Botanicula is a point and click adventure for PC and Mac from Amanita Design, the creators of Machinarium.
Unlike most other point and click adventures, Botanicula is missing the annoyance of having to solve each puzzle in a particular way. There should be no situations in which the player finds their apparently sensible alternative solution rejected – the game so little resembles reality that the option of ‘sensible’ hardly seems to exist.
Botanicula from Amanita Design
Botanicula is set in a tree, or multiple trees (it’s difficult to tell), with the player controlling a group of seed-like characters of different shapes, sizes, and basic abilities. The baddies, tree-destroying spider-like creatures (which fit with the game’s project to help the World Land Trust to protect the rainforest), are introduced right from the beginning, giving an obvious adversary, but there is little more direction than that.
In fact, just like in Machinarium, there is no spoken or written guidance at all in the game, and the player is left to work out what to do for themselves, through clicking until something happens.
Botanicula from Amanita Design
It shouldn’t take long to work out that the goal is to progress from level to level with the eventual aim of defeating the baddies and saving the trees. Each level is won by collecting a particular set of items, and this formula is carried through right up until the game’s satisfying ending, though not such that it feels repetitive. No two environments or characters met in any level are at all like those met in another, or, in fact, in any other game you might have played. It’s this uniqueness which really makes Botanicula worth a try.
Botanicula from Amanita Design
With little surprises around every corner, Botanicula rewards the player who clicks on things just in case it does something. Each secret unlocked wins the player a card, of which there are 150 in total, though collecting them has no real purpose other than the possibility of winning ‘prizes’ (short animations) at the end of the game; it’s just for fun.
Botanicula from Amanita Design
Not all of Botanicula is lazy clicking, however. Some of the puzzles require quick reactions, some trial and error, some quite a bit of thinking outside the box. Botanicula is just challenging enough to hold the player’s interest, though not so difficult that it’ll be dismissed before the end of the first level.
Botanicula from Amanita Design
The fun, occasionally challenging, game is rounded off nicely by the pretty environments and the soundtrack, varying from calm, relaxation CD type nature sounds to catchy tunes. This is yet another title that is proving that not every game has to be like Call of Duty. If you want to try it out for yourself, it can be purchased here, for only $10 (approximately £6.20).
