we quickly learned that every coin, ingredient, and market sale matters. This guide gives you a clear outline of the game rules, from gathering goods to aging spirits and scoring points. It also shares the best strategies for winning, so you can build a smart distillery without watching your money disappear faster than our first batch of whisky.

What’s in the box

• 1 Game board
• 5 Player boards
• 5 Player screens
• 5 Player aid cards
• 5 Player markers
• 1 First player marker
• 36 Spirit cards
• 72 Market cards
• 20 Objective cards
• 25 Upgrade tiles
• 25 Wooden barrel tokens
• 100 Coin tokens
• 100 Ingredient tokens

How To Play Distilled: Rules Summary

Distilled challenges you to turn humble ingredients into fine spirits, then sell those bottles for money, points, and bragging rights. The rules look busy at first, but the game follows a clear rhythm: prepare your distillery, buy supplies, make one spirit, and improve your business. So, grab your recipe book and try not to set the table on fire.

Setup: Prepare Your Distillery

1. Give each player a distillery board, player board, starting money, and starting ingredients according to the rulebook.
2. Each player chooses a distillery and takes its matching starting cards or tokens.
3. Shuffle the spirit, ingredient, upgrade, barrel, and objective cards into their matching decks.
4. Place the market cards face up in the market area. Then, place the available money, ingredients, barrels, bottles, and other supplies nearby.
5. Give each player a secret objective. Keep it hidden from the other players.
6. Choose the first player. Place the round marker on the first space of the round track.
7. Finally, place any shared cards, tokens, and reference pieces where everyone can reach them.

Gameplay: Buy, Brew, and Bottle

1. Each round begins with the Market Phase. First, players collect their income and refresh the market as the game instructs.
2. Starting with the first player, players take turns buying cards and supplies from the market. You may buy ingredients, barrels, upgrades, bottles, and other useful items.
3. You must pay the listed cost for each purchase. Therefore, watch your cash closely; a fancy barrel cannot pay the rent.
4. After everyone finishes buying, move to the Production Phase. Each player may produce one spirit during this phase.
5. Choose a recipe from your available spirit cards. Then, gather the required base ingredient, sugar, yeast, water, and any other listed ingredients.
6. Place the ingredients in your mash. Next, follow the distillation rules on your player board. Remove the required water and sugar, then discard the lowest-value card if the recipe tells you to do so.
7. Age the spirit when the recipe or barrel requires it. Add the spirit to an available barrel, or use another allowed aging space.
8. Once the spirit meets the recipe requirements, bottle it. Add a label and any matching tokens or cards.
9. Sell the finished spirit if you can and want to do so. Selling gives you money and may also give you points, flavor bonuses, or other rewards.
10. Resolve upgrades, special abilities, and production effects when their cards allow them. Follow the card text before moving to the next step.
11. Return leftover temporary pieces as the rules direct. Then, pass the first-player marker and advance the round marker.
12. Continue playing until the game reaches its final round. Before each round, check the current market and round effects because they can change your best plan.

Winning: Score Your Best Spirits

1. During the game, score victory points when recipes, sales, upgrades, objectives, or other effects award them.
2. Keep your finished bottles, recipe cards, upgrades, and objective cards organised. They may matter during final scoring.
3. When the final round ends, resolve all remaining end-game effects.
4. Score your secret objective if you meet its conditions. Reveal it, then award the listed points.
5. Score points from your distilled spirits, upgrades, prestige, and any other final-scoring bonuses.
6. Count your total victory points. The player with the most points wins and earns the right to call their homemade alcohol “artisanal.”
7. If players tie, use the rulebook’s tie-breakers, usually based on money, completed goals, or other remaining resources.

Special Rules & Conditions: Mind the Fine Print

1. Follow card text whenever it conflicts with a general rule. A card effect can change how you buy, produce, age, sell, or score.
2. You must meet every requirement on a recipe before you bottle that spirit. Do not treat a hopeful glance at the ingredient pile as a legal substitute.
3. Keep your money, cards, and ingredients in the areas shown on your player board. Some effects care whether an item sits in your warehouse, cellar, shelf, or discard pile.
4. Use market spaces and storage spaces only as the rules allow. If a space has no room, you cannot place another item there unless an effect creates room.
5. Resolve effects in the order they appear. If several effects trigger together, the active player usually chooses the order unless a card says otherwise.
6. Discarded cards normally leave the game’s active supply. Do not return them to the market unless a rule specifically tells you to.
7. Secret objectives stay hidden until final scoring unless their text says otherwise.
8. Players may discuss plans, prices, and general strategy, but they cannot secretly trade cards, money, or ingredients unless the game allows that action.
9. When a card, token, or rule gives you a choice, make that choice at the stated time. Once you complete the next step, you usually cannot rewind the action.
10. Check the player count and edition rules before starting, since some setup values, market cards, and special effects can change between versions.

Best Distilled Strategies

Turn Every Coin and Drop into Victory

Guard Your Cash

1. Buy only what your current recipe needs.
2. Keep coins ready for surprise market deals.

Plan Ingredients

1. Check the market before choosing a recipe.
2. However, avoid cheap goods that cannot help soon.

Use the Market

1. Sell spare ingredients when another player needs them.
2. Therefore, watch prices and grab bargains early.

Protect Your Final Turn

1. Save money for bottling and last-minute purchases.
2. In my Distilled games, greedy spending left friends with lovely recipes and empty pockets.

Manage each coin, because small savings add up. Meanwhile, match every ingredient to a clear plan. As a result, you finish more bottles, score more points, and avoid the sad look of an unused barrel.

Time Your Recipes, Then Make the Market Cry

After several games of Distilled with my friends, I learned that timing beats rushing. A clever sale at the right moment can win more than a flashy recipe.

Watch the Market

1. First, check demand before choosing a sale. If a rival needs your bottle, wait; otherwise, sell before prices fall.

Plan Each Recipe

1. Next, start a recipe only when its finish lines up with the market. This timing keeps a completed bottle from sitting idle.

Sell With Purpose

1. Then, sell when the reward beats your next recipe’s value. I once sold early, watched demand spike, and groaned like a sad goblin.

Save the Final Sale

1. Finally, save one strong sale for the last turn.

Win Smarter: Upgrades and Secret Objectives in Distilled

After several games of Distilled with friends, I found upgrades and secret objectives decide many close wins.

Choose Support

1. Choose upgrades that support your current plan.
2. For example, grab better storage before chasing a recipe that needs rare goods.
3. Also, avoid flashy powers you cannot use.

Read Objectives

1. Read every secret objective early.
2. Then match it with actions you already want.

Keep Options

1. However, keep one backup route in case another player blocks your best choice.

Score Promptly

1. Use cheap upgrades to build momentum.
2. Next, claim flexible bonuses when possible.
3. Finally, score the objective before the last round.

In my group, a player ignored this timing and lost.

Raise a Glass to Better Choices

Distilled rewards players who plan ahead without locking themselves into one path. Manage your money, watch the market, and choose recipes that fit the ingredients you can actually afford. Upgrades help, but smart timing matters more. I learned that the hard way after chasing a fancy bottle while my friends quietly built steady points. Keep an eye on secret objectives, too, since they can turn a close game on its head. After several plays, Distilled feels less like luck and more like running a very stressful little drinks company. Make each action count, and your final pour may win the game.

Want to know what we think of Distilled? Read our detailed review of Distilled here