If you've previously played the card game Darkness, which Green Meadow Games published in 2018, you'll definitely have a sense of deja vu when you play Druid. It's the same game: indeed, even the box art is identical. Our copy even seemed to refer to the game as Darkness in the rulebook!
So what is Druid (aka Darkness)? It's a small-box card game designed by Taylor Hayward, with art by Angela Rizza. There's a notional backstory about druids vying for control of powerful Artifacts and trying to prevent darkness from falling on the world. Whichever game title you're using, players are unlikely to get overly immersed in the theme, however. This is actually a set collection card game where, over six rounds, the 2-5 players will be playing six of their 15 coloured 'animal spirit' cards to bid for the Artifact cards available that round.
Players all have the same hands of cards (three of each of the five colours) and they reveal their bids simultaneously, but you first all bid with three cards, then two and then one; so there's scope for bluffing and misdirection over which Artifacts you're competing for. Each Artifact shows its main colour and a secondary colour: the Artifact will go to the player who bid the most cards of its main colour, with the majority in the secondary colour being a tie-breaker. If players are still tied, no-one gets the Artifact.
In addition to the Artifacts, players' can claim Relics from the display provided they are the sole player to have bid the mix of cards shown on the Relic card. Some of the Relics are just worth points but others are single-use rulebenders; for example, to allow you to play some of your bid cards face down, so concealed from other players, or to swap a card with another in your hand...
Not to mention the Darkness... Some of the cards in the Artifacts deck are Darkness cards. If nobody plays the requisite cards to claim a Darkness card, it is moved to the 'Veil'. If ever there are three Darkness cards in the Veil, players are required to discard the Artifacts they've collected until they have the same number of Artifacts as the player with the fewest. As you might guess, this adds pressure on players in the lead, affording a catch-up mechanic to those who may be falling behind and so have no reason to keep Darkness cards out of the Veil.
Druid/Darkness is an easy-to-play and enjoyable set collection card game. Our plays have mostly run to around 20 minutes; making this a fast, fun filler.