The Board Game Collection

April Showers Bring Spring Board Games

spring board games

Spring has sprung, with flowers everywhere, and beautiful gardens have started to draw in the birds, the bees, and the other lovely pollinators that make our world better. The absolutely stunning visuals of the season make it the perfect time to play some spring board games to celebrate!

Your 9 Best Spring Board Games to Play

Gartenbau

Gartenbau Game - Spring game

Age: 14+ (Community 12+) Players: 2-4 Time: 30-60 minutes

Designed for 2 to 4 players, Gartenbau runs between 30 and 60 minutes, and works great for players aged 12 and up, according to the board game community. The beautifully designed game centers on one of the most important aspects of spring: flowers! Players lay tiles in a tableau to create stunning gardens, designed through specific growing requirements. The tiles are drafted, with a dual track rondel combined with three tile layers forming the core of the gameplay.

If you love plants, you’ll love this game, as every player takes on the role of a gardener aiming to create a mature, well-balanced garden through the four seasons. This means the tiles enable players to sow seeds and grow a variety of plants, then care for them through complex conditions that show off their horticultural prowess. Prestige points are earned along the way, and whoever scores the most of these earns the title of Master Gardener.

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Gartenbau, set in the late 19th Century, uses vintage garden and plant imagery of the era and is dedicated to these unknown artists who crafted the stunning catalogs of the time.

A Fistful of Daisies

A Fistful of Daisies Game - Spring games

Age: 6+ Players: 2-4 Time: 20 minutes

Designed for two to four players, aged 6 and up, playing out over 20 minutes, A Fistful of Daisies offers not only some of the most appropriate spring board game play, but also happens to be ridiculously adorable, silly, and fun. The premise: cows in the Valley of Herens must fight each other to win delicious flowers and race home to the cow shed first.

Players in this nonsensically delightful game take on the role of cows in the competition. During gameplay turns, players roll dice, and then each player drafts one die in the turn. Players move their cows around the board, aiming to end up in a flower field of their intended flower color. If they do so, the player takes a token and covers a colored space on their board. If they land where another cow rests, the two cows duel by rolling the cows to see which one ends up revealing more spots. Whoever wins the duels earns clover tokens equal to the number of spots rolled. Every four clover tokens earn a flower of the player’s choosing. Whichever player covers all their flowers first and gets back home to the cowshed where they started wins the game, making it a fun playing experience for everyone involved.

Wild Flowers

Wild Flowers Game

Age: 8+ Players: 1-4 Time: 20-45 minutes

Wild Flowers welcomes between one and four players, ages 8 and up, in games that run anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes. The game, filled with gorgeous artwork, requires strategic thinking, as players plant flowers petal by petal. Every player must complete secret gardening tasks while growing their flowers and looking to gain flowers with bumblebees in tow. This game provides quality time for families and friends, fostering bonding and connection.

To play, each gardener must lay Petal tiles to create their flowers and score points. Bumblebee markers must be placed on flowers once they are completed to claim them (meaning anyone can grow the flowers, but only the one who lays a bumblebee marker can claim that flower as theirs). If the flowers you claim happen to match your secret garden plans, you score points.

On each turn, players lay 1 to 3 Petal tiles from their drafted hand onto the custom, unique garden game board grid. Every Petal tile must match the colors of the flower it is connected to. During your turn, you may lay out a bumblebee marker on any flower to claim it, but the flowers should be chosen wisely. To be complete, flowers require 6 matching petals to gain the bumblebee point. Petal tile racks also hold 3 garden cards with your secret garden plans, each of which is valued at different points (from 1 to 5). If you match the flowers claimed with bumblebees to your secret objectives, you score extra points. But you don’t want to be too obvious about these goals, or players will suspect you and will block you from scoring. At the end of each turn, players draw tiles again until they have 5 tiles and 3 cards with which to start the next round. Once a player has collected 5 flowers with bumblebees on them, the game ends. Points are then tallied, and whoever scores the most points overall wins the game.

