The hollow has always been a place of beauty, filled with mushroom rings and wildflowers, all thanks, of course, to the gnomes. It’s time for you to take on the role of a gnome and their partner and create these “fairy rings” to collect mushrooms and flowers and make Gnome Hollow a magical place for years to come! Let’s get to work!

What Is It?

Tile Placement – Each turn players will place garden tiles into the shared hollow, connecting paths to eventually form mushroom rings

Set Collection – As players complete rings, they’ll collect mushrooms which they’ll later be able to sell sets of for points. Throughout the game players will also be able to collect wildflowers which will be worth more points the larger the set they have

Worker Placement – Each turn players may move one of their gnomes to various spots on the board to claim an unclaimed or unfinished ring, collect a flower they don’t have, sell mushrooms, or activate a signpost

Who Is It For?

  • 2 to 4 Players – The board is more interactive with more players since it’s shared. I think I’d say it’s probably best at 3
  • Ages 12 & Up / Mid-Weight Gamers – You need a bit of strategy and patience (it can take a while to complete those larger ringsO) so it’s good for gamers with some experience – I’d say a level about “introductory” or “gateway” gaming
  • Fans of tile laying, worker placement, set collection, and gnomes!
  • Players who don’t get AP by having a bunch of options on their turns

Variants

Mushroom Trade Board – Allows gnomes to make one trade each time they visit a signpost – I thought this was a neat, and simple, add. It definitely increased the functionality of signposts and they saw more use because of it. The only thing I thought was a little weird was that one signpost was not listed on the trade board.

Advanced Player Board – Players are more limited in creating rings. Instead of only looking at size, they also have to make certain shapes in order to qualify for scoring – It’s definitely an interesting twist once you’re familiar with the game, but it also increases the length as players have to do more planning for the shapes.

PROS

  • Aesthetics – Great art! Awesome table presence, especially at the end of the game
  • Components – Nice quality all around, the magnetic boards don’t feel super necessary, but I definitely like them!
  • Insert fits everything nicely
  • Rules are well-written and clear with some great examples laid out
  • Lots of opportunities for combos or cascading effects on a turn
  • I like that you have 2 gnomes to work with for the worker placement actions so you can leave one on a path but still use the other for other “side quests”
  • I definitely appreciate that you aren’t allowed to mess with someone’s path without permission

CONS

  • Visibility isn’t amazing. Sometimes hard to tell which path a mushroom is on when there’s multiple paths on tiles, and gnomes sometimes block areas when they sit on paths as well
  • Length – Box says 45 minutes, but it usually runs longer, even at only 2 players, and I think it can feel a bit too long for what you’re doing
  • Luck – If you can’t finish a ring because you’re just getting unlucky with the tiles coming out on your turns, you get no partial points or compensation for having worked on it
  • The worker placement feels a bit secondary/tacked on. So often players aren’t even moving their gnomes because they are keeping a hold on paths

Final Thoughts

I like the look and the general flow of the game, plus the production value is great. But ultimately, it felt just a bit too clunky for me.

If a tile I needed wasn’t out on my turn, I felt like I was just laying tiles because I had to, and wasn’t working to actually help my game. I thought this feeling was even more evident in the advanced mode. I also thought I was going to be able to move my gnomes a lot more, but I was holding on to paths so often that some games I didn’t end up moving them very much at all, which was disappointing. And overall, I just thought the game was a bit too long.

That said, it is definitely fun to build out your paths, and feels great when you’re able to complete one, especially one of the bigger ones. For me, I think it would have been a bit better if it was more purely the tile laying aspect.

Still, if you like all of these mechanisms rolled into one, it’s worth checking out!

Additional Information:
My Final Rating – 6/10

Designer – Ammon Anderson
Artists – Ammon Anderson, Patrick Spaziante
Publisher – The Op Games
MSRP – $49.99
Website

*I was provided a copy of this game to do this review*

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