Bloom (2008)

About this game

In Bloom, gardeners strive to gather various flowers to make beautiful bouquets. The challenge is that each gardener can only afford the space to plant one type of flower. Of course, a gardener could just take what he needs from his neighbors' flowers. Naturally, that means that he must jealously guard his own fields, as well. Each gardener has an animal, and the two of them defend their garden's fields from unwelcome harvests. Each player has nine field tiles, each three parcels by three parcels in size. Each parcel can be cultivated with its matching flower, or simply plowed instead. Players harvest flowers by covering them on theirs or others parcels with their own field tiles, which are placed partially overlapping the existing field tiles. A winner of the 2006 Concours International de Créateurs de Jeux de Société (as La Bonne Soupe).

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 5.
• Rules load. At 2.2/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 8 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.