Trellis

Trellis Spring Game

Age: 10+ (Community 8+) Players: 2-4 Time: 20 minutes

Because no spring adventure in the world of plants could be complete without a Trellis, this delightful board game makes the list of the best spring themed games to play with the whole family. According to the game community, players as young as 8 will enjoy it, and 2 to 4 players are accommodated in this 20-minute delight.

Your goal: Create a gorgeous garden of tiles with flower meeples and connecting vines of matching colors. Gardeners in this delightful game race to be the first to play all their flowers in a network of colorful flowering vines. But, when you’re playing, helping each other grow their flowers can actually help you, too. So, strategically choosing the placement of your gardening tiles is critical to the success of everyone’s play.

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To start, every player has a collection of flower meeples in their player color, along with a hand of hex tiles with differently colored vines on them. On each turn, an active player must plant a tile on the table, expanding the garden. When a tile is played, an automatic bloom occurs, then all newly connected vines bloom flower meeples, if the newly connected vine matches its color with the neighboring tile – but only if the vine on the neighboring tile has had a flower meeple already planted on it. The same active player then plants a bloom to claim a vine on the tile they placed, and immediately each unclaimed vine of the same color on neighboring tiles becomes connected and automatically blooms for the player. Then, if an opponent has flowers bloom due to this tile placement, the active player is able to place a bonus flower for each flower bloom their tile helped create. If no unclaimed vines are available on the tile, though, the active player places a bloom on any unclaimed vine somewhere else in the garden. Ultimately, the first player to play all of their 15 flower meeples wins.

Wingspan

Wingspan Game - spring games for kids

Age: 10+ Players: 1-5 Time: 40-70 minutes

Springtime isn’t just about gardens – it’s also all about birds and wildlife as they emerge from their wintry dens and return from their far-off wintering grounds. So, what is more appropriate to enjoy as a spring board game than Wingspan, the game is all about creating healthy sanctuaries for our feathered friends! The competitive card-driven, engine-building board game features over 170 birds in stunning illustrations which alone make owning the game worth it.

Players take on the role of bird enthusiasts, from researchers to bird watchers, collectors, and ornithologists. Every player aims to discover and attract the best birds to their wildlife preserves. Every bird of the game offers unique benefits to its new environment, thanks to a chain reaction built through combinations within the habitat. Every habitat players create focuses on different aspects to draw in these feathered friends for the most points after the four rounds of play – and the ultimate win. Seek food tokens via custom dice in the included bird feeder dice tower, encourage birds to lay eggs using the egg miniatures in varied colors, and draw the unique and beautiful bird cards to play into your sanctuary to win the game. The game also educates players about the natural habitats found in national parks.

Meadow

Meadow Game - spring party games

Age: 10+ Players: 1-4 Time: 60-90 minutes

It’s not just birds who flourish in the springtime: All things living in the Meadow come out to play and grow and delight, too! And in this stunning game filled with beautiful hand-painted watercolor illustrations, players become explorers bent on earning qualifications as the most skilled nature observer.

The medium-weight set collection game for 1 to 4 players asks players to collect cards with the most valuable species, discoveries, and landscapes while working towards specific set goals. Players take turns placing path tokens on two boards, which allows players to draft cards that then must be played to meet specific requirements. Tokens on the bonfire board activate special actions to help a player’s strategy meet success while collecting cards develops their skills and collections towards the ultimate win at the final bonfire competition of the game. Whoever has the most points in the end wins the game.

Azul: Queen’s Garden

Azul - spring themed games

Age: 10+ (Community 12+) Players: 2-4 Time: 45-60 minutes

Similar to the original tile-laying game of Azul, the newer iteration Azul: Queen’s Garden takes a new turn and explores different tiles for a gorgeous game using the same signature drafting mechanism of the original. The premise for this game, for those unfamiliar with the series, dates back to the real world, uniquely gorgeous tiles of the Moors drawn into Portugal. The game features the “history” of King Manuel’s great love of the stunning tiles known as azulejos, now commissioned as a garden design in Portugal at the palace of Sintra – meant for the king’s wife Maria of Aragon.

