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Der Zauberberg
A cooperative game where you roll marbles to get a young wizard's apprentice safely down the mountain, winner of the 2022 Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children's Game of the Year). The rules are simple enough for young children and adults to play together.
Rules
Draw a Will-o'-the-Wisp marble from the bag and roll it down the mountain-shaped board — whichever miniature it hits advances to the next empty space of the same color. The group wins together the instant the 4th student reaches the goal, and loses together if the 3rd witch gets there first.
Components
| Component | Count | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain board | 1 | Assembled using 4 supports (one no.1, one no.2, two no.3) that tilt it |
| Master Balduin's goal tile | 1 (double-sided) | One side is the base game — 3 witch spaces + 4 student spaces. The other is for the challenge variant |
| Student miniatures | 6 | Blue robes — the base game's win condition needs only 4 to arrive |
| Witch miniatures | 4 | Black with a green hat — the base game's loss condition is reached when 3 arrive |
| Will-o'-the-Wisp marbles | 5 | One each of red, yellow, blue, purple and white |
| Bag | 1 | Holds all 5 marbles for a random draw |
| Marble color | Effect |
|---|---|
| Red | Hitting a matching-color miniature advances it to the next empty space of that same color |
| Yellow | Hitting a matching-color miniature advances it to the next empty space of that same color |
| Blue | Hitting a matching-color miniature advances it to the next empty space of that same color |
| Purple | Hitting a matching-color miniature advances it to the next empty space of that same color |
| White | Hitting a matching-color miniature advances it to the next empty space of that same color |
All five marble colors work identically. The only difference is color, and what matters is only whether the marble's color matches the space the miniature occupies.
Setup
- 1Assemble the board with its supports on a flat surface. The rulebook warns that assembling it tilted can make marbles drift to one side regardless of the rules.
- 2Attach the goal tile at the bottom of the board, with the side showing 3 witch spaces and 4 student spaces facing up.
- 3Place the 6 students on the path's designated starting spaces and the 4 witches on the witch-icon spaces. The witches already have a head start ahead of the students.
- 4Put all 5 marbles into the bag.
Taking a turn
- 1The bravest player starts, then play proceeds clockwise.
- 2On your turn, draw 1 marble at random from the bag.
- 3Insert it into one of the 6 entry points along the top edge of the board and let it roll. Which entry point to use is decided together, by discussion — not by one person alone.
- 4If a marble stops at a branch, you may nudge it gently to pick a direction.
- 5A marble that reaches the bottom stays there. Once all 5 have reached the bottom, put them all back in the bag.
A cooperative game
There is a turn order, but everyone discusses together where to drop the marble. The group wins or loses as a whole, not as individuals.
When a marble hits — the next space of the same color
When a rolling marble hits a miniature — student or witch — move that miniature to the next empty space of the same color as the marble.
It doesn't matter whether the miniature is a student or a witch — what matters is only whether the marble's color matches the space it occupies.
Chain hits and the miss penalty
- 1A single marble can hit several miniatures in a row as it rolls — advance all of them in the order they were hit.
- 2If it rolls fast enough, the same miniature can even be hit twice by the same marble.
- 3If the marble reaches the bottom without hitting anyone, choose any witch you like and advance her as if she had been hit by that marble.
Different from the catalog summary
When a marble hits nothing, the witch who advances is not fixed to the marble's own color. The official rulebook says to freely choose any witch — which one is entirely up to the players.
Reaching the goal tile
If a hit miniature has no empty space of its color left on the path, move it to the goal tile instead — students to the student spaces, witches to the witch spaces.
Winning and losing
- 1The instant the 4th student reaches the goal tile, everyone wins together (Master Balduin and his staff are rescued).
- 2The instant the 3rd witch reaches the goal tile first, everyone loses together.
- 3Whichever condition fills first ends the game immediately — you do not play it out to the end.
This is a cooperative game with no individual ranking. Everyone wins together, or everyone loses together.
