New Game Release – Umami – The Forest Food Fest

HeidelBÄR Games has released Umami – The Forest Food Fest, the latest card game in partnership with Czech Games Edition, into retail.

In Umami, you will whip up the tastiest dishes possible of just three ingredients each. Spot a better bite? “Borrow” it off a rival’s plate! Forest denizens have special tastes, so match your ingredients to their appetites to win them over!

In more detail, start with four ingredient cards in hand; ingredients range from 1-9, with each card also having a star, steal, or blossom icon. Four ingredient cards are in a face-up market. Each player has a secret “favorite” card, with four favorites in a face-up market; each favorite shows three cards that make up the dish they want, e.g., two medium (4-6) and a high (7-9), with the highest total possible.

On a turn, play one ingredient from your hand and another from the market, creating over time at most five dishes of three cards each. (You can replace a card in a dish, if desired.) Once per turn, you can discard a card with a steal icon to take an opponent’s ingredient and add it to your dish; they draw and play a replacement card. As soon as you qualify for a favorite on display, place it in front of that dish, which keeps others from stealing your ingredients…although they can still steal the favorite by having a dish that better meets their tastes or has more blossoms in it.

When the last favorite is claimed or someone has a full table, everyone reveals their secret favorite, then run through one more round, after which the player with the most stars — summed from ingredients played and favorites claimed — wins.

Umami – The Forest Food Fest is for two to five players, ages ten and up, and plays in around twenty minutes. It retails for $17.99.

HeidelBÄR Games also previously released Snatch It! (see “Snatch It! card game“).