Perennial - when a garden becomes a spatial puzzle

How do you turn a prairie into your own garden?

In Perennial, players enter the world of the wild North American prairie and gradually create their own piece of nature. Flowers are joined by animals, small ponds, and other elements of a living landscape. But this garden is not simply meant to look beautiful - its plants and inhabitants are connected, turning the creation of a prairie into a spatial puzzle.

The game comes from Flatout Games, a publisher and design collective known for projects such as Calico, Cascadia, and Propolis. Together with designer Emily Vincent, the team brings its experience with spatial puzzles into a world of wildflowers and prairies. The illustrations by Beth Sobel help capture the game's calm, natural atmosphere.

Perennial is designed for 1-4 players aged 10 and up, with games lasting around 30-45 minutes. The game unfolds over four rounds as players gradually shape their own piece of prairie. The goal is not simply to collect beautiful elements, but to see how plants, animals, and natural features can exist together within one garden.

How do small elements come together to form a prairie?

Each round of Perennial begins with a small collection of natural finds that will become a new part of the garden. Flowers and animals come in different shapes, so players must find a suitable place for them within the growing prairie. Some elements are worth placing close together, while others are better saved for future combinations.

Special cards play an important role by defining the shape of a new group of elements. They can be rotated and flipped, allowing the same collection of flowers and animals to fit into the garden in different ways. As the prairie grows, separate areas begin to connect, while open space becomes increasingly limited.

Nature also keeps offering new possibilities. Seeds can help find specific plants or slightly reshape an existing landscape, while large rocks may need to be worked around or removed. Ponds and other natural features also become part of the garden, helping connect different types of flowers into a single composition.

This keeps Perennial a calm game about creating a wild prairie, where every new plant or animal can change what the garden will eventually become.

How does the garden begin to bear fruit?

In Perennial, each part of the prairie gradually develops its own character. Groups of matching flowers become important parts of the garden, with larger patches potentially earning more points. But plants do not exist on their own - animals live among them, and their behavior depends on which flowers are nearby.

Rabbits pay attention to certain flowers in their rows, squirrels look at plants in their columns, and owls focus on what grows around them. A good neighborhood can therefore be just as important as collecting the right flowers. The same part of the garden can contribute to several different goals at once.

Ponds add another natural element. They reward variety among the flowers around them, making it especially interesting to gather different types of plants near the water. Other landscape features provide fixed values and help complete the overall composition.

For players looking for a more demanding challenge, Perennial offers additional goals. These introduce new conditions for the entire garden and encourage players to look at familiar plants, animals, and natural features in different ways. The core game remains complete without them.

In the end, a successful prairie in Perennial is not built around a single perfect element. Its value comes from the way flowers, animals, and water begin to work together.

Who is Perennial for?

Perennial may appeal to players who enjoy calm nature-themed board games but still want a substantial spatial puzzle to solve. There is no need to constantly monitor the other players - the main focus stays on your own garden and on finding the best way to bring its plants and inhabitants together.

The game also offers different levels of complexity. Family Mode makes Perennial more accessible for a first play by removing some of the additional elements. Solo players get a dedicated mode with its own scenarios and achievements, allowing them to explore the prairie on their own.

Perennial is currently on Kickstarter, with Flatout Games preparing the game for a physical release in 2027. The campaign continues the project's journey from a digital prototype to a full tabletop edition while preserving its central idea - creating a small living prairie where plants, animals, and natural features gradually come together as one landscape.

But you can already explore this prairie on Tabletopia. Start with a few flowers and animals, add some water, and see what your garden becomes. Perhaps the most unusual prairie you create will begin with just one small patch of land.