Designer: Elizabeth Hargrave (Wingspan)

Artist: Beth Sobel (Arboretum, Between Two Cities, Endangered, Herbaceous, Lanterns: The Harvest Festival, Snow Tails, Viticulture, Viticulture: Essential Edition, Wingspan, World’s Fair 1893)

Publisher: Button Shy (Circle the Wagons, Sprawlopolis, Pentaquark)

Genre/Mechanisms: card drafting, tableau building

Funding Status: At the time of this posting, Tussie Mussie is already fully-funded.  In fact, pledges currently total more than 78x the initial funding goal!

Player Count: 1-4

Solo Mode: yes

Complexity: light

Risk: low

What It’s About: A microgame of 18 cards designed by Elixabeth Hargrave prior to Wingspan. Themed around the Victorian fad of assigning meaning to the flowers that friends & lovers exchanged, players draft “I-Divide-You-Choose”-style and then score the effects and hearts of their 4 cards over 3 rounds.

How It Works: The active player draws two cards, selecting one to present face up and one face down. The next player selects one of the two cards, and the active player takes the remaining card. The face down card remains face down, although the player can look at it to see what it is they received. Cards are maintained in a small tableau in the order they’re acquired, from left to right, with face down cards remaining face down. After each player has 4 cards, the round ends. Face up cards remain in place and are considered the Bouquet. Face down cards slide down into a new row, the Keepsakes, and are flipped and revealed. Players then trigger their flower abilities in any order they choose. Cards are scored as well, with an extra point awarded per heart. After 3 rounds, the player with the highest score wins.

Comparisons: The obvious comparison here is Wingspan, also designed by Elizabeth Hargrave with art by Beth Sobel. And while Wingspan is a physically larger game with more mechanics involved, the gameplay feels similar. They even share an ability on some of the cards to move cards between rows, which can be used to maximize points from round to round. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tussie Mussie was an inspiration and starting point for what eventually evolved into Wingspan.

What Should I Pledge?:
$10 Tussie Mussie game: also includes the 6-card solo expansion Tussie Mussie: Flower Shoppe.
$20 Tussie Mussie + Sprawlopolis: the Tussie Mussie game pledge, plus a copy of one of Button Shy’s best-sellers, Sprawlopolis.
$30 Tussie Mussie plus Solo Playmat: the Tussie Mussie game pledge plus a 14″ x 24″ neoprene playmat for solo play.

Add-Ons:
Nothing through the campaign, but you can always go to www.buttonshygames.com and order any of the wallet-sized games still in stock there. For U.S. backers, using the code 0519impatient will get you 15% off your order and immediate shipping, and if the order exceeds $25, shipping is free. Using the code 0519us will get you free shipping, and the games will ship with the Kickstarter rewards. For international backers, using the code 0519international will get you free shipping on up to 3 wallet-sized games, and the games will ship with the Kickstarter rewards. ButtonShy also offers a subscription service and Board Game of the Month Club with discounts, and their $10 and $20 packages almost always include additional freebies packed in. Some of Button Shy’s bestsellers include Antinomy, Circle the Wagons, Handsome, Liberation, The Perfect Moment, and Sprawlopolis.

KS Exclusives:
None.

All-In Total: In the continental U.S., you’re looking at $30 for Tussie Mussie plus Solo Playmat plus $7 in shipping for a total of $37. Without the playmat, it’s $10 for the Tussie Mussie game pledge plus $3 in shipping for a total of $13.

Tussie Mussie completes its Kickstarter on Saturday, June 8th and tentatively ships in September 2019.