Gardening isn’t supposed to be stressful. But Black Flower is now blooming on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam, offering a strategic roguelike where keeping your garden alive is only half the battle. The other half is dealing with unpredictable weather, limited resources and a mysterious black seed that could completely change your fortunes.
At A Glance
- Game: Black Flower
- Developer/Publisher: Triomatica Games
- Platforms: Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
- Price: £8.39
- Genre: Strategic roguelike
Growing A Garden Is The Easy Part
Black Flower takes the familiar idea of nurturing plants and gives it a decidedly more unpredictable twist. Each run plays out across a magical calendar, with every day presenting new decisions and another set of potential problems.
Weather is particularly important. Conditions can change your plans, creating opportunities while also threatening the flowers you’ve worked so hard to protect. You’ll need to manage your resources, experiment with different approaches and learn how the garden responds to the world around it.
There isn’t a guaranteed route to success either. Every run is different, meaning knowledge gained from previous attempts becomes just as important as the choices you’re making in the current one.
Everything Comes Down To One Seed
At the heart of the experience sits the titular black flower, or more accurately, a single mysterious black seed. Getting it to bloom is the ultimate goal, but reaching that point requires plenty of careful planning and a willingness to adapt when things inevitably go wrong.
Tools, devices, enchantments and weather effects can all be combined to influence the garden, giving you plenty of room to experiment. The game isn’t simply asking you to find one perfect strategy and repeat it – it’s encouraging you to understand its systems and gradually work out what might give you the best chance of success.
With more than 80 achievements to unlock, there are also plenty of reasons to keep returning to the garden once you’ve got a handle on its quirks.
A Cozy Garden With A Mean Streak
There’s an interesting contrast at the centre of Black Flower. Its handcrafted art and magical atmosphere give it a relaxing appearance, but underneath that pleasant exterior is a game quite happy to punish poor decisions.
That’s something we explored in our 3.5/5 review of Black Flower, where we described it as a game for players who might enjoy taking the cosy appeal of something like Stardew Valley and adding considerably more adversity.
It’s certainly not a garden simulator where everything goes according to plan…
Knowledge Is The Real Reward
Rather than simply handing out bigger and better upgrades, Black Flower makes learning part of its progression. Every failed attempt can reveal something useful about the weather, resources or systems governing your garden, giving you a little more information to take into the next run.
For £8.39 from the Xbox Store, Black Flower offers a rather unusual take on the roguelike formula. You’ll find it sprouting on Steam too.
The garden may look peaceful, but keeping it alive is going to require patience, planning and perhaps a willingness to accept that Mother Nature occasionally has a rather nasty sense of humour.
