Game of Shrooms 2024 Review
The Game of Shrooms has, once again, come and gone. And I must say…What whirlwind of fun that was! I had a blast creating mushroom-themed art and hiding them out in the world like some secret shroom Santa. Plus, I got to find more than one shroom this year! Here are my reflections & takeaways after participating in the 2024 Game of Shrooms.
Experience as a Shroom Artist
After having participated in last year’s Game of Shrooms, I was determined to join in on the art-n-seek again. And so, I took my own advice from my previous blog post (tip #1) and started early, about two weeks before the day of the event (June 8, 2024).
Not as early as I had wanted or planned (which was preparing months beforehand), but it was still early enough that I was able to follow my tip #2 and create more than one artwork:
Thanks to listening to my own advice, I also had enough time to create promotional Instagram posts and reels for all my artworks:
It was so fun to choose the songs to go with my promotional IG posts!
I also created this promotional video a day before June 8th to spread the word online about my shroom art:
Where My Shrooms Were
As I did last year with Shroompoleon, I scattered my shrooms throughout the UC Berkeley campus. These were where I hid them:
- Faith Series: “Hanging by a Thread” – under this mushroom shaped tree with lots of holes in the Faculty Glade area.
- Faith Series: “Redeemed” – I hid it with “Hanging by a Thread,” as it was meant to complement the first art.
- Praying for You – this was hidden along the Faculty Way (pathway between The Faculty Club and Hertz Hall), along mushroom-shaped lights.
- Queen of Shrooms was hiding under a bed of yellow roses in front of Dwinelle Hall.
- Can’t Take More Shiitake was under the Abraham Lincoln statue below The Campanile tower.
To my pleasant surprise, all my shrooms were found within a few hours. Thank you to all the wonderful shroom hunters! π
Experience as a Shroom Hunter
I didn’t initially plan on hunting for shrooms. But when I saw that a cute shroom was going to be hidden somewhere near The Cheeseboard Collective, I decided to go for it. I thought I was sure to find and keep it, as I went out to look for it early in the morning on the day of the game. Alas, another hunter had found and claimed it a day before!
After which, I tried to get to other shrooms nearby, but to my utter dismay, hunters were really, really good at finding the shrooms. Just as it was last year, shroom hunters were dedicated and competitive, determined to find and keep shroom art. Realizing that at the rate at which I was searching I would be shroom-less this year (as I almost was if it weren’t for the artist Tina Banda‘s lit (literally lit, too, as it glows in the dark!) shroom art that I got to find a day after the 2023 Game of Shrooms), I deciphered the location shared by a shroom artist using her hints, lyfted myself to the restaurant/bar and started searching with the fervor of other shroom hunters.
And lo and behold, I found 2 shrooms at the location – a π magnet and a π sticker!
More Shrooms!
I lyfted myself to another location where some shrooms were going to be dropped (per Instagram) and was so very lucky to find more shrooms and even meet the artists as they were dropping off their shroom art!
Adorable shroom pebbles by Saffuric and Francesca Sapien:
Aesthetic shroom art by Eli Wild:
I was able to find more aesthetic artworks by Eli Wild at The Compound Gallery in Emeryville. Here’s one I purchased:
in Emeryville, CA.
Game of Shrooms 2024 Review
For the most complete experience, I think it’s best to participate as both shroom hunter and artist. As an artist, you get to experience the joy of creating and sharing your art with those around you. It’s quite an experience to have your art seen and appreciated by people you’ve never met, to have your shroom be picked up and kept by someone you don’t know. And it’s equally wonderful to go on a mushroom hunt, find beautiful, cute, aesthetic, or fun art by an artist you knew or didn’t know about and to keep the treasure of a shroom for free. And I think the whole searching and finding experience makes the shroom art really special. You get to have a fun story to the shroom art you’re keeping!
Game of Shrooms is such a unique experience celebrating creativity and community in a fun way. Not only is it an outlet for creative expression, but also it’s a way for artists to showcase their works to audiences around the world.
Plus, it’s a great way to spotlight and support local businesses, as done by The Inkcredibles. I mean, what a fantastic idea to feature local businesses while participating in an art-n-seek?
Game of Shrooms Tips: For Artists
- Start Early, Make More Than 1 Shroom Art, Create Promotional Materials (Same Tips as Last Year). A year goes by more quickly than one expects! I highly suggest that you start as early as you can to create great shroom art with leisure. And as there seem to be more eager hunters than artists in most neighborhoods, it’s great for artists to create more than one artwork so that 1) they can promote their art more 2) there are more hunters who successfully find shrooms! And as this event is operated mainly via Instagram, promotional materials are key to spreading the word about your shroom to all hunters out there. And if you start early and share your promotional materials early, they might be shared by the Game of Shrooms IG account!
Plus, don’t forget about business cards/artist info to hide with your shroom art!
- Collaborate with Local Businesses. I think it’s such a great idea to work with local businesses to promote both them and your art, as The Inkcredibles and Tina Banda had done.
- Hide Early. I suggest hiding your artwork(s) at least an hour earlier than the time you tell your hunters and IG followers that you’ll hide your shroom, as you might run into hunters eager to find your art. This happens quite often!
Game of Shrooms Tips: For Hunters
- Be Quick & Early. If there’s a shroom you really like, then start following the artist’s Instagram account as soon as possible and get all the hints as soon as you can! Sometimes artists start giving out hints a few days before the day of the Games. Don’t wait for the day of to look for it (like me); if they give out hints, go out there and find it! I had seen clues, yet I didn’t start looking until the day of the Games, and so I ended up losing the shroom to another hunter, who had searched for and found it a day before.
- Best Chances of Finding Shrooms are in Your Own Neighborhood/Places You Know. Amidst the competition, you have the best chance of finding a shroom for yourself in your own neighborhood/places where you’re familiar enough to quickly use the hints to hunt down shrooms.
- Vehicle & Comfy Shoes. It’s all about speed when it comes to shroom hunting! Walking and taking public transportation will NOT be quick enough (as I learned sadly last year). You have to have your own car/bike/electric scooters/Lyft/Uber to get to the shroom ASAP.
- Let Artists Know If You’ve Found Their Shrooms. This saves everyone’s time! Plus it’s a great way to show appreciation for the artists’ works.
The Countdown Begins!
Another thing I so very much love about the Game of Shrooms is that the date of the next game is set right away. It has been announced by Attaboy that the next Game of Shrooms will take place on Saturday, June 14, 2025. So… Let the countdown begin!
P.S. Here are some local Bay Area artists who participated this year and whose shroom art I really wanted to find!
P.P.S. I’ve noticed that not all artists from the 2023 Game of Shrooms participated in this year’s game. Hopefully they come back next year! Here are their wonderful shroom arts from last year:
