Botany Manor Reviews

  • Rose in ShadowsRose in Shadows303,992
    15 May 2024
    5 1 1
    Botany Manor is a first-person puzzle game. Head over to the big manor. Get plenty of sunlight in the grounds and the gardens. Mildly tricky adventures in flower-growing await. Overall, the game has extremely cosy feel. Growing cool flowers did wonders to quell my depression. The game really spoke to me in "the inexplicable feminine urge to go alone to a huge manor and grow some flowers dang it" way. ...if you know what I mean.

    Puzzles consist of figuring out what do the different flowers need to germinate and grow, and finding the seeds and the hints is not always trivial. You need to first figure out which clues are about which plants - and none of the things seem overwhelming once you figure out what details to pay attention to. Looking at the achievement guides kind of feels like cheating, you'll probably won't need them. The plants are pretty interesting, too, with sometimes weird growth requirements.

    I like the graphical style - kind of lush and mildly stylised all over - and while there's not that much music, it's nice too. Overall layout of the manor isn't bad either - was running around a lot, but I found my way without getting lost.

    Achievements aren't bad. Most are story-related and some are "fumble around a bit and find out". None are missable, though you might have to go back and do what you miss, but I didn't feel it's a huge problem.

    The price seems pretty reasonable for such a short experience (though I usually say that seeing short games go for 20-25€ makes me go, "eh, do I really want this?"). I played some of the game on GamePass and bought it afterwards because I liked it. Definitely worth checking out on GamePass if you only play it for achievements.

    Rated it 4/5. Would have been 3.5/5 but I bumped it up just because it was so cosy. Could have been higher if it was longer.
    4.0
    Showing only comment.
    Fejer
    The game really spoke to me in "the inexplicable feminine urge to go alone to a huge manor and grow some flowers dang it" way. ...if you know what I mean.
    I know what you mean. It's the perfect game for my wife (she loves gardening and old manors). laugh

    Thanks for the good review!
    Posted by Fejer on 24 May at 09:35
  • evorgnayrevorgnayr278,094
    11 Apr 2024
    6 7 3
    this review is broken into achievements (where the game is reviewed with only achievement hunting in mind) followed by both the good and the bad (where the game is reviewed in terms of enjoyment)

    achievements
    achievement-wise this game is a short and easy (1-2h) completion with a guide and only a few hours longer without one

    multiple walkthroughs and video guides are available including a very nice one by @TheWelshHunt

    the good
    cozy and fairly simple puzzle game
    feels like an escape room game (but you grow plants)
    atmosphere (music and graphics blend with the overall feel of the game very well)

    the bad
    the need to backtrack to view a clue whose information you have forgotten is a little annoying (following a guide obviously removes this problem)
    4.0
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