When comfortable and wholesome games first hit the scene, they were counterculture — created in response and resistance to an industry that fueled violence, conflict, and a certain kind of masculinity that wasn’t keen on things like emotion or intimacy. Some people were tired of this monolithic and exclusive idea of what a game ‘should’ be — and so, in direct opposition to all this, the enjoyable game movement was created, which prioritized stories that minimized conflict and instead focused on growth and creation. This is part of the reason why there are so many enjoyable games about farming and relationships, because the themes of farming and creation are almost the complete opposite of violence and conflict.
But these days, enjoyable games have become a dominant part of gaming culture, and the non-conflict alternatives that once offered respite from the status quo are now lucrative part of the status quo. This is what happens when counterculture becomes culture: it forgets its roots and its purpose and instead imitates what is already popular. In the process, many enjoyable games fail to understand that a player’s desire for softness and kindness does not mean they want a completely toothless game. The challenge is not the conflict. It’s a challenge fun.
Now, this is a pretty intense manifesto to start a review of Botany Manor, a plant-growing game, but hear us out: Botany Manor is a game that understands its audience and its purpose, and never lets its players down. What’s more, his story is also challenging, touching on real-world themes such as sexism in academia and the limited rights of women in the late Victorian era. Botany Manor invites its players to think, engage, and even fight, but it does so through the lens of growth, cultivation, and perseverance.
When we first picked up Botany Manor, we were immediately reminded of two things: First, Witness, Thekla’s beautiful, colorful puzzle game, which bears no small resemblance to Botany Manor’s aesthetic; second, the underrated 3DS game StreetPass Garden, whose plant-growing mechanics are mechanically very similar to Botany Manor.
But the more we played, the clearer it became. It may seem derivative at first glance, but Botany Manor is more than just flat-shaded, bright colors: the interiors are thoughtfully and beautifully lit, the fonts are varied and skillfully used, and the environmental design is cohesive and compelling. As for StreetPass Garden, the similarities are again superficial. Although your job is to grow plants from seeds, each of them has different requirements and needs that you will solve through a clever puzzle, which gets more difficult as the game progresses.
Here’s the deal. The year is 1890, and you are a botanist named Arabella Greene. You are also very wealthy and have inherited the titular Botany Manor, a sprawling country pile in Somerset that is plagued by horticultural problems. Fortunately, unlike the real dilapidated mansion, all of its problems can be solved by figuring out how to grow certain plants, which will also form the basis of the book you’re writing about the “Forgotten Flora” of the world.
If you are wondering how to solve problems in the villa with plants, you are not the only one. But Botany Manor takes place in a slightly magical world where plants can do slightly magical things, like bring trees back to life or bloom when they hear birdsong. Each plant has specific requirements, which you’ll discover by finding clues around the house and then cataloging them in your book—but the actual puzzle of figuring out what the clues are telling you is left entirely to you.
For example, a plant may be documented in a certain area of Europe, where the ambient heat is much higher than Somerset, so you will need to compare the temperature chart with the information poster for the type of flower to find out exactly what temperature it needs. You will then need to find a way to raise the temperature in the room to actually start the flower. If that sounds a little complicated, well… that’s just the first puzzle. The others get a lot more complicated.
In fact, we became a bit wary of the game at times, expecting the later puzzles to become somewhat pointless. After all, we’ve played comfortable puzzle games before that lost the plot when the difficulty curve started to rise, either requiring you to make logical leaps or clumsily drop hints (like audio logs where people speak unnaturally just to let you know that the locker combination is their date birth or whatever). But Botany Manor never let us down with its puzzle systems the way we feared. Yes, later puzzles require a many traces of ia many cross-referencing, as well as little leaps of logic, but it’s fun. It will challenge you, but it won’t frustrate you (any more than a puzzle should).
What’s more, all the clues seemed to be grounded in the game’s narrative, and even if it’s mildly silly, relevant information is given to you via strategically placed letters that only to happen to talk about the problem you’re having right now, the designers at Balloon Studios clearly thought about how to make it all make sense. Even receiving the key to unlock the next part of the house comes as a delivery to the front door, accompanied by a letter from someone explaining why they had the key and why they are returning it. That’s a great job.
The game is short, lasting somewhere around four hours, but it’s a solid four hours of exploration and deep thought — if it were longer, it would risk becoming a frustrating maze of clues and corridors. In fact, even after four hours, we began to get lost in the castle’s windy passageways, occasionally going back or forgetting where we found a particular clue. The book helps some, with maps and location cues, but since your character isn’t on the maps, it can be a puzzle in itself trying to figure out where you are.
In fact, our main problem with Botany Manor was just that — we couldn’t document things more thoroughly. Each clue you get has a name and location written in your book, but if you want to remember what He said (so you can match it with one of your plants), you’ll have to find it again — no small feat in a castle (and garden!) this large. We recommend keeping your own notes if you don’t want to backtrack for a long time.
But going back is a small price to pay for a game where it’s a real pleasure to spend time and the puzzles tested us in a way that enjoyable games haven’t for a long time. The people who made Botany Manor are clearly doing very well and we can’t wait to see what they do next.
Conclusion
It looks like The Witness and a bit like StreetPass Garden, but Botany Manor blossoms into something that’s not only its own, but something very special. Don’t let its cozy aesthetic fool you — Botany Manor is full of nicely challenging, well-crafted puzzles, and it’s not afraid to tackle heavy subject matter.
