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In Flower Fields, the true connoisseurs of garden beauty aren’t the visitors—they’re the bees! Your mission? To design the most lush, colorful garden filled with life, charm, and a healthy dose of buzzing activity. Compete to gather the most attractive tiles, connect vibrant flowerbeds, and, naturally, charm as many bees as possible in this accessible, family-friendly game.
👥 1-4 players, ages 8+
⌛ Playing time: 40 minutes
📝 Designers: Luca Bellini & Luca Borsa
🎨 Artwork: Fabio Frencl
🏢 Publisher: Horrible Guild (review copy provided)
Gameplay Overview
Flower Fields unfolds over three rounds of play, where each turn presents you with choices that shape your garden. On your turn, you can select a tile either from a central circle or the surrounding fields, “paying” bees from your personal supply based on your choice. Place your chosen tile next to an existing one in your garden, aligning it orthogonally to grow your colorful oasis.
As you place tiles, try to connect flowerbeds of the same color to create the largest groups possible. And if your new tile has a bee icon, you’re in luck! You can place a bee from your personal supply onto that tile—although if the color group already has bees, placing additional ones will cost you extra. If you’re low on bees, don’t worry; you can also choose to collect two bees from the fields or place a bee on an empty icon you didn’t fill before.
When the last tile in the circle is taken, it’s time to count up each player’s bee income. This income is calculated by looking at the beehive and spider web icons on your player board and tiles in your garden, attracting bees based on the difference between the two icons. With bee income handled, the circle and field tiles are replenished, and a fresh round begins.
After three rounds, it’s time to see who’s truly got the best buzz. Players add up their scores based on several factors: yellow, red, and blue areas in your garden score points for each bee, multiplied by the number of zones in those colors. Green areas score one point per zone in the largest area, while fully filled rows and columns grant five extra points each. The player with the most points at the end takes the win—and the title of top gardener in Flower Fields!
Flower Fields Review
Let’s start with some game basics! Flower Fields is a fresh release from the Italian publisher Horrible Guild, hitting tables just last month at Spiel Essen in Germany. Designed by Luca Bellini and Luca Borsa, this light, family-friendly game accommodates 1 to 4 players, ages 8 and up, and takes about 40 minutes—just the right amount of time to grow a beautiful garden without putting your whole day on hold!
Components and Production
Now, what goodies are packed inside the box? For starters, there are four individual player boards, each representing your personal “garden,” plus a central field board where all the flower tiles gather for drafting. Around the field board, you’ll set out polyomino flower tiles for each round, choosing from a total of 52 tiles, which you’ll draw from a handy little bag. You’ll also get custom wooden bee tokens (yes, they’re as cute as they sound!) and a sturdy wooden sun token, which indicates which tiles are available. A scorepad helps you tally up points at the end.
As for quality, everything feels solid, built for repeated family play without any flashy frills. The flower tiles are brightly colored and easy to tell apart, and the artwork by Fabio Frencl is charming without stealing the spotlight. Did I mention those wooden bees? They’re definitely a hit for anyone who appreciates small, adorable game pieces!
Rules and Complexity
The included rulebook is wonderfully clear and concise, with a quick-reference guide on the back for the first rounds. Flower Fields is both inviting and engaging, hitting that happy middle ground where everyone, from kids to grandparents, can jump in and enjoy without feeling overwhelmed. The gameplay is intuitive, combining tile placement, open drafting, and a little bit of “bee management” (yep, that’s right!). You’ll quickly find yourself getting the hang of it, and from there, the real fun begins.
Gameplay and Strategy
Flower Fields offers up a puzzle of thoughtful planning and adaptability. Each turn, you’ll pick and place tiles strategically, aiming to connect flowerbeds of the same color to score more points. Managing your bees wisely is crucial: they help skip over tiles you don’t need and pollinate flowerbeds, making them more valuable. Alongside this, keeping track of hives and clearing spider webs boosts your bee income at the end of each round.
The beauty of Flower Fields lies in the flexibility of its strategy. You might focus on building a few big, high-scoring flowerbeds, or switch gears and go for those filled rows and columns for extra points. Or maybe a bit of both! With options open, every game lets you experiment with different tactics based on the tiles you have and what your opponents leave behind.
Even though everyone builds their own garden, Flower Fields is surprisingly interactive. Since all the available tiles are visible each round, you can plan ahead, at least, until another player swoops in and snags the tile you were eyeing! It keeps the game lively, as everyone’s got to stay flexible when plans go sideways. Since tiles appear in a new order each game, you’re in for a fresh experience each time, keeping things interesting and full of replay value.
Final Thoughts
In the end, we think Flower Fields is a delightful puzzle, challenging you to craft the best garden you can from the tiles at hand. It was easy to see that players of all ages were having a great time, loving how the game combines just enough strategy with plenty of laid-back enjoyment. Even our youngest player had a fantastic time and did surprisingly well, thanks to his love of puzzles. It’s a great example of why Flower Fields is the kind of game everyone in the family can enjoy together.
Horrible Guild has once again succeeded in bringing a solid family game to the table. With a happy theme, simple rules, and gameplay that flows as naturally as a blooming garden, it’s a wonderful choice for those moments when you just want an easygoing, cheerful game that everyone can have fun with.
📝 We received a copy of the game from the publisher, Horrible Guild.
