Playing Spilled mushrooms It has been a humiliating experience. There I was, thinking I'm good at both puzzles and card games, when I found myself briefly stumped on my first “instalment” in this card puzzle game about mushroom picking. That's what I get for underestimating a game with cute animals on the cover.
In Spilled mushroomsa Playdate game, you are a mushroom delivery man who has made a big mistake: you have spilled the mushrooms (obviously), and somehow you have done it in such an extreme way that they have ended up scattered throughout multiple habitats. Oops! You have one week to collect them all and take them to their intended destination. But, in what seems like my dream scenario, you've made friends with wildlife, so you have a support network of animals willing to help you right your mistake.
The game requires some light math and a lot of strategic thinking. Each animal is able to collect a specific amount of mushrooms and do so for as many days as is written next to the hourglass symbol on its card. The hippopotamus, for example, can collect five mushrooms at once, but only for one day. Meanwhile, the porcupine can only pick one mushroom at a time, but it will do so for six days.
Each animal also has a unique trait that has the potential to interact with the other cards in its habitat. The Moose or Elephant will increase the gathering capacity of other animals while the Grizzly Bear will do the opposite. The Platypus… well, the Platypus is confused. As you play, you'll earn small tokens that you can use to help you stack the deck with the cards you want to see in your hand. You can only place one card per turn, and there are three habitats to clear over the course of the seven days of play that make up a round. Each of those sites will have a different amount of mushrooms.
Once I dusted off the cobwebs in my brain and learned the flow of the game, I was able to redeem myself and start winning some rounds. But successfully harvesting all your mushrooms on the first (…or second) try is not a given. The puzzles take a few minutes to solve and are procedurally generated, so you'll always get something new. Sometimes they are quite difficult. Spilled mushrooms It also gives you the option to create a custom delivery, where you choose the habitats, number of mushrooms, and animal cards available.
Despite the challenge, Spilled mushrooms It's a really relaxing game and one that I continue to get absorbed in for long periods of time. It is reminiscent of Wingspan with its focus on nature and its calm soundtrack, making it a great option to choose when you want to relax at the end of the day or, on the contrary, relax in thought while you drink your morning cup of coffee. This will probably be in my regular game rotation for quite some time.
