Different seasons have different board games that go with them, kind of. A board game doesn’t normally feel as seasonal as some things. For example, I’m not grilling in Minnesota when it’s -10 degrees outside, or 10 degrees. But some board games lend themselves to a feel of a particular season. So what are five that feel good for spring?

Top 5 Board Games That Feel Like Spring

5. A Gentle Rain

This one is available again, out of all of these board games A Gentle Rain was nearly impossible to get for a while. But it is back in stock or will be shortly. This game is a solo spring type of game for a relaxing and rainy day. All you do is build out a grid trying to get plants to grow. If you watch the symbols in the corners you get points. If you don’t, well, you just shuffle up the tiles and try again.

The spring elements for me, in the game, are the theme or rain which is very very loosely there. But it is more than just that, after coming out of winter, especially here in Minnesota, there is this idea of the first flower blooming as well. Things not being covered with snow or grime from the snow, but instead new life with the flowers and rain washing away that grime. So A Gentle Rain provides that feeling of spring for me.

4. Dandelions

Now we move on from a nice spring thing to another that could also easily be a summer theme in board games. Dandelions are a menace. But a lot of nature themed games seem to fit the spring theme.

Dandelions from All Play is clearly an abstract game with the theming of Dandelions. The closest thing that makes it feel like that is the artwork. But the game play you could argue simulates or works with the theme of dandelion fluff floating around as you try and collect the most of a number and the majority on tiles for the end game scoring. The game is simple and fun.

3. Meadow

Now we’re moving onto the biggest of the board games on the list. Meadow again has that nature theme to it that works well for summer. In Meadow you are building up your ecosystem of nature to score points. But as well shooting for certain combinations to take pictures and even get more points.

Meadow has some great mechanisms in the game. The biggest being how you get cards into your hand to play out. If you are familiar with Quadropolis, an older game, it does something similar. You play down a token that determines what row or column you’ll take a card from. So I might play a 2 down on the edge of column two. That means that I take the card that is two in from where I played my token. It’s a real puzzle to try and get what you want. And it can be prone, at times to analysis paralysis, especially towards end game.

2. Ohanami

We’re back into our simpler board games with Ohanami. This is a racko style game where you are drafting cards and then adding them to the top or bottom of three columns. The numbers always need to be in numerical order. Ohanami is a kind of cutthroat game at two, but a light fun game at four. Mainly because of how the scoring works where some cards score a few points every round and others score more in later rounds.

This one it is again that nature theme that makes it feel like spring. the flowering trees, the water, just everything gives it a spring feel. And like A Gentle Rain this is a relaxing game. Even with it being a bit more strategic and cutthroat in what you draft as a two player game, none of the decisions feel like they use too much brain space.

1. Floriferous

Finally we have Floriferous. This game is the first game I think of when I think of spring. It’s all about collecting beautiful flowers to get points. The main mechanism is an open drafting system where you draft from one column at a time. But you know what is coming up next, so that might impact how you draft one round. Because the row you draft in the column determines the order that you’ll draft in for the next column.

The game is one of those great balances of enough going on so it doesn’t feel like you’re just following a script. But there isn’t so much going on that you feel like you need your brain always engaged. It’s that good relaxing experience that I find I want with spring board games.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure there are other games that might make you think of spring more. But these board games on the list are some that I associate with spring. I think for me a lot of it is what spring in Minnesota is a nice time to get outside. It’s no longer 10 degrees, it’s in the 60’s and 70’s. And it is before it’s 90’s with 90% humidity. So it is that chance to comfortably go see nature again after it’s been hidden under snow.

And for me, coming out of winter, it’s nice to have that mind space that is freeing up in what I’m playing. Towards the end of winter, the last snow storm that happens at the end of March or beginning April, the snow gets you down. So my brain space can waiver for playing board games. I gravitate towards games that are a bit simpler. So a lot of the spring games don’t overwhelm you with rules.

What are some games that make you think of spring?

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