In Kinoko, each player secretly draws a color card corresponding to a family of mushrooms — musicians, scientists, etc. — and gets a hand of three mushroom cards.
On your turn, roll the three dice, then choose one of them. The result of that die, whether a number or an icon, determines your action: exchange two cards, swap two sets of cards, pick at any card secretly, etc. To win the round, you must gather the three members of your family in one location during your turn. This reunion can happen in any player's hand or on the table.
Seems easy? The trick is you can see only the cards in other players' hands, and your decisions are limited to what you roll on the dice. What's more, each round one family of mushrooms turns poisonous, and having a card of that color in your hand when the round stops earns you a negative point...
The round's winner scores positive points, and the first player to 4 points wins.
Bob puts his terrible memory to the test with Kinoko, the latest small box from Helvetiq.
In First Take Fridays we offer hot takes on games that are new to us. This week we have Fool!, Tyrants of the Underdark, Free Ride, Kinoko, and Knight Fall.