Like clicking on an igloo could pop out a skiing penguin, doing so ten more times produces a different array of penguins, and the eleventh click presents an incredibly fat penguin that squashes your party and has to be air-lifted off by the mosquito. Many objects the screen will react to the nearby presence of the mouse pointer, and actually clicking on something will often yield surprising results. There’s no Hints system because there doesn’t need to be, and puzzles can often be solved by just clicking everything on screen – sometimes multiple times. While their robot-based adventure was considerably more difficult, requiring a full Hint system and even built-in walkthrough, their other games are generally far more relaxing. Gameplay-wise as mentioned this is an adventure game, with puzzles an’ all, but for Amanita fans Botanicula is closer in style and difficulty to Samorost than Machinarium. While there’s a happy ending it gets more and more disturbing before that happens. It’s like a funny fairytale packed full of comedy gold, but like all the best fairytales it has a dark side too – the spider-creatures are terrifying creations, sucking all life and colour out of the tree and its creatures, and the head one is like the Eye of Sauron with legs attached. Every single screen throws a new moment at you that’ll make you smile or outright laugh. Botanicula is sweet, unconventional, bizarre, and surprising in a thousand different ways. Not exactly the most conventional of setups for a game is it? No, and thank heaven for that. This last seed has fallen into the responsibility of a group of five friends – comprising two seeds, a twig, a mushroom, and a mosquito – who the player has to escort to safety, plant the seed and thwart the terrible spiders. This tree is under threat by a group of energy-sucking spiders, and all of the tree’s vital seeds have been eaten by the giant lead spider… save one. I love to help giant tortoises in the morningīotanicula is a puzzle-solving adventure game that takes place in the branches of a giant tree, which to the miniature inhabitants is like a huge city. I’ll do my best, but my editor’s holding a straight-jacket and a pink slip right now so I’ll also be wary. It’s also impossible to describe the magic in words – it’s like explaining a joke, you just can’t do it if you still want people to laugh. Why? Because I can’t describe any of it without sucking away some of the crucial surprise value, and if I do anyway I’ll probably be committed because it all sounds so insane. Their latest is Botanicula, and it’s simultaneously a wondrous game for players and a reviewer’s nightmare. What do they have in common? They’re all made by Amanita Design, an indie developer focused on creating lovely adventure games with no dialogue at all. “Enjoyable”, “fun”, “challenging”, “satisfying” all perhaps, but how many games can produce actual wondrous, pleasant, smile-inducing joy? I can name three off the top of my head: Samorost, Machinarium, and Samorost 2. “Joyful” is not a word I’d use to describe many games.
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