Biome Borneo, a conservation themed board game made out of mushrooms and fishing net. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Biome Borneo, a conservation themed board game made out of mushrooms and fishing net. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

A local board game made of mushrooms? Sure, sounds fungi

A Stanwood trio plans to launch their first board game, using fungi and recycled materials to teach about Borneo rainforests.

STANWOOD — Justin Hylarides has a house full of mushrooms and an idea for a board game.

His Stanwood-based team of three plans to launch the first version of “Biome: Borneo” next month. The game features flora and fauna from one of the most biodiverse places on Earth. The island of Borneo’s tropical rainforests feature over 15,000 plant species, 6,000 of which aren’t found anywhere else on the planet. A single tree can host a thousand insect species.

The trio eventually wants to use recycled fishing nets and reishi mushrooms to make the game.

“I’ve got like 200 mushrooms just sitting in my place right now,” he said.

The game features a 3-D, rearrangeable board representing the understory, canopy and emergent layer of the rainforest. Play plant tiles in the appropriate zones to build an ecosystem hospitable to your animal cards. Just like the rainforest, everything is interconnected.

For board game aficionados, compare “Biome: Borneo” to the award-winning game “Wingspan,” where you’re the steward of an ecosystem trying to attract birds to your preserve. This local game, however, features more diverse critters and hones in on a real place. The isle is the largest in Asia and has one of the oldest rainforests in the world, at about 130 million years old.

Animal and insect cards in Biome Borneo. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Animal and insect cards in Biome Borneo. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Players learn about the Malaysian moon moth, forest dragon lizard and lantern bug. Justin Hylarides and his co-creators — sister Ciara Hylarides and friend David Pulido — eventually want to travel to Borneo.

They’d love to see a tarsier, a tiny nocturnal primate with massive eyeballs and a head that can swivel like an owl’s.

“It doesn’t look real,” Pulido said. “It doesn’t look like it belongs on our planet.”

The team had no experience in game design. But they like playing the Spaghetti Western card game “Bang!” and “Memoir 44,” a historical World War II strategy game.

When the pandemic trapped them inside together, they quickly burned through the six or so board games Pulido had on the shelf. So they thought about making their own. At first, the idea was to make a 2020-themed game. Something where you hoard toilet paper.

But the year got “really dark really quickly,” Ciara Hylarides said.

“We quickly realized, no, this wouldn’t be a good game,” Pulido said. “Nobody wants to play this.”

Other game ideas included a race to win over the country in a presidential election. There was one about honeybees and another with toucans. They mulled over a nature game based in the Amazon rainforest before they landed on Borneo.

The island’s rainforest has been leveled even faster than the Amazon’s.

“I was like, how did I not know about this place?” Pulido said. “This is a really important place on the planet, and nobody in the Western world knows about it — at least nobody in my circles.”

The goal is to educate players about Borneo’s biodiversity.

Mushrooms used to make the Biome Borneo board game. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Mushrooms used to make the Biome Borneo board game. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

They hope to work with Net Your Problem, a company that turns old fishing nets into usable plastic.

And scientists at Western Washington University are figuring out how reishi mushrooms could be transformed into game pieces. Normally those pieces are chipboard, a material made of compressed wood shavings.

“There’s a lot of green-washing happening right now in the world,” Ciara said. “But the businesses and organizations that are able to go full circle — from idea to product to manufacturing, locally? That’s the best way to be sustainable.”

Some companies already use mushrooms to package things like wine bottles, growing mycelium inside molds to cradle glass bottles for shipping.

But the road to make hard game pieces is a little different. Luckily, Justin Hylarides said, the team found a professor who’s “absolutely bonkers about doing this project.”

Nicole Larson teaches undergrads about composites engineering. Normally, that means using “aerospace-grade materials,” she said. Mushrooms? They’re a bit out of her wheelhouse.

“It’s a complete first,” Larson said. “I’ve never considered working with mushrooms, never tried to grow them, never tried to do anything with them.”