To play, each person must arrange the garden by arranging stunning plants, trees, and embellishment features by laying colorful tiles. Ultimately, the most stunning use of tiles wins the game, thanks to the points granted by patterns and designs crafted in gameplay. Azul: Queen’s Garden is the perfect game for those who enjoy strategic tile-laying games.

Planted: A Game of Nature and Nurture

Cascadia Game - spring games

Age: 10+ (Community 8+) Players: 2-5 Time: 20-30 minutes

Head indoors for a floral escape into the houseplant realm for those rainy spring days in Planted: A Game of Nature and Nurture. Your goal in the game is to create the most gorgeous collection of house plants. The game features 42 plant species and varieties of exotic and popular plants folks in the real world choose to grow indoors (like fiddlehead ferns, ZZ plants, philodendron, croton, and monstera) – and each of them has its own unique set of care requirements. The game is pretty easy to learn and play, so kids as young as 8 (according to the game community at least!) can quickly pick it up and join in on the colorful plant-y fun. It is perfect for playing with family members, promoting quality time and bonding.

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Use the various planting tools and decorations to help your favorite plants grow while you combine the right amount of water, plant food, and light to keep them healthy. Score points through healthy growth and bonus points through additional tasks. Whoever scores the most points wins the title of Green Thumb Plant Parent.

Cascadia

Cascadia Game

Age: 10+ (Community 8+) Players: 1-4 Time: 30-45 minutes

Get out into the great outdoors in Cascadia, a spring board game set in the habitats of the wildlife of the Pacific Northwest. The tile-laying, token-drafting puzzle-y game uses stunning artwork to engage the senses, while strategy and creativity drive the gameplay.

Cascadia gameplay involves players taking turns building terrain areas and populating the wildlife within. Each player starts with three hexagonal habitat tiles, each with five types of habitat on them. On turns, players choose a new habitat tile that’s paired with a wildlife token to lay on the table next to other tiles. The animals are placed in appropriate habitats to accommodate their wildlife needs. Every tile in the game shows 1 to 3 wildlife types from the 5 total of the game, meaning players have pretty decent options for placements of their critters. Careful strategy must be used, though, as only one tile can be played on a habitat. The game sounds rather complex, but it’s not that hard to learn in actuality, and kids as young as 8 can pick it up and enjoy the stunning artwork and gameplay. Players earn victory points based on how well they meet the wildlife needs and create harmonious habitats.

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Conclusion

Be sure to gather a smattering of plant-based fun, outdoor adventures, and critter-focused spring board games for the ultimate fun way to spend rainy spring days. You’ll delight in the springtime world and maybe even learn some new plant and animal species as you play along.

FAQ

1. What are some recommended spring board games for families?

The article suggests several spring board games that are great for families to play games together, including Gartenbau, A Fistful of Daisies, Wild Flowers, and Trellis. These games are designed to be engaging and fun for players of various ages, making them ideal for family game nights.

2. Which board game is best for bird enthusiasts?

Wingspan is an excellent choice for bird enthusiasts. It is a competitive, card-driven, engine-building board game that features over 170 birds with stunning illustrations. Players aim to create healthy sanctuaries for birds, making it perfect for those who love avian themes. The game is also suitable for grade students as it offers educational value through engaging and interactive play.

3. Are there any board games mentioned that focus on nature and wildlife?

Yes, several board games focus on nature and wildlife, making them perfect spring games. Examples include Meadow, which involves players collecting cards with valuable species and landscapes, and Cascadia, a game set in the habitats of the Pacific Northwest, where players build terrain areas and populate them with wildlife.

4. What board game can be played indoors on rainy spring days?

Planted: A Game of Nature and Nurture is a great option for indoor play on rainy spring days. It involves creating a collection of house plants, using planting tools and decorations to help them grow, and scoring points based on healthy growth and additional tasks.

5. How does the game Azul: Queen’s Garden differ from the original Azul?

Azul: Queen’s Garden takes a new turn from the original game by exploring different tiles and using the same signature drafting mechanism. Players arrange tiles to create stunning gardens, and the most beautiful use of tiles wins the game, focusing on points granted by patterns and designs.

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