![]() Taking notes from Papers, Please and the like, the UI conveys a great sense of space by balancing your plant collection, the desk, various gauges, the waiting customer, the drawer with various knick-knacks, and so on. The drip-feed of dopamine wouldn't work so well without such a clean layout either. Once you've done that, returning to potential repeat orders gets easier after labeling them. As your panoply of unique vegetation grows and the info customers give to you gets hazier, you grow more obsequious about the details to get a correct match. There's an inherent reward in processing a customer's request, learning a lore detail or two about said plant, and narrowing down the correct one based on an incomplete summary or stenciled picture. It's the little things within Strange's design that keep the horticulture loop engaging. The correct choice is signaled with a chime and short musical number the wrong plant results in your dread gauge filling up, until eventually hitting a fail state (essentially a mini-game speedbump to lift the player-character's spirits before restarting with the same customer).Įven if that minor punishment doesn’t carry the weight that "dread" implies, there's just enough within its melancholy mood and presentation to capture a rich atmosphere. Said description will oftentimes specifically name and detail what it's for on occasion, however, the customer will only have limited knowledge ( "the one with the stiff leaves running up the stems") for you to then deduce the rest. The gameplay rhythm is quite simple: ring the reception bell to see the next customer in, they'll provide a description of what they're after, and you select the correct option(s) based on your uncle's horticulturalist bible. Of course, you get to smell the roses for a bit before more sinister undertones begin sprouting. stranger have taken root across the country and you've somehow found yourself in the middle of it. While ostensibly focused on fulfilling customer orders for certain ailments or the occasional bouquet for an anniversary, the more plant & fungi species you unearth the more unnerving situations you find yourself in. With the recent passing of your uncle, you've become the proprietor of this popular plant store. The town of Undermere is home to a few odds-and-ends, Strange Horticulture among them. Helmed by Bad Viking (founded by Rob & John Donkin), Strange Horticulture is among the most recent to essentially use that odd profession as more of a front for a self-described "occult puzzle game." While current console limitations prevent the Xbox version from reaching full bloom, that won't prevent anyone from admiring such strong roots. While it's true that simulators, be it farming, flight, or whatever else, were around with niche audiences before then, a specific category of indies melding an offbeat profession with important decision-making (dialogue choices, puzzles, and so on) took off alongside them. The steady rise of work games from the 2010s onward is a fascinating scenario. By Lee Mehr, posted on 19 September 2023 / 2,749 Views
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