In Haru Ichiban players take on the role of apprentice gardeners who need to use ‘The Wind of Spring’ to their advantage in order to create harmonious patterns of their blossoms on the lilypads.Each gardener has eight flower buds numbered 1-8, with three of those buds being in hand at the start of a round. Sixteen lilypads are placed in the 5×5 pond, with one of them turned to its dark side.Each gardener simultaneously chooses a reveals a bud, with the player with the lower number becoming the Little Gardener and the other becoming the Grand Gardener.In order:

1. The Little Gardener places one of his colored blossoms on the dark lilypad.
2. The Grand Gardener places one of his colored blossoms on the lilypad of his choice.
3. The Little Gardener moves one lilypad to an adjacent space, possibly moving other lilypads at the same time.
4. The Grand Gardener flips one unoccupied lilypad to its dark side.
5. Each gardener takes