Arcade

Crowd shooter: Bloom Brigade.

Lead a squad of ladybugs up the garden path: they run and fire on their own while you steer through the better gate, shoot barrels open, dodge thorn bars and narrow bridges, outlast weevil hordes and bring down a boss that fights back at the end of each of eight plots.

All agesAge guidance

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Enable JavaScript to play. Your game saves stay in this browser.How to playTouch the garden or press Space to march. Drag, or hold the arrow keys or A/D, to steer the squad. Tap the flower button or press B (or Shift) for the Bloom burst once its meter is full. Pick a perk by tapping a card or with 1, 2 or 3. P pauses.

Gate rows offer a choice on each side: +N adds ladybugs, −N takes them away and ×N multiplies the squad. You pass the side your squad is on. Seeds that hit a +N or −N gate raise its number.

Acorn barrels show their hit points. Shoot one open for its drop: a swarm of ladybugs, a stronger seed pod, rapid fire or seeds. Running into a whole barrel costs ladybugs.

Weevils charge the squad and cancel ladybugs one for one; crowned brutes take six seeds and cost three ladybugs. Spinning thorn bars and the edges of narrow bridges cost ladybugs too, and a captain or thorn wall halts the march until it is shot down.

At the end of the path the boss walks in and fights back: step out of a red slam lane, away from thorn shadows, and shoot its crown for critical hits. It attacks faster at 66% and 33% hit points.

Some gates are risky. A trade gate gives ×3 but slows your fire for a while, a ? gate hides what it gives, a wilting gate shrinks while you wait, a flip gate turns from a loss into a gain once enough seeds hit it, and convert gates turn part of the squad into bees (their seeds fly farther and hit harder) or beetles (each blocks two losses).

When a guard falls, choose one of three perks for the rest of the run. Kills fill the Bloom meter; when it is full, a flower wave clears weevils, hurts brutes and takes a chunk off a guard or boss, and cancels the attack it is winding up.

From the third plot on, bosses have a signature move: a burr shield you break by shooting the rolling barrel, a charge that sweeps two lanes in turn, a stomp that closes a lane with brambles, and a king who calls captains and fans royal thorns. All of them are telegraphed.

When the boss falls, the survivors climb a bonus stair that multiplies the score.

Besides the eight plots, the start card offers the daily plot (one generated garden per day, best score of the day kept) and the endless garden, which keeps getting harder until the squad falls.

Seeds buy armory upgrades: three roots, branches that open once a root is levelled (lucky acorns, crown sight, a leaf shield) and three seed pods (spread, pierce, splash), which crates can also drop. Plot stars open squad skins. Everything is saved in this browser.

How to play

Goal. Reach the end of all eight plots with ladybugs to spare and bring down each boss.

The march

Touch the garden or press Space and the squad starts running up the path by itself, firing volleys of seeds. You only steer: drag anywhere, or hold the arrow keys or A/D.
Every ladybug fires, so a bigger squad hits harder. P pauses, and the march pauses while the tab is hidden.

Gates, barrels and drops

Each gate row has a choice on either side: +N, −N or ×N. The squad takes the side it is on when it reaches the row. Seeds that hit a +N or −N gate raise its number, so shooting a bad gate early can turn it good.
Acorn barrels count their hit points down as seeds land. Shot open, they drop a swarm of ladybugs, a stronger pod (Twin, then Sunflower), rapid fire or seeds. Running into a whole barrel smashes it but costs ladybugs.

Obstacles and guards

Some gate rows slide their divider from side to side: wait for the better half to come to you. Spinning thorn bars cost ladybugs on every touch, so swing wide of them. On a narrow log bridge, keep the squad in the middle or the edges fall in.
Weevil hordes charge the squad and cancel ladybugs one for one; crowned brutes take six seeds and cost three ladybugs. Mid-plot, a Brute Captain or a thorn wall halts the march until you shoot it down.

The boss and the bonus stair

At the end of the path the march stops and the boss makes its entrance. It slams a lane after flashing it red (steer out), throws thorns whose shadows show where they land, and summons weevils. At 66% and 33% of its hit points it attacks faster.
Seeds that hit its golden crown are critical hits worth 2.5 times as much. Once it falls, the survivors climb a bonus stair: each step uses a few ladybugs, and the top step reached multiplies the score.
Stars count the ladybugs left when the boss falls.

Daily, endless and the armory

The start card switches between the plots, the daily plot (a garden generated from today's date, the same all day, with your best score of the day kept) and the endless garden, which keeps getting harder and scores distance, weevils, guards and barrels.
Every march pays seeds. The armory's three roots (faster volleys, harder seeds, more ladybugs at the start) open branches: lucky acorns (weaker barrels), crown sight (bigger critical hits), a leaf shield (smaller losses to thorns, bridges and the boss) and three seed pods.
Pods change how seeds fly: spread fans out extra seeds, pierce flies through three weevils, splash bursts over nearby ones. Crates can drop a pod for the rest of a run. Plot stars open squad skins. Progress, seeds, upgrades, pods and skins are kept in this browser.