Fairy Ring: Review

Fairy Ring: Review

Information:

Mechanics: Worker Movement, Drafting, Set Collection
Player Age: 8+
Player Count: 2 - 4 Players

Game Designer: Fabien Tanguy, Laurence Grenier

Game Artist: Maud Chalmel
BGG Weight: 2.00

Publisher: Repos Production
Time to Play: 40 Minutes 
Year Published: 2024
Disclaimer: A review copy for the game was provided by the VR Distribution.

Introduction:

Fairy Ring is an interesting combination of drafting, engine building and worker movement. Throughout the game you are building a magical mushroom village, where each time you play a card you will either build a new mushroom or continue growing an existing mushroom. After this your fairy will move across everyone's mushrooms equal to the value of your newly placed mushroom. If the fairy lands on your mushroom, you will gain points for which one they land on. If the fairy lands on an opponent’s mushroom, your opponent will gain points and your matching mushroom type will activate too. Building strong scoring mushrooms is important, however, it is also key for players to think through how their fairy will move each turn. 

Game Anatomy:

Mushroom Cards:

The mushroom cards come in three sets as denoted by the number on the back of the card. 0 which is the starting card, 1 which will be used in the first round and 2 which will be used in the second round.

Each mushroom card has:

a) The type of mushroom at the top of the card (explained later).
b) The value the fairy will move when the card is played on the top left side.
c) 0-2 fireflies.
d) A dotted line indicating how to stack the next card when growing this mushroom.

e) Mana gained in the resolve step.

There are 6 different mushroom types, each of which have different mana-scoring conditions and is only allowed to be stacked on their type of mushroom. The 6 mushroom types are Magidrome, Lookout, Pollenarium, Academy, Luminarium and Spring. 

Magidrome:

When landing on this mushroom players gain the point value denoted on the mushroom.

Lookout:

The lookout will score depending on the height of the mushroom. The max size for all mushrooms is four stacked. Other mushrooms will stack points based on the value shown on each level, however, the lookout will score in totality instead. For example, if the mushroom is 2 high the score will be 8, not 8 times 2.

Pollenarium:

The mana scored from this mushroom is dependent on how many total mushrooms you have in your village. 

Academy:

The academy will score mana equal to the amount of movement your fairy has taken this turn.

Luminarium:

This mushroom is based on the amount of visible fireflies in your village.

Spring:

There are two interesting parts to the spring mushroom. Firstly, it doesn't score anything when someone lands on it, instead, it scores a small amount of mana for its owner when any fairy moves past it. Secondly, when the card is played there are three movement options for the player to choose from rather than one. 

Mana Tokens:

Mana tokens are gained via mushrooms throughout the game, although these don't equal any points on their own. Rather, 20 mana can be converted into one score point which is kept track of on the score wheel.

Player Pieces:

Each player will have a score wheel, a fairy standee, three communal objective flowers, and a village board.

Objective Cards:

Objective cards will give a condition that is based on village structure that any player can meet during the game. This could be a certain amount of fireflies, certain height or even a certain quantity of mushrooms. If an objective has been met the player will immediately gain a score point on the score wheel (valued at 20 mana).

Reference Card:

This double-sided reference card will keep you informed on the different scoring mushrooms as well as the unique scoring for each objective.

Setup:

Individual Setup:

- Give each player their player pieces, setting the score wheel at 0.
- Deal out to each player a starting 0 mushroom, place this mushroom in front of your village board and place your standee on top. 
- After cards have been removed from the 1 deck based on player count, Shuffle and deal seven cards to each player.

Game Setup:

- For decks 1 and 2 remove any card with a number in the bottom right exceeding the player count (i.e. any card with value 4 if there are only 3 players). 
- Shuffle decks 1 and 2 separately and place both within reach.
- Place the mana tokens within reach.
- Randomly choose a first player and give them the first player tile.

How to Play:

The game is a combination of drafting and engine building which is played over two rounds. Each round will be built out of six turns, once there is one card leftover that card will be discarded and then a hand of seven round 2 cards will be dealt to each player.

Each turn has three phases; choose, resolve, and end of turn. These are played simultaneously except for the resolve phase which starts with the first player.

Choose:

Simultaneously each player will choose one mushroom from their hand of cards, placing one in the play pile and the rest waiting to be passed at the end of the round.

Resolve:

In the resolve phase, players will fully resolve their chosen card one at a time. Starting with the first player then going clockwise they will place their mushroom, move their fairy, than gather mana.

Place your Mushroom:

The active player will either plant a new mushroom to the left or right empty spot of their village, or they will grow a mushroom by adding this to an existing stack of the same type (maximum 4 high).

Move Your Fairy:

Your fairy will now move clockwise, one movement point per mushroom stack, and they will move across all villages as based on the movement gained from the mushroom played this round. 

Gather Mana:

If the mushroom is your own, players will simply gain the mana matching this mushroom, if it is an opponent's mushroom the opponent will first gain the mana denoted on their mushroom then you will gather mana from one of your mushrooms matching the same type of mushroom. If you have no mushroom of the same type you instead gain no mana.

End of Turn:

When the resolve phase is finished for all, everyone will now pass their remaining hand of cards to the player on the right. The first player tile will also pass.

Final Thoughts:

- Fast but fulfilling turns.
- Building your village is important but players have to anticipate and plan their fairy's movements. This adds a unique layer to planning.
- Fun theme with great components.

Fairy Ring will easily get to the table with all types of players due to the welcoming theme and easy rules. The part that draws my attention most is how the fairies move around the villages. Especially in a two-player game, you are planning the best mushroom to play in the moment for your engine, but you should also focus on which mushroom your fairy will land on. The best case scenario is one of your own mushrooms, but when landing on your opponent's mushrooms you are trying to minimise the points they gain while activating a strong scoring mushroom of your own. This is easy enough to do as the first player but players will need to change their plan on their resolve step based on how the other players take their turns. I really enjoy the unique puzzle Fairy Ring offers while still being fully accessible to anyone. If you enjoy quick drafting games that offer more than simple set collection, Fairy Ring is a fun and easy game to add to your collection, and is earning a Silver Seal of Approval.

Click...feed the addiction: 

VR Distribution

Repos Production

Fairy Ring on BGG

Expand Your Game Facebook page

Expand Your Game Instagram