It’s not very often that I get to see a game go from conception to prototype to finished product. Back in the spring of 2023, the GamingTrend crew got a firsthand look at the Gnome Hollow prototype and had a great time collecting mushrooms and building paths. At Origins Gamefair 2024, I was able to get to see and play the final production copy, alongside Chief Tabletop Editor Mike Dunn. It was great to play Gnome Hollow a little over a year later and with a few tweaks to gameplay and artwork later, Gnome Hollow has found a publisher and released to the masses.

Gnome Hollow is a game for 2-4 players set in a magical world where gnomes build paths into the forest and collect mushrooms for market along the way. Designed and co-illustrated by Ammon Anderson, Gnome Hollow was released by publisher TheOp at GenCon 2024 to the public. In Gnome Hollow, players will score points by building pathway rings of various sizes to move markers off of a track. Along the way, they will collect mushrooms to sell at the market and collect flowers to earn even more points. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Each player starts the game with a player board matching their color. The player board houses eight magnetic markers placed along a scoring track. As players remove these markers, they will earn more points at the end of the game. The board also houses indentations for flower tiles along the top, which also serves as a scoring track. The bottom of the player boards has areas divided by ring circle sizes that offer different power ups that players can unlock as they play the game. Players also start the game with two gnome figurines, each with a backstory featured in the rulebook. If playing a two player game, players will also start with two flower tokens.

A player turn consists of three steps. The first step is drafting and placing two tiles from a communal board. Path tiles have six sides and have various path designs printed on them. Players must always match field sides and path sides so that a path doesn’t suddenly end in a field. Tiles also have one or more of five different mushroom types printed on them. Throughout the game, players have the opportunity to store tiles for later in the game. Each turn, in addition to the mandatory two tiles, the players may also play up to two stored tiles.

In Step two, if a player completes a loop, they resolve a variety of effects. First, they are able to move their leftmost marker from their track to one of the spaces on the player board corresponding to the number of tiles used in the loop. The more tiles used, the bigger the power-up a player can receive. Power ups include taking flowers from the supply, gaining reserve tiles, placing down signposts, and gaining extra mushrooms. Signposts give players extra bonuses such as stored tiles or extra mushrooms, and give players another place to move their gnomes in step three. On some marker spaces, there is a flower icon printed. If a marker is moved off of one of these spaces, the player choses a flower token and takes a bonus tile. All remaining flower tokens are sent to the market board for other players to retrieve.After resolving the ring effect, mushrooms corresponding to all pictures are placed on the circle of tiles. If the player has one of their gnomes on the path, they will move these to their personal supply.

The final step of a player turn involves moving one of their gnome figures and is optional. With their gnome figures, players may reserve a path that doesn’t have another gnome on it, collect one of the flower tokens from the market that they don’t have, move to a signpost in the main player area to gain the bonus, or go to the market. At the market, players are able to sell their collected mushrooms. Each player may make up to two sales of different colored mushrooms and the number of mushrooms they sell corresponds to different point values. For example, selling eight red or yellow mushrooms yields eight points, while selling six purple mushrooms gets you fifteen. Once a player uses one of the market demands, they will place an x marker on that spot and it will be unavailable for the rest of the game. Once all markers for a given mushroom color have been placed on the market board, players will only be able to access the two quantity spaces for minimum points.

 

Players will continue to take turns until one of three end game triggers is met: the bag holding the path tiles runs out, a player has collected all eight varieties of flowers, or a player has moved all eight of their ring markers off the track. Players will complete the round and then each player will get one more turn. At the end of the game, players will total their positions on the flower and ring marker tracks and add their points gained from the market to get their final total.

Variants

Gnome Hollow adds two variants for players seeking a little more challenge. The first is an advanced player board featuring a variety of ring path combinations that players can use once each. Some of them are similar to the other side while others have specific patterns that players must achieve. The second variant adds an exchange market to signposts. After receiving their bonus from visiting the signpost, players may make one of two exchanges printed on a separate board. For example, heading to a red mushroom signpost allows players to receive their three mushroom bonus, but can also exchange two red mushrooms for either two blue or two pink mushrooms.

Overall Thoughts

Gnome Hollow is a great experience from start to finish. The production quality is top notch and features one of the first uses of magnets in a board game. Each of the ring markers on the player board has a magnet and sticks to magnetic insert inside each player board. This eliminates the need for dual layered boards and prevents pieces from missing in the event of a bump. The cardboard components in the game are high quality and the company offers upgraded wooden pieces to replace treasure tokens, flower tokens, and the mushrooms, giving players an even better experience. The color palette and artwork throughout the game give Gnome Hollow an inviting and beautiful table presence. The rulebook is easy to follow and features small excerpts from an imaginary diary talking about how the author discovered the hollow of the gnomes. Even the wildflowers and mushrooms in the game are based on real mushrooms and are featured in the rulebook. The box also comes with a simple and effective organizer for all of the pieces of the game. I will say that the upgraded bits, featured in the images in this review, are much nicer than the included cardboard and are a must have in my opinion.

The gameplay of Gnome Hollow is easy to pick up and hard to master. Each of the player counts offers new challenges as more people are vying for certain types of mushrooms and more gnomes are claiming paths. Each game, players have to adjust to what tiles are removed from the bag and what gets placed on the board. The variants add a lot of depth to the gameplay. The advanced player board adds another level of planning to tile placement and can delay completing circles until the right tile comes out of the bag. The exchange market in the trading posts allows players to to adjust their gameplay a bit to exchange mushrooms in their supply for ones they need. In one game, my wife was able to complete a ring, place a signpost, gain the bonus, make an exchange for more purple mushrooms, and then head to market to snake the top scoring sale before I could! The variants are a must once you’ve learned the game. I only have one downside to this game and it is a small one. There are seven signposts and only six exchange places; there couldn’t be one more?

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