Floristry
Players: 2
Playtime: 15-20 minutes
Board Game Geek
disclaimer – All for One Games was sent a review copy of this game from the publisher but the thoughts contained are our own
For a long time, my main output on any social media platform was just posting pictures of flowers. I wanted to really get into macro photography and would constantly stop on walks to admire them and snap a few pics. It was a fun little pastime and I still greatly admire flowers and will happily take some extra time out of my day to stop and look at ones I’m drawn to.
Floristry is a game about collecting flowers to build up the most aesthetically pleasing shop window display. Players have a window and compete in Dutch-style auctions to get sets of flowers. The bigger the set, the more points you score!
The premise and gameplay are both light, fun, and breezy. The real crowning achievement of the game is the way the auctions are handled. Auctions in a strictly two-player game are almost unheard of but Floristry has a masterful trick up its sleeve; there is a web app that handles it.
First, players draw four flower tiles from a bag. These each contain a picture of two flowers on them (sometimes the same flower twice). The winner of the auction gets their pick of three of the four tiles. The loser gets the scraps.
In the web app, it gives players their starting money and an area to press. Both players press and hold until they are ready for the auction to begin. Then players release their fingers and the timer starts winding down, lowering the price as it goes. When players want to win the auction they tap their part of the screen again, ideally before their opponent.
Tiles are gathered, placed into the window display, and the game continues until all tiles are gone. Then there’s a scoring phase for the largest groups of each type of flower. Ties are broken by remaining money.
Oh, and did I mention that the score markers are little cat meeples? Delightful!
I think most of the enjoyment to be had from Floristry will be based on how much you enjoy auction games. The game doesn’t ever feel restrictive enough to make you want to go crazy buying everything. Even the tiles that are kind of duds will still likely be OK in your display. But getting auctions to work so well at two players is a feat and I really admire the execution here.
Going back to my enjoyment and admiration of flowers, I do wish the game art was a touch more vibrant. The tiles are very nice looking (and feeling) but the white background doesn’t make them feel real; they just look like pictures on a tile. Which they are, so maybe that’s not such a big deal…But I wanted my final displays to inspire awe.
Floristry is a fun game that could easily be played almost anywhere. On the couch using a coffee table? Sure, why not! On the small tray tables during a flight or train ride? I think that sounds fun! On a park bench after a stroll to take lots of photos of flowers for Instagram? Don’t try to stop me!
Presentation
+ Easy to read tiles and web app interface
+/- Flower tiles are easy to read but kind of bland
+/- The window frames don’t get filled in all the way
+/- The web app isn’t as nice-looking as the game itself
Getting it Played
+ Can be taught in a minute or so and played in about 15 minutes
+ Short enough to play ‘best of three’ really easily
+/- Web app requirement might put some people off
Gameplay and Fun Factor
+ Auctions for two-players work really well
+/- Most of the game’s enjoyment reliant on how players like auctions in general
I hope you enjoyed my review! If you want more, you can also follow us on our Instagram page.Or you can see my other reviews in my geeklist!
Allie