Difficulty and variants
| Name | Details |
|---|---|
| "Practice Makes Perfect!" | If you keep losing, the rulebook suggests lowering the win target to 2 or 3 students arriving. This is a suggested house rule, not an official sub-mode |
| "Much Too Easy!" (advanced challenge, solo-playable) | Flip the goal tile to its other side, play all the way to the end, and rate yourselves by how many students versus witches arrived |
| "Team Witch vs. Team Student" | Split into two teams controlling witches and students respectively. Return 2 students to the box (using only 4 students + 4 witches), alternate placing them, and the first team to send 3 of its 4 pieces to the goal tile wins. A miss advances the opposing team's miniature instead — different from the base rule |
| "Much Too Easy!" rating | Students / witches arrived |
|---|---|
| Level 1, Beginner | 4 students / 2 witches |
| Level 2, Apprentice | 5 / 2 |
| Level 3, Graduate | 6 / 2 |
| Level 4, Master | 6 / 1 |
| Level 5, Grandmaster | 6 / 0 |
Different from the catalog summary — player count
The catalog summary lists 2–4 players, but the official English rulebook supports 2–6 players. This guide follows the rulebook's figure of 2–6.
Tips for playing together
- Every turn, discuss together which colored students are close to the goal and which witches are threatening before choosing an entry point.
- Since one marble can chain-hit several miniatures, try to predict together which colors are clustered along the path before choosing where to drop it.
- Since you may freely choose which witch advances on a miss, pick whichever witch is least threatening for the team.
- With young children, starting with the "Practice Makes Perfect!" lowered target works well.
Frequently confused rules
Q. When a marble hits nothing, must I advance the witch matching its color?
No. Freely choose any witch you like and advance her as if she had been hit. She does not need to match the marble's color.
Q. Can one marble move several miniatures at once?
Yes. As it rolls, every miniature it hits advances in the order hit. If it rolls fast enough, the same miniature can even be hit twice by the same marble.
Q. How many players can play?
The official English rulebook supports 2 to 6 players. A reported range of 2–4 does not match the game's official player count.
Q. Do students and witches start from the same position?
No. The witches already start with a head start ahead of the students.
Q. Does a miniature that reaches the goal tile keep moving?
No. Once placed on the goal tile, it stays fixed there and is only counted toward arrivals.
Q. Who decides which entry point to drop the marble into?
Not the player whose turn it is alone — everyone discusses it together before choosing.
History and awards
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Designers | Jens-Peter Schliemann and Bernhard Weber |
| Illustrator | Annette Nora Kara |
| Publisher | AMIGO Spiel + Freizeit GmbH (Germany); rulebook copyright dated 2021 |
| Award | Winner, Kinderspiel des Jahres 2022 (German Children's Game of the Year) |
The official Spiel des Jahres site displays the 2022 Kinderspiel award badge on Zauberberg's own page, confirming it as a winner rather than merely a nominee. BGG (135844) was inaccessible throughout this research, so its own rating, weight and edition list could not be cross-checked, and as of 2026-10-10 neither English Wikipedia nor Namuwiki has a dedicated article for this game.
Sources
Official AMIGO English rulebook (Zauberberg, 6 pages checked in full)Official AMIGO product page — ZauberbergSpiel des Jahres official site — Zauberberg (confirms the 2022 Kinderspiel award badge)Wiki cross-check — English Wikipedia search: no dedicated article confirmed (2026-10-10)Wiki cross-check — Namuwiki search: no dedicated article confirmed (2026-10-10)Rule summaries are reference content written by us, not quotations from the official rulebook. Always check the official rulebook for exact rules. Diagrams are original schematics, not rulebook illustrations.
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Last updated 2026-10-10
💡 Master tip
What matters more than how hard you roll the marble is discussing as a team which color to roll first. If the witches are ahead in a particular color, it's best to give that color's apprentice priority.
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