“Mycelia” is a strategic board game with territory control mechanics and dynamic gameplay, where you’ll compete to carve out a fungal kingdom. Thanks to a successful 2023 Kickstarter campaign that raised over $500,000, this project is set to launch its first print run in 2024, showcasing its debut to the world. Created and illustrated by J.J. Neville, this unique game stands out with its beautifully detailed mushroom cards, rendered in an accurate botanical style featuring over 69 wild mushrooms.

About the Board Game Mycelia

How often do you think about mushrooms—whether foraging or strolling a forest path? Far from mere “plants,” mushrooms belong to a kingdom distinct from animals and flora, teeming with wondrous, unseen life. What we call mushrooms are just the fruiting bodies of mycelium, a hidden root-like network of fine threads. Starting with growth, mushrooms release spores that sprout in new areas, forming mycelium. That’s exactly what you’ll do in the extraordinary game “Mycelia.”

A Quick Look at the Rules

The gameplay mirrors the fungal life cycle: reproduction, growth, decay, and rebirth. Earn points by cultivating mushrooms, expanding your mycelium network by spreading spores, and ultimately letting your mushrooms decay for special bonuses.

Before starting, a star-shaped board is formed from six triangular tiles. Players take turns placing their mother mycelium on it, receiving five personal tiles in their color and three mushroom cards. Each turn, a player can perform two different actions from six options:

• Movement lets you shift your mother mycelium figure up to two tiles, but you can’t move to tiles occupied by other players’ mother mycelia.
• Expansion allows you to add new triangular tiles from the stack, growing the board. Tiles come in five colors, representing diverse soils needed for mushroom growth. If a tile shows an insect, place it immediately—only a mother mycelium can remove it.
• Spore Spread from your mother mushroom or a mature one. The card indicates the number of spores, and a wind direction die determines where they land on the board.
• Growth of a mushroom from a card, provided the tile has enough connected spores forming a mycelium network.
• Decay removes a mushroom that’s spread spores twice, granting bonuses like instant actions, gameplay upgrades, or mushroom enhancements. Move the card under your tile and remove its token from the board.
• Replenish lets you draw a new mushroom card to your hand.

The game ends when one player has a decayed mushroom card under all their tiles. Players tally points from mature and placed mushrooms, plus insect tokens. The highest scorer wins.

We recommend watching the video rules in the “Video” section and, if desired, exploring the illustrated PDF rules in the “Files” section.

One Last Note

“Mycelia” also offers a quick-play mode, a two-player mode, and a solo mode with an automa. For those seeking intellectual and aesthetic delight, Gallu the Rooster recommends ordering this game to uncover the mysterious realm of mushrooms.