Garden Competition

About this board game

Garden Competition is a 60-minute garden-growing competition game for 3–5 players, first released in 2004. Each player takes the role of a neighbourhood student cultivating a garden in the hope of winning this year’s gardening competition.

Success depends on discovering what the judge is looking for. Every player knows some of the relevant flowers and colours, but nobody has all the information. You must work out the missing details by observing how the other players behave throughout the competition.

The nursery provides another source of tension, as players compete for limited flowers. At the same time, you are trying to earn the favour of your neighbours, making each decision part of a wider contest for recognition.

• Cultivate a garden for the neighbourhood gardening competition.
• Compete for scarce flowers at the nursery.
• Watch other players to infer the judge’s preferences.
• Learn about the judge’s private criteria by taking her out for coffee.

The judge has secret criteria that only she knows, adding another layer of uncertainty beyond the information shared among the players. Taking the judge out for a cup of coffee offers a way to learn more about these hidden requirements.

With partial information, limited flowers, and clues revealed through player behaviour, Garden Competition challenges you to make informed guesses while keeping your own knowledge in mind. Pay attention to what others are doing, cultivate carefully, and pursue the combination of flowers and colours that may impress the judge.