A Mole in the Middle of Nowhere
Molehill Meadows is a flip-and-write game by Chris Priscott, designer of Zuuli. It has launched on Gamefound on April 16th and will remain live until April 24th.
Image source: BGG
In this game, you play as Mika the Mole, whose objective is to dig around to find treasures and fulfill her own fancies of the day, such as digging across all the sunflowers of the field. In each game, you'll draw two random objectives to chase for Victory Points, while coins that you manage to snug out will grant you points as in every game.
Image source: Gamefound
Each round, you flip a card featuring a polyomino. You must now extend your network by writing this shape on this sheet so that it is adjacent to exactly one face of your already existing network. You may also find worms as you dig across the field, which enables you to activate one-time power-ups.
Image source: Gamefound
After 18 rounds, you score points. You also get bonus points if you manage to connect specific spots on the side of the board (e.g. the two anthills). To spice up solo play, the game offers a set of achievements, reminiscent of Cascadia.
Personal opinion: I am a huge fan of the path-making genre, and I may even say that, on the lighter end of the spectrum, this genre is my favorite across all possible board games. This would include Trails of Tucana, Mystery Dungeons, or when I want some more meat, the excellent Guild of the Merchant Explorers (I pass on the disappointing Explorers).
Even though this game is a bit expensive for what it is (a bunch of cards and the sheets, at a price above 40€ once everything is accounted for), it was an easy back for me. I'm sure to enjoy it a lot when it comes. The polyomino drawing, the spatial chase for the juicy worms to make combo moves, the variable objectives: it all sounds pretty solid and exciting.