‘Blossoms’ Card Game Makes Tending Flowers a Contest
Blossoms is a card game that takes something calming like growing beautiful flowers, and makes it as quick and competitive as possible.
When it comes to fun game-night picks, there’s competitive games and there are cozy low-key games. And then there’s cross-section between the two. Blossoms is a bouquet building card game that fits right in that zone beautifully. Will you flip over a table if your bouquet isn’t nice enough to secure the win? Probably not, that’s a Monopoly move. But I foresee some friendly teasing and yelling, “oh come one!” while working towards the best aesthetic with this one.
Blossoms
Designed by Przemysław Fornal, Kajetan Kusina, Mateusz Pitulski, and Kamil Rogowski, and illustrated by Bartłomiej Kordowski, Blossoms is a game out of Poland’s Rebel Studio and Asmodee. And on its face, it’s just a nice game. The art is lovely and relaxing, the premise is simple enough, and the concept is literally flower arranging. Blossoms is a game that’s surprisingly fun, Even if- or maybe especially if- you’re not much of a gardener in your real life.
Personally, I have the opposite of a green thumb. I failed to maintain an already growing pot of basil one time. My mom still can’t believe that I could kill an almost unkillable plant, but here we are. The plants I have the best luck with are the ones you can stick outside and forget about. And plastic ones. But that may be exactly what makes Blossoms perfect for me. I may never have an eye for flower arranging or seeing my greenery thrive, but I have a decent chance at having the best bouquet in at least a few rounds of Blossoms.
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How to Play
Blossoms is easy to play and easy to learn. Players can pick up the rules and be ready to go in five minutes. As we’ve said, the goal of Blossoms is to make the most beautiful flower bouquet. Bouquet beauty and flower length are scored, and the best bouquet by the numbers wins.
To set up, each player gets two random face-down cards and three action tokens. They place their flower pots in the center of the playing area with space left above for their flowers to grow. One flower card is placed in each pot, and players take one card from the draw pile and place it aside face-down. Once setup is complete, you’re ready to play.
To play players alternate taking turns attempting to build the most points valuable combination of flowers possible. On their turn, a player can take any number of actions. These actions are:
- Growth — This allows you to draw one card from the deck and place it in any pot that has the same flower Type.
- Cut — Here you cut down one pot of flowers to score points. Taking this action will end your turn.
- Special — Players can use their action tokens to perform one extra action.
A player’s turns end when they decide to cut flowers or when they have a stroke of “bad luck.” The entire game ends when the last card is drawn from the deck.
Points are then scored by looking at the size and diversity of the flowers that players have planted. The highest score wins.
What Kind of Game is Blossoms?
At its core, this is a strategy game. Players will want to focus on what will earn them the most points, when it’s most strategic to cut their flowers, and keeping an eye on what the other gardeners at the table are up to. This isn’t chess levels of strategy, but it is a strategy based game.
How Many Players Is Blossoms For? And How Long Do Games Last?
This is a relatively small game. It’s meant for two players, and recommended for ages eight and up. Though I can’t imagine any reason someone younger than eight wouldn’t be able to play if they understood the premise.
Games of Blossoms usually last about twenty minutes on average. This is a very fast game, especially compared to lots of other board games on the market.
Is Blossoms a Re-Playable Game?
It definitely is! There is a ton of variety in cards, actions, and flower construction, so no two games will be the same. Plus, quick and competitive games like this are always borderline addicting. You’ll want to play Blossoms over and over again. If nothing else, to claw back that win. Overall, Blossoms is a game with a ton of re-playability. Its easy rules and quick nature also makes it an ideal game to introduce to a lot of different people. If they love it, everybody wins. And if they don’t it’s not something you’ll waste a lot of time on.
What Other Games Has Rebel Studio Made?
Rebel has made quite a few games, including Nemesis, Meadow, Chronicles of Avel, San Francisco, MLEM: Space Agency, D2, Dream House, and Zona: The Secret of Chernobyl. They also currently have a number of games in the vault, including City Tycoon, Basilica, Vikings: Warriors of the North, Heroes, and Drako: Dragons & Dwarves.
Where Can I Find Blossoms For Myself?
If you’d like to check this game out for yourself, Blossoms is pretty readily available on Amazon and the Rebel Studio official website, here.
Happy adventuring!