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 chill state. But Bloom is also a strange one, which does not feel it quite a bit like a game with a heavy narrative presentation, but also not like a visual novel.
Bloom mostly play through text messages, and match in real time. You play from the perspective of Midori, who decides not to go to college (unbeknownst to her parents) and instead opens a flower shop. As he chats with his family, his girlfriend, friends and other characters, you will read and choose his responses. There's also a simple gardening element — where you buy and plant seeds, water them and harvest them to earn money — and an arcade-style mini game.
Bloom is the kind of thing you check in with several times a day until you reach the end, which can take weeks. Not that much in the gameplay sense, but there's something very satisfying about the way it uses a crank to switch floors, moving from Midori's apartment room to the roof where her garden is. It's probably not for everyone, but it's worth a try if you like social sims.
