Pretend you are a fairy. You might like to build a mushroom
garden and fly around to visit your neighbors. It sounds pretty magical, and in
this game, fairies are strategic and competitive while bringing playful joy!
Each player starts with a village board and a starting
mushroom card above their board. A fairy matching their board’s color is placed
on top of that card. Players also receive a matching point counter set to 0.
Mana tokens in denominations 1 and 5 are placed in the center of the table. There
are two rounds in the game, and two decks of cards labeled “1” and “2”. At the beginning of round one, everyone is
dealt seven cards from deck 1. A first player is chosen and receives the first
player tile. There
are three parts to each turn.
- Choose a card to play: Everyone takes this step at once and places their chosen cards face-down on the right, under their village board.
- Resolve: In turn order, one player at a time completes three actions:
- Place your Mushroom card: Decide where to put the card you chose above your village board and complete its placement. There are six different types of cards that reward players with mana using their defined criteria for its collection. They also have a number for movement distance.
- Move your Fairy: Using the distance number on the card you placed, move your fairy clockwise in a circle across your village, and on through neighbor's villages, landing at your destination.
- Gather Mana: The card that a player’s fairy lands on determines how much mana is collected. If they land on one of their own mushrooms, use that card’s criteria. For instance, the Pellenarium mushroom says to gather 1 mana per Mushroom in your village. (If this is a “stacked” mushroom, the total is multiplied by the number of cards in that stack.)
- If the player lands on an opponent’s mushroom, that neighbor gathers mana, and if the active player also has the same type of Mushroom in their village, they collect mana based on that card’s criteria too. Each time a player collects 20 mana, they turn it in and move their score wheel up one point.
- End of Turn: When everyone has finished their 3 actions, players pass their card deck to the player on the left and the first player also passes the first player tile.
The round ends when everyone has played 6 cards. The second
round begins with each player receiving 7 cards from the Round 2 deck. Turns
continue until each player has one card left and the person with the most
points wins!
As I continue to play this game, I realize it works well with both 8-year-olds and adults as there are many ways to strategize with card placement, stacking, and anticipating where your fairy lands. The components and artwork are top-notch, the instruction manual concise and clear, and the game provides a unique combination of mechanics. There is a variant play option with objective cards to add complexity to the game. Although the game plays nicely with 2 players, I think it really shines at 3. For 2-4 players with a 40-minute play time. - - Marsha