Bloomin' Gardens
Bloomin' Gardens is a strategy puzzle game in which the object is to line-up rows, columns or diagonals of five (5) or more matching flowers to eliminate them from play. The more flowers that match, the higher the score awarded. The game is actually a clone of Lines, and it has the feel and appeal of a classic casual game: it's easy to pick-up and play and yet difficult to master.
To play, simply click on a flower to uproot it, and then click on a free square to replant it. There must be a free path between the two squares to move a flower, diagonals excluded.
For every flower you move, three (3) new flowers are added to the garden grid in random locations. The types of flowers that will arrive next are displayed to the right of the grid. When your garden becomes full, the game is over.
There is no time limit to the game, which is a nice departure from other tile-matching games. The gameplay is one-part strategy and one-part luck due to the random placement of new flowers. To achieve the higher scores on the high score list, you'll need to work at eliminating complete rows or columns to be awarded maximum points.
Points are awarded in the game as follows:
Note: Matching a row and column (or diagonal) simultaneously awards points for each separately, not a combined total.
- 5 flowers . . . 5 points
- 6 flowers . . . 8 points
- 7 flowers . . . 13 points
- 8 flowers . . . 20 points
- 9 flowers . . . 28 points
The game, hosted by Miniclip, is fun to play and can be quite addictive. I found it a bit frustrating that I could not achieve scores even remotely close to what appears in the high score list. I also noticed a bug in the code that happens sometimes when new random flowers appear that make a match of 4 or 5. The bug prevented me from using one or more of the freed spaces for replanting. It did not happen enough for it to affect my overall satisfaction with the game, however. Click.
Thanks go to Seb for suggesting the game. =)
*First comment dance* Woo!
I saw this ages ago on Miniclip.com, and it's really hard. O__O Good fun though. My mom is obsessed with this game. That and various Mahjhong games. She's like me, finds a good game that she likes and becomes obsessed with playing it. ^__^ Lol. Good find Jay! Woo!
I am happy today. o_o';; Lmao! xD
Here are some strategies that Seb suggests...
Watch the next plants to plan your move.
Diagonals are good too.
Preferentially move plants from the center to the edge rather than
the other way around to keep your paths open.
Every move that doesn't clear flowers will add 3 to the garden. So
clear every time you get the chance, it's usually not worth going for
lines longer than 5.
Ideally, each move should remove an obstruction and help complete a line.
Work with what you have, watch for spontaneous lineups and complete them.
Maybe I am missing the point, but isnt this exact copy of Lines (ColorLines) game?
I remember playing ColorLines over 10 years ago and it was made by russians:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lines_(video_game)
Like with other great russian game Tetris this one too never made the creators rich millionaires like one would expect for the game which has been played in millions computers. Russians say original PC version only sold 150 copies :)
I know dozens of similar clones and actually dont see why Blooming Gradens is any better then original. I dont like pseudo 3D as it makes easy to misplace the flowers and harder to see possible lines.
Sorry, if this is completely different game and I just didnt understand it.
I never played ColorLines, though after reading the description from Wikipedia I have to agree that Bloomin' Gardens is indeed a clone of that.
I've updated the entry with that fact. Thanks Tony. =)
I remember DOS version of this game, it was named "bullets" or so (with colour spheres instead of flowers). There was some clones for Windows - to which women used to be addicted quickly ;) - Personally I didn't like any of them, but this one which beautifull graphics and pleasant sound is quite cool. Thanks for recommending it.
This seems like it should be a good game, but the rules for placing the flowers don't seem to be very consistent - maybe that's the bug you mentioned, Jay. I haven't yet been able to play a full game, because it just won't let me put flowers where I want them...
I've played so many variants of this game that it isn't even funny. Something I remember liking is a game where the when you took out a group, another unique item appeared. When you took a group of these you got a number of bonus points and an even better item, which could in turn be grouped with others of its kind. This went one basically expotentially and was a great method of incentive to carry on the game.
Maelstrom - when moving a flower, the path to the new location must be free via a sequence of vertically and horizontally adjacent squares.
My guess is you were trying to move it diagonally, which is not allowed.
Duh! It helps to read the instructions before asking questions - I missed the free path restriction...
May be this game is not so new, but I like it, and consider it can help to spend free time, for example, during lunch time. But not easy to learn :).
It seems to me there are more bugs in the game: sometimes there is a free path to a new location, and the move is still hindered. I have taken some screenshots on these cases, to prove my words. Just would like to know who's maintaining the code (if anybody), to inform them. As a software engineer myself, I think I would be able to design a bug-free algorithm for the game.
You can work around the glitch if you're observant. It happens when a flower pops up in a line of 4 and clears the line. BUT...the flower that blooms is the wrong color. For example, a yellow flower may bloom at the end of a row of 4 red rose bushes. The line SHOULDN'T clear, but it does. The game keeps the odd ball spot 'closed', as if the yellow flower is still there. You can clear the blockage by using the blank square in a row of 4+ yellow flowers. When the row of yellow flowers clears, the blocked and seemingly empty space will clear also, allowing you to pass through it again.
I would really love to mortally injure the person who created this game.
I don't care what anybody says, it is impossible to score more than 300 points in it.
You start with 6 different flowers.
You have to get 5 of the same flower in a row for them to disappear. BUT, for every one flower you move, three more pop up in random locations...
IMPOSSIBLE.
The most I scored is 677. Luck is a big factor is this game. I don't understand how people are getting over 2000, though.
Thanks for the clues to improving my gardening game. The sound effects make this one unusual and relaxing, the reasons I like it.
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