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Gorgeous game and creative puzzles
Puzzles can be a bit easy for an adult audience experienced with puzzle games and not having acquired information saved in a menu is sure to put off some players
Welcome to another Backlog Review, where we take a look at an older game that fans might have sitting waiting to be played or are still considering giving a purchase. This time we’re looking at Botany Manor!
Normally, when I think of the English countryside and English manor, I think murder, specifically a murder mystery, not Botany Manor, which is an absolutely pleasant and beautiful linear puzzle game set in a fictional late 19th century. You play as Arabella Greene, an experienced botanist finishing her research on fantastical plants in order to finish and publish her book on botany.
Botany Manor begins just as Arabella returns from adventures abroad and is conducting research on how to germinate and grow seeds she and her friends discovered on their travels. Each seed has unique conditions that must be met in order for it to grow. While you could experiment wildly with each seed, the setting has all the clues you need. The puzzles in Botany Manor all rely on finding and carefully reading notes and posters around the manor.
Originally, I rushed this first process. Many modern games have conditioned us to skim through reading in games, or skip it entirely, by either making reading rewardless or designing games that automatically save key information that is then accessible on a menu. This is not the case with Botany Manor. At first I thought of this as bad game design as I backtracked to where I remembered each clue was to reread it, but then I came to appreciate this mechanic. It forces you to take the game slower, think about what you are reading, and remember information on your own (wow, what has technology done to us if I have to call “reading, thinking, and remembering” on my own interesting game design?). Reconditioning the player to take the time to carefully read, contemplate, and remember information also makes the game more immersive and adds to the experience that you are Arabella Greene, Lady Botanist.
I’ve played my fair share of puzzle games. I found the puzzles of Botany Manor to not be particularly challenging; often you can infer the solution before gaining all the clues. While this may seem too easy, each puzzle is unique, cleverly crafted, and delightful. Most importantly, solutions never felt unfair. The clues to solve the puzzle are always there. While the plants themselves are fictitious and a bit fantastical, such as a flower that spins like a pinwheel, the puzzles seamlessly weave into the setting. I enjoyed each one and was sad to come to the final seed of the game.
Botany Manor is a linear game. Successfully growing each plant progresses the game and unlocks new areas of the manor. The story is fairly simple and easily overlooked as it’s found within notes scattered across the manor and gives us only glimpses into Arabella Greene’s life. Her struggles breaking into the field of botany as a female scientist, her relationship with her family members, her determination to be a good teacher.
While the beautiful plants you grow are completely fantastical, the letters and notes scattered about the manor that illuminate on Arabella Greene’s struggles as a female botanist trying to break her way into STEM are very real. Her story isn’t obvious and piecing together her life is almost a puzzle in itself, I prefer this kind of fainter storytelling in games. However, while I appreciate it, I recognize it may be too vague and leave other players wanting more.
Music is fairly absent from Botany Manor, but the lack of a regular, continuously playing score isn’t noticeable. The game isn’t completely void of music, but instead uses music to signify chapter progression or key story moments. The music that is in the game is pretty and suits the setting perfectly.
The manor in Botany Manor is gorgeous. If having to actually take the time to read short notes doesn’t cause you to slow down rather than rush through the game, the manor’s beautiful interior design, decor, and gardens will. Never have I wanted to stick my foot through my switch screen and enter a game in the way I do for Botany Manor. It makes me miss my times traveling London and Scotland, visiting conservatories, gardens, and palaces. The manor is lovingly crafted in a way that suits the game design and is deliciously visually appealing.
Botany Manor can easily be completed in a day. While this may seem short and the linear story of Botany Manor might mean there is little replay value, the beauty and relaxing nature of the game will bring me back wherever I am craving a stroll through a beautiful English garden.
Nintendojo was provided a copy of this game for review by a third party, though that does not affect our recommendation. For every review, Nintendojo uses a standard criteria.
