- “fungi“: Review of the card game for two
- This is how mushroom picking works at the gaming table
- Information, evaluation and conclusion
Why are there so few board games on the subject of mushrooms? Pegasus-Spiele has recognized that nature themes are currently booming at the gaming table and, with “Fungi”, serves us a card collecting game for two people that was well received in our test rounds in both camps: those who don’t necessarily get their mouths watering from the smell of fried mushrooms leaves, and the forest friends who can hardly wait for the start of the next mushroom season.
How does Fungi play?
The material of “Fungi” consists exclusively of cards – with ten different mushrooms, pan and basket cards, cider and butter cards, stick cards and some particularly valuable night cards.
The display always consists of eight cards that make up a forest. The hiking boots, which are shown on a map, mark the entrance to the forest. There is a draw pile and a discard pile called the decay pile. When everyone has five cards in hand, the mushroom hunt begins. The two opponents alternately draw cards from the display and try to collect as many as possible mushrooms of one kind to collect.
From three identical mushroom cards, the Pan used to fry the mushrooms to complete the final scoring meal. Some varieties bring more points, but are rarer. With a cider– or butter card the value of the combination increases.
stick cards are necessary in order not only to get the first two mushrooms along the way, but to be able to use the entire display. With the baskets the hand card limit can be increased, which otherwise significantly restricts the player. If you choose the card with the moon, you discard them immediately and instead draw the top card of the night cards, which lure you with particularly valuable mushrooms. The poisonous toadstool, which is initially viewed with skepticism because it forces the players to reduce their hand of cards, can be very useful in the course of the game to get rid of uninteresting cards. The decay pile, which can be picked up in one action, often provides good mushrooms. The game ends when the draw pile is empty.
Info and conclusion: Successful mushroom duel with good balance
The instructions describe “Fungi” in great detail and precisely, so that no questions remain unanswered, even if the many pages can seem daunting at first glance sometimes has a negative effect on the flow of the game.
Fungi: Watch the game on Amazon
And filling up the display is tedious if the cards are laid out in a row according to the instructions. After each individual move, the entire row must always be shifted so that there is space for two new cards at the beginning and the forest entrance does not change. One possibility would be that Circular display to place and move only the forest edge map. We tested it and were very happy with this solution. What didn’t bother us much, but shouldn’t go unmentioned: “Fungi” requires a relatively large amount of space for a pure card game.
However, the points of criticism are negligible because “Fungi” does everything right in terms of playability and process. The tactical possibilities are just right to be able to compensate for a lack of luck with the cards. Nevertheless, collecting mushrooms à la carte is not a complex game, it is easy to get started and the mechanisms are in place after a practice round at the latest. The moves in “Fungi” go quickly, so there are no long waiting times in a duel. Either collect mushrooms or fry mushrooms – and it’s the other person’s turn again. And the theme is also well implemented despite the limited material (only playing cards), we actually felt like mushroom hunters day and night.
- Information about “Fungi” at a glance:
- Number of players: 2
- Age recommendation: from 10
- Duration: 20 to 40 minutes
- Publisher: Pegasus Games
- Author: Brent Povis
- Per:
- Tactics and card luck well balanced
- very attractive illustration
- Original theme well implemented
- cons
- Map design a bit confusing
- Tedious display replenishment
- Editor’s rating: 8 out of 10 points
Conclusion: “Fungi” is a card collecting duel that is as entertaining as it is fast-paced and scores above all with its good mix of card luck and tactics. The lovingly designed cards are also noteworthy. Nature themes are very popular at the moment, but the “mushroom picking” theme is original. Currently one of our favorite games for two!
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transparency notice: To test the game, the publisher provided us with a review copy without further conditions.
