Botanicula

Developer: Amanita Design
Category: Adventure
Steam Release: May 2012
Usual Price: £7.49
Hours Played: 3
Controller Compatible: No
Rating: N/A

GAMEPLAY

In Botanicula you control an assortment of five characters that bobble along together while exploring the branches of a tree. There is a nut, a bulb, a twig, a bug and a mushroom. You move from screen to screen by clicking on the white arrows at the edges and interacting with the environment. Clicking various forms of vegetation and wildlife creates some sort of response and this either helps you find various items such as keys and feathers that are crucial to furthering your journey or instigates some sort of animation that is supposed to be charming or fun. You may also sometimes click on your own party members to get them to perform necessary actions to further your progress.




The game, therefore, is about exploration but with an enormous amount of trial and error. You'll often find yourself clicking away randomly and then moving on not really knowing if you've missed something really important and then returning to do the whole process again. This time you may perhaps click on a tiny creature that you didn't click on before which suddenly sprouts something that allows you to find that elusive item. You rinse and repeat this process again and again as you slowly and painfully make your way through the game. For many, it's about appreciating the art and design and enjoying the atmosphere while for others, the gameplay will frustrate making the artwork irrelevant. 
 

DESIGN & PROGRESS

Botanicula keeps things minimal and basic and that includes the menu screens. Outside the game you have the bear bones when it comes to options with the window setting and size being the main preoccupation of the developers. To gain access to menus both inside and outside the game you simply move the pointer to the extreme top or bottom of the screen to highlight the tabs. Inside the game, there is a menu to see cards that indicate what wildlife you have encountered thus far along with an illuminated map of the explored area which appears on a lit up leaf. There is no indication to show how far through the game you have got although your journey is traced by the use of a kind of map screen which comes in the form of a glowing leaf that looks a bit like a Chinese lantern. Here, an outline of the branches you have explored become lit up as you play.

For those into collecting, there is a book of cards that shows all of the creatures you have encountered in the game. Unfortunately, there isn't a space for creatures you haven't collected yet which I think would have been a good idea for those who like clear goals. Soundtrack-wise, it's all a bit arty and avant-garde with a trippy 60s vibe and a hint of jazz but some of the musical pieces and harmonies that you can create and are really quite pleasant.I also like some of the jingles that are included to mark successful completion of certain areas. The bugs and creatures also make a big variety of intriguing sounds and I'd say the sound of the game is its big strength. The artwork is basic and very childlike with mainly pale and soft colours used to create this innocent looking world. The spider-like creature that sucks the life out of the leaves is just a blob with spindly legs but certainly generates that dark feeling of menace very effectively.

CONCLUSION

As a critically acclaimed title, my inability to enjoy the game no doubt has something to do with my lack of appreciating the artwork and the whole charm that the game is supposed to have but I'm afraid I just don't get it. Maybe I haven't got the love or maybe it's just not my sort of game but I may as well be blunt...clicking endlessly on random things to unearth clues is a plain waste of time no matter how cute or lovable the creatures and characters are supposed to be. Of course, true adventure game enthusiasts will surely get a kick out of it but games that test the player's patience is not the type of challenge for me.