Smell the flowers and hear the bees buzz while you walk
through a beautiful garden and see the vibrant multicolor displays of daisies,
poppies, and other fragrant flowers come alive as they grow and multiply. Floriferous is a card-drafting, set-collection game that is quick to learn and plays
in just 20 minutes, yet proves a worthy challenge for all gamers with multiple
strategic opportunities.
To start, rows of flower cards are set up in a tableau arrangement
based on player count. Each card has three possible unique property icons
consisting of flower type, color, and bugs. Two additional types of cards that can
provide potential points are 1) Arrangements: Score 1/3/5 points if your
collection contains specified sets of flower/color/bug icons on flower cards; 2)
Sculptures: Score 5/3/1 points depending on the number of sculpture cards in
your collection. There are also stone tokens to collect for end-game points. The
last row of cards in the tableau are “desire” cards, which players can choose
as personal goals in lieu of a flower card on their turn. In addition, three
“bounty” cards are placed at the top of the tableau, which provide all players
with additional scoring opportunities.
The goal of Floriferous is to take turns collecting flower cards
that best help meet the public goals presented initially and personal scoring
opportunities that evolve during the game. Moving their player markers across
the garden tableau, each player chooses one card per turn, which results in
everyone collecting five cards during each of the three rounds or “days” that
comprise the game. After each round, the card tableau is reset for the next
round and if anyone has met the objectives of a bounty card, they place one of
their player markers on it, with the most points earned for the player who
meets the goal first.
After three rounds, when everyone has 15 cards collected in their personal area, the game ends and points for public “Bounty” goals, personally collected “Desire” goals, flower arrangements, and sculptures are scored. Everyone earns an additional point for every two stones collected and an additional two points if they have the most stones. The player with the most points wins! 1-4 players can experience the beautiful artwork of Floriferous, which also has solo components and rules included. ~Marsha