Review: Botany Manor is a dreamy game that has really grown on me

Listen, you know by now that I got my peepers on all kinds of games and that I make the grabby hands at them all. Think of me as your veritable trash panda. I see the shiny, I want the shiny. Botany Manor is the shiniest. 

Looking at this game, it initially reminded me of Myst and I still kind of get that vibe. It’s all about exploring a deserted area, finding clues to open up other areas, and then repeating that process. 

The difference between Myst and Botany Manor, however, is that Myst makes me feel the dumbest of dumb. Whereas, Botany Manor gives me the big-brain feeling. I’ll talk more about it in the actual review below. 

Botany Manor: The story of Arabella Greene

Botany Manor follows the story of Arabella Greene, a woman who has spent her life researching plants, but mostly flowers. Since this takes place in the early 19th century, you can imagine that a woman scientist isn’t a well-respected position to hold. 

Despite having scientific research and theories, you’ll find rejection letters dotted around the manor. Apparently, Arabella tried to join universities and was ultimately denied for being a woman. All of her submitted research was treated like a child showing off a crayon drawing. 

I wish that didn’t feel so current. 

As you can imagine, Arabella is well-traveled in her work to learn more about botany. When the game starts, you’re coming back from one such trip. I don’t really know how long we were gone, but some of the areas in the game make me believe it was at least a year or more. If it was a smaller trip, our crumbling staircase at the back of the house had serious structural issues.  

You start in a greenhouse attached to a conservatory. Said conservatory is filled with some sort of fog or mist that keeps visibility low.

Luckily, there’s a flower for that! I’m not kidding. We’ve discovered a flower that can dispel the fog, but we have to create the right conditions for it to grow. So, how do we do that? Well, first, we find the seed packet and then we hunt around the room for clues. 

Every room opened up will have clues to find that will aid you in figuring out how to deal with a certain plant. You’ll have a handy guidebook that has a page specifically for each plant. In this case, you’re looking for information on how to grow a Windmill Mort. 

Never fear! Plant life is here!

Around the room, you’ll find a postcard that mentions the flower by name and that it only grows in Sicily. Knowing that, when we find the “Ideal Soil Temperatures” flyer, we can see that Sicily is on there and gives us a range of temperatures depending on what type of flower you’re looking to grow. 

And, hey, wouldn’t you know it! Right next to that flyer is another one that shows several different flowers, including the Windmill Mort. This flyer tells us that it’s a volcanic flower. So, by cross-referencing Sicily with volcanic flowers, we know that a Windmill Mort will grow in an environment of 60 degrees Celsius. 

Using this information, we can adjust the heater, pop the flower in front of the heat vent, and voila! A Windmill Mort! Upon growing the flower, the fog dissipates and you can continue to the next leg of your journey. 

All of your puzzles will work like this. You find clues, input the ones you believe work for each flower, and then grow them! Not all of the clues you pick up will be relevant for a certain flower. But, that’s okay because you generally pick up the theme and the game will tell you when all the right clues are applied for a given seed. 

And that’s really all you need to know about gameplay. The puzzles shift and require different things, but the process is always the same. Find the clues, parse the details, and grow the flower to move on. 

If you couldn’t tell by my score, I had so much fun with this game and I wish it was longer than five chapters. 

Design and coziness and cons, OH MY!

When it comes to design, I couldn’t really ask for better. I’m not particularly fond of the music, but thankfully it doesn’t play the whole time. Though, even if it did, I can always turn it off. But, the sound design is next level. 

If you’re a fan of ASMR like I am, you’ll understand and appreciate when I tell you that every sound is on point and glorious. 

In terms of art design, the game is gorgeous. There isn’t anything groundbreaking about it, but I don’t think it needs more. There’s a dreamy quality to it that I find hard to describe, but I feel it fits the aesthetic perfectly. 

When it comes to coziness, I really can’t give it enough credit. It’s amazing and I love it so much. I’ll be sad when it’s over. This is going to be one of those games that I wish were longer or that I could play again.

Earlier, I likened the game to Myst and I think that’s a fair assessment. Except that when I played Myst, I was 7 and nothing made sense. Then again, I’m convinced that at 35, I’d still be mystified by Myst. Ha. 

Feed me, Arabella! – The Flowers, probably

Botany Manor doesn’t make me feel like I’m lost. Some of the puzzles didn’t click right away for me, but at no point were the puzzles unsolvable. I definitely needed to revisit some clues to get some puzzles correct, but I never had to spend more than about five minutes trying to solve it. 

As far as cons, I don’t have any. I only have one minor quibble that doesn’t knock the score simply because the game still works as intended; it’s just a personal preference. When you find clues and input them for the seed, you can see where you found that clue, but you can’t access it. If you want to view the clue again, you’ll have to go back to where you found it and view it there. 

At first, this seems tiresome, but the map isn’t that hard to navigate and you don’t have to stray too far from where you are to revisit them. None of the clues needed me to go from one end of the map to the other. 

Botany Manor Verdict

I 10,000% recommend playing Botany Manor. If you love puzzles and atmospheric games, then you’re going to love it as much as I did. Hell, even if you’re not usually a fan, I’d still encourage you to try it just because it’s such an enjoyable experience. 

I loved every single minute and I’m begging you for recommendations for these types of games because Botany Manor has created a visceral need for more. 

If you want to get Botany Manor, it releases on April 9th, for $24.99. If this is somehow not your groove, you may want to check out the review I did on another game that stole my heart, Smushi Come Home.