This is a mockup for a small, two-player, tile-based board game. This project encouraged me to consider the relationship between gameplay mechanics and a unified theme in order to design a thematically consistent gameplay experience.
Materials
- 25 Purple/Green double sided fungus tiles
- 30 Pattern cards
- Hexagonal game board
Setup
Shuffle the 30 pattern cards and deal three to each player. Ensure that the 25 tiles and 24 remaining pattern cards are easily accessible to both players. Determine which player will be purple, and which player will be green. Players must sit on opposite sides of the board such that their color is in the top left corner of the game board according to their perspective. The purple player takes their turn first.
Gameplay
Objective
The objective of Fungal Feud is to end your turn with both areas of control (as outlined on the game board below) completely filled with your color of fungus.
Note that this board is slightly smaller than the actual board and is used purely for proof of concept.
On a Player’s Turn
During your turn, you may play one of the three pattern cards from your hand. If you do, place that card into the discard pile and play tiles onto the board with your color facing up in the pattern and exact orientation as featured on the card, according to the arrows on the card. Tiles can only be legally played if they touch another tile of your color on at least one side, and are being played into a space on the board that does not already contain a tile of your color. Tiles can be played in empty tile spaces and spaces occupied by an opponent’s tile, in which case that tile is flipped over to your color. The exception to this is that the opponent’s fungal core – the pre-colored tile in the opponent’s beginning corner – cannot be played over. When you have placed your tiles, draw one new card and your turn ends.
If you cannot or choose not to play a pattern card, you must instead discard your hand and draw three new pattern cards. Your turn then ends.
An example of a fungal tile, one side being purple and the other being green.
An example of a pattern card.
Your Fungal Network
Your fungal network must remain connected at all times. This network is recognized as the fungal tiles of your color arranged next to each other such that there is no interruption in the chain between any given tile and your fungal core in the top left corner. Fungal tiles not connected to your network will die. If your opponent changes the color of one of your tiles such that tiles of your color become removed from your fungal network, those tiles are immediately removed from the board.
Concepts
I decided to go with a fungal theme for this game because I felt that it worked well with the idea of one connected web of tiles, with the main way to disrupt your opponent being to sever their web. Because fungi exist in massive interconnected mycelial networks, I figured this would be a perfect theme for the gameplay mechanics. The hand of pattern cards give players some choice in how they place their tiles, but still leave their options up to chance, offering some variety in gameplay and the choices available to the players. The result of all of these concepts is the game here – competitive mushroom growing.