Bloom has gotten a lot of praise from Playdate owners, and it’s easy to understand why. The art is beautiful, the story feels personal and the soundtrack is the perfect thing to lull you into a chilled-out state. But Bloom is also a weird one, in that it doesn’t feel quite like a game with its narrative-heavy presentation, but also doesn’t exactly feel like a visual novel.
Bloom mostly plays out through text messages, and corresponds to real time. You play from the perspective of Midori, who has decided not to attend college (unbeknownst to her parents) and instead opens a flower shop. As she chats with her family, her girlfriend, friends and other characters, you read along and choose her responses. There’s also a simple gardening element — in which you buy and plant seeds, water them and harvest them to make some money — and an arcade-style mini game.
Bloom is the kind of thing you check in on a few times a day until you’ve reached the end, which could take several weeks. There’s not that much to it in the sense of gameplay, but there is something very satisfying about the way it uses the crank to switch floors, moving from Midori’s apartment room to the roof where her garden is. It probably won’t be for everyone, but it’s worth trying if you like social sims.
