The UnderGarden
Review
Make flowers, not war
by Liam Edwards
reviewed on PC
What do you do here?
My main aim that developed while playing was to try and pollinate the gardens in as many different ways as possible and to do this as fast as I could. After a while though, the gameplay and puzzle sections began to bore me due to its lack of diversity. However, seeing the explosion of colour and witnessing the plants growing entertained me as much as some of the more intense moments I have experienced while being a gamer. There was something quite serene about it, but I found that I was not so much playing a game as much as I was watching and taking it all in.
Fortunately The UnderGarden does introduce some small changes in gameplay as you progress. Small creatures named musicians are one of these changes. These small imp-newt creatures can be found banging bongos or playing the pipes around the levels; they really do add to the atmosphere but they can also aid you by making the plants bloom even more. I have to admit I did get a bit excited at the thought of making my bright, little army being able to expand further; but as I picked up the musicians and placed them near the plants I noticed only a very subtle difference. I found this quite disappointing as I was expecting a large flurry of plant growth upon contact. From then on I just ended up using the musicians to replace seeds in weighing down platforms - using the musicians seemed to be the more sensible solution.
Move you silly creature…No! Not there!
Without even playing the console version of The UnderGarden, I can tell you that it is the preferable platform as this game needs to be played with a controller. The controls for the PC version of the game are very sluggish and manage to lag quite a bit. I had to furiously click at the screen to make the creature I was controlling move fast enough around the screen to keep me interested.
If you just slowly click where you want the character to go, expect to watch the little newt-fairy slowly float towards where you clicked. It fits with the whole Zen-like atmosphere, but it can become such a chore clicking constantly to make the character move faster. But even when you start to make the character move quicker, it then becomes a challenge to control the character without making it hit the walls constantly. The controls were sometimes infuriating as mouse clicks did not always register and sometimes a lag would occur between your command and the action on-screen.
Time to chill out
I actually quite liked The UnderGarden but there was something about it that just was not grabbing me. It is obviously not going to appeal to those players who like their high octane, cinematic action and intense gaming moments - I am a bit like this. But The UnderGarden was not made for these players; it was made for the fans and players of other classic indie games such as Flower, Braid, Flow and Limbo. Players who appreciate the beauty and simplicity in these kinds of smaller titles will surely be content with The UnderGarden. But these players may also overlook and forgive the awkward controls and strange difficulty curve.
At the end of the day, if you like indie titles and are in search of a game that allows you to unwind and encourages you to take time with it to enjoy the experience, The UnderGarden is the game for you.
7.0
fun score
Pros
Beautiful. Watching the plants grow is exciting and rewarding.
Cons
Boring. Has an unsure difficulty curve and a very strange looking main character.