Her team of about six undergrads is heating and pressing the fungi into sheets, laminating them with a special bio-epoxy. A few of her students plan to make the project their senior capstone. The above-ground bits of these mushrooms can be turned into teas and tinctures. But Larson’s team is using the mycelium — the fungal threads that spread out underground.

“So it’s really a waste product that they get rid of,” Larson said. “I do think it could be a viable alternative to a lot of paper products, where you’re using a lot of chemicals and trees.”

At first, Larson wanted nothing to do with the mushroom-growing process. But she caved when she learned how important the cultivation stage is. Her supply closet is now full of fungi.

“I get made fun of. People are like, ‘It’s the mushroom lady!’” Larson said. “I tell them, ‘No, it’s not magic mushrooms, we’re not consuming them.’”

She hasn’t gotten a chance to play “Biome: Borneo” yet. She had a prototype, but her students took her copy.

“I’m like, ‘I want to play, too!’” Larson said.

Justin Hylarides, Ciara Hylarides and David Pulido, the creators of Biome Borneo on July 21 in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Justin Hylarides, Ciara Hylarides and David Pulido, the creators of Biome Borneo on July 21 in Everett. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

Want to play?

Keep an eye on biome3dgame.com to catch when the game goes live with its Kickstarter.

Find updates on Facebook and Instagram @Biomegame.

Claudia Yaw: 425-339-3449; claudia.yaw@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @yawclaudia.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Olivia Vanni / The Herald 
The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County.
The Mukilteo Lighthouse. Built in 1906, it’s one of the most iconic landmarks in Snohomish County. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mukilteo mayor vetoes council-approved sales tax

The tax would have helped pay for transportation infrastructure, but was also set to give Mukilteo the highest sales tax rate in the state.

Marysville Mayor Jon Nehring gives the state of the city address at the Marysville Civic Center on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024, in Marysville, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Marysville council approves interim middle housing law

The council passed the regulations to prevent a state model code from taking effect by default. It expects to approve final rules by October.

x
State audit takes issue with Edmonds COVID grant monitoring

The audit report covered 2023 and is the third since 2020 that found similar issues with COVID-19 recovery grant documentation.

Bothell
Bothell man pleads guilty to sexual abuse of Marysville middle schoolers

The man allegedly sexually assaulted three students in exchange for vapes and edibles in 2022. His sentencing is set for Aug. 29.

Larsen talks proposed Medicaid cuts during Compass Health stop in Everett

Compass Health plans to open its new behavioral health center in August. Nearly all of the nonprofit’s patients rely on Medicaid.

Guns for sale at Caso’s Gun-A-Rama in Jersey City, New Jersey, which has been open since 1967. (Photo by Aristide Economopoulos/New Jersey Monitor)
After suing, WA gets carveout from Trump administration plan to return gun conversion devices

The Trump administration has agreed to not distribute devices that turn semi-automatic… Continue reading

The Wild Horse Wind and Solar Facility about 16 miles east of Ellensburg in central Washington is part of Puget Sound Energy’s clean energy portfolio. (Courtesy of Puget Sound Energy)
Megabill’s elimination of tax credits for clean energy projects could cost WA $8.7 billion

Washington households could see electricity costs increase $115 per year by 2029; 21,800 workers could lose their jobs by 2030, analysts say.

Community members gather for the dedication of the Oso Landslide Memorial following the ten-year remembrance of the slide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
The Daily Herald garners 6 awards from regional journalism competition

The awards recognize the best in journalism from media outlets across Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington.

Everett mayor candidates focus on affordability, city budget in costly race

As incumbent Cassie Franklin seeks a third term in office, three candidates are looking to unseat her.

Everett
Judge sentences man, 73, for intending to have sex with ‘teen’ in Everett

The Arizona man sent explicit images to an agent posing as a 13-year-old. Investigators found images of child sexual abuse on his phone.

State’s draft of climate action plan open for public comment

Residents can submit public comments or climate-related stories online through Aug. 22.

The Edmonds School Board discusses budget cuts during a school board meeting on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Edmonds school board approves 2025-26 budget

After facing an estimated $8.5 million shortfall earlier in the year, the board passed a balanced budget Tuesday.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.