Mycelia is a strategic game all about mushrooms released by Splitstone Games. Mushrooms are very hot right now with The Last of Us and the Australian mushroom lady so we know how dangerous they can be. Whilst Mycelia isn't overtly dangerous, you do use mushrooms as your tools for victory. The solo variant has you playing against the Spore-tomata to gain the most points before the end of the game.
Spores
In Mycelia, you win by scoring the most points through a variety of actions, which are:
● Move - Allows you to move the mother mushroom
● Explore - Allows you to add tiles to the board
● Spore - Allows your mushrooms to spore
● Fruit - Allows to you buy new mushrooms with interconnected spores
● Decay - Allows you to decay fully spored mushrooms and use their additional powers
● Discover - Allows you to take a new mushroom card into your hand
One of the harder parts of the game is understanding which spores you have access to as it’s all about interconnected networks of spores. The solo game is helpful as an additional way to learn as there are only two colours to think about. One of the cool things about the networks is depending on how your mushrooms are placed you can access the opponent’s spores, thus taking from their supply rather than your own.
You set up the game the same way as a two player game but you use the Spore-tomata board which follows a different set of rules. The Spore-tomata scores mushroom cards face down and follows a separate deck of cards for its actions. However the player scores the same way as a multiplayer game.
You set up the initial star and then add your mother mushroom and the Spore-tomata’s mother mushroom (the only mushrooms that move on the board). You can gain more mushrooms by using the fruit action and thus score more points.
Mushroom Domination
While there is only so much an Automa can mimic human behaviour (especially in a more strategic game), it’s still a fun experience. It’s a great way to learn and appreciate the art on the mushroom cards, which is the best part of the game in my opinion. There’s a harder variant of actions in the Spore-tomata deck which is a nice addition, though it overall leans on the easier side.
It’s interesting when an Automa has a token that moves rather than just collecting, while it’s often not the most strategic, it’s interesting to have that dynamic in the solo game.
Something really nice about the solo mode for Mycelia is that it’s genuinely fun whilst being a good way to learn the game. It’s cool to upgrade your mushrooms and make them spore and progress in the game even if the competition is not as fierce. Definitely think this is a fun experience!
