Newton native who launched board game cafés in NYC unveils first board game

Greg May moved from small town Iowa to the most populous city in America over a dozen years ago to open the very first board game café in Manhattan, and now the former Cardinal is part of a new publishing team that has just released its very first board game that will be available to players all over the globe.

When May launched the cafe — known as The Uncommons — in 2013, he quickly noticed some of the most popular games were designed for two players. It was at this moment “Floristry” first began to take shape, but it would take the collaboration of designers and a bit of waiting before it could truly flourish.

“A lot of folks wanted something interesting to play and was a little different than ‘Connect Four’ or ‘Battleship’ — some of these classics,” May said. “We had some of these games, but there was a lot of open space in the market, if you will. So I pitched the idea for a two-player, date-friendly, lightweight game.”

He pitched this idea to fellow designers David Gordon and TAM, who approached May years later with a game that they felt matched what he was looking for and would be a perfect title to play in his board game cafés. Ideally, the game would easily fit on a small table, be easy to learn and have rules that fit on one page.

Together with fellow creative Ammon Anderson they formed the publishing company UP Games, which stands for Uncommons Publishing.

May said it feels great to be able to support the designers of “Floristry” and bring this idea to life. Obviously an avid lover of board games and the world of analog games, May’s passion for the past decade has been about bringing more people into that world. And there are plenty of new games to facilitate those gamers.

“Around 5,000 games are released every year right now,” May said. “We’re kind of in a golden age of board games and have been for the past decade or so, which is very exciting. And despite that, despite all these new games and advances in board gaming, I feel like ‘Floristry’ still brings something new.”

“Floristry” released nationwide on March 21 and has been available early on shelves at Barnes & Noble stores. The board game touts itself as the first two-player board game with Dutch auctions, and it is, indeed, inspired by a real historic flower market in Aalsmeer, Netherlands.

The Dutch auction mechanic is what sets “Floristry” apart from other games.

Dutch auctions start with high prices and then steadily decrease over time. Players in “Floristry” are competing flower shop owners participating in the auction. The clock counts down from 15 seconds with price drops every three seconds. A phone app runs the auctions, requiring players to think fast.

It is also a tile-laying game. The strategy comes from players choosing their bids carefully and paying close attention to what flowers they want and which ones their opponent wants, too. Players place their flowers into their storefront frame, and at the end they earn “Charm” points. Whoever has the most “Charm” wins.

UP Games had initially planned to take the game to Kickstarter, which has been a huge boon for board game designers and creators. But when the game was brought to a convention one year ago, Asmodee — one of the biggest tabletop game publishers in the world — expressed interest in “Floristry.”

May said, “We’re excited to partner with them. They have unmatched distribution capacity and capabilities around the world. So working with, perhaps, the largest publisher of hobby board games around the world has been incredible for what is a tiny startup studio with no real employees and only one game on the market.”

What is a board game café?

May: A board game café is a place where you can go and enjoy from a massive library of games. Each of our locations has about 1,000 titles that folks can come in. You pay a cover charge to sit down and play. Most places offer an array of food and drink. We have a full coffee bar. We have beer and wine. Some of our locations have full kitchens. Some don’t. All of them host a wide array of events, whether that is for “Pokémon” or “Magic: The Gathering” and card games or meetup events. So they’re community safe spaces that are family-friendly. They also serve as a retail store as well. So you can try out a game and then buy the game from us as well.

Is it uncommon to see two-player board games?

May: I don’t think it’s uncommon, but there are a lot of what are called “abstract two-player games.” Chess is an abstract two-player game, and there are a lot others that are fairly abstract as well. Those are traditionally pretty “thinky” games. But there are a lot of great ones out there! Games like “Hive” is a game that is abstract but you can play it in 15 minutes. You don’t have to memorize openings from a book and expect to play for two hours. There are great two-player games out there, and we always suggest ones like “Jaipur” or a game like “7 Wonders Duel.” There is a trend in the few years to create two-player versions of great board games. For instance, “Azul” is one of the most popular games of the last decade. It’s an incredible game that everyone should try. Just recently I think within the last couple of weeks they released “Azul Duel” specifically for that audience.

Feel like ordering a copy of “Floristry”? Visit the Asmodee store here: https://store.asmodee.com/products/floristry