Fungi is a hand management and set collecting card game for two players. With one tiny, almost imperceptible rule change, this is the same game as Morels. There are others differences between the two, but they are all cosmetic.
How Do You Play Fungi?
After setting up the table as shown below, you take several actions which can include the following.
1) Take a card from the Forest, which is the line of 8 cards in the center of the table.
You can take either of the two cards adjacent to the Feet card for free. If you want one of the others, you must first have Sticks cards to spend on them.
If the card you pick up is a Moon card, you discard it and take one from the Night pile instead. Those cards have 2 of a type of mushroom on them.
Your normal hand limit is 8 cards. If the Forest card you grab is a Fly Agaric, your limit is 4 until the end of your next turn.
Hint: Avoid the Fly Agaric if at all possible.
2) Take all the cards from the Decay pile (located at the end of the Forest near your Shoes).
This would probably be an unusual action on your first turn. At the end of your turn, you move the card closest to the Decay pile into that pile.
Other Forest cards slide down the row, and new cards from the stock file in the empty space(s).
If a fifth card needs to be added to the Decay pile, the 4 cards already there are first removed from the game, never to be seen again.
3) Cook (i.e. play) 3 or more identical mushrooms.
You must either hold or have previously played a Pan card to cook your mushrooms in. Cooked mushrooms are worth points at the end of the game.
You can get bonus points for cooking with Butter and Cidre cards.
4) Sell 2 or more identical mushrooms to get Sticks cards.
You use these Sticks cards to explore deeper into the Forest as mentioned above.
5) Play a Pan card.
As noted earlier, you need an empty Pan to cook mushrooms.
The game ends as soon as the last card from the Forest stock pile is turned over.
Count your points, and the player with the most is the winner.
What Do You Think of Fungi?
I’ve only played it a few times, but I can tell there is plenty to strategize about in the relatively simple game.
The sliding Forest row feels a lot like a similar row of cards in If Wishes Were Fishes, a game I’ve played a lot more.
The artwork in Fungi is very good, but very dark. I wish it were a little brighter as it appears that Morels’ cards might be.
If you’re looking for a good, strategic, fairly quick, 2-player card game, then you really should give Fungi (or Morels) a try.
Check Amazon for the availability and latest pricing of Fungi.