What is it with developers and fungal-inspired releases lately? After playing the okay-at-best Captain Toad for Nintendo Switch, it was now time to tackle Mushroom Wars 2, a game that might look cute with its adorable art style, but boasts a plot about humanity being extinct and fungi become sentient and ruling the world. As if the cordyceps from The Last of Us wasn’t scary enough…

Mushroom Wars 2, literally speaking, is a real-time strategy game, but that’s in the sense where even Pikmin is considered a real-time strategy game. This is no Starcraft or an Ensemble Studios game. This is a MUCH simpler outing: instead of resource management, army training and tactical thinking, your main objective is to conquer nearby buildings by simply sending more troops than the current number being shown above them. If you’re an RTS purist, I wouldn’t say this game is for you.

The maps are static. Everything you need to see is right onscreen, as there is no exploration involved. There are a few buildings you need to conquer, and a colossal ton of little creatures going from A to B to C to B again. It was a missed opportunity to use the Switch’s touchscreen for the gameplay, as all you basically do is either drag armies to another house or click on said house to do some very basic unit improvement research. Playing with the joycons is fine, but using the touchscreen would have been a lot more intuitive.

The big problem with Mushroom Wars 2, however, is the fact that, while the game does boast a somewhat lenghty campaign with a truckload of stars to collect (just like your average Angry Birds game), it is very boring when playing solo. You need friends to play this game with in order to fully enjoy it. Ironically enough, this was also my biggest complaint regarding my last review for No Heroes Here. Games like these are fun if you’re near friends, but a chore if you are by yourself.

Mushroom Wars 2 is a nice little game that fits perfectly with the Switch’s portability due to its gameplay being best enjoyed in short burts, but it’s also a very simplistic RTS that may disappoint purists looking for a more traditional offering for the genre. If you’re just looking for some casual fun on your Switch, without expecting it to be a mind-blowing blockbuster, Mushroom Wars 2 is a good option. If you’re looking for the next big strategy thing, I’d say just stick with whatever game you still play on your PC.

Graphics: 6.0 The cutscenes are wonderfully drawn. The game itself is colorful but far from exciting, visually-speaking.	Gameplay: 7.5 An overly simplified RTS gameplay scheme, but the developers have missed a great opportunity to implement much appreciated touch controls.
Sound: 6.0 The cutscene music is a lot more impressive than the quiet and forgettable tunes played during the game itself.	Fun Factor: 7.0 It’s a fun game to play in short bursts, and a blast when playing with friends, but it’s way too simplistic for core RTS fans, as well as quite boring when playing solo.
Final Verdict: 7.0

Reviewed on Switch.
Also available on PC.
A copy of Mushroom Wars 2 was provided by the publisher.