Open up Botany Manor for the primary time, and also you’re instantly struck by, for lack of a greater time period, an overwhelmingly cozy vibe. This sport oozes positivity and brightness; your ears get hit with what feels like white noise, with a relaxing harp blended in with the sounds of birds chirping and water working. The world round you is extremely vivid, with intense, saturated colours for the timber and crops and soft-looking grass that crunches slightly below your toes as you stroll. Should you’re on the lookout for a sport that’s the definition of “cozy,” this may be towards the highest of that record.
That vibe by no means adjustments all through the sport’s brief run time, however this aggressively twee visage is barely a part of the story. Whereas Botany Manor simply duties you with rising some uncommon crops, you shortly study that it’s not really easy. All these crops require distinctive circumstances to develop, like wind that blows at simply the precise velocity or soil imbued with the right amount of surprising elements, which seemingly received’t be available. You’ll want to search out the lacking items, together with solutions about your character’s historical past, throughout the sprawling Botany Manor.
The sport provides you simply the correct amount of instruments and knowledge to go about your duties, beginning with a easy tutorial throughout which you’re tasked with rising one plant. For essentially the most half, it’s a must to determine methods to play by poking round and clicking on objects, bringing separate bits of knowledge collectively to develop the plant. It’s not too sophisticated as soon as you discover what you want — and also you’ll assign all of the found clues to the suitable plant in your journal, so it’s simple to maintain observe of all of it — however that’s simply the beginning. That tutorial then units you up for far more tough duties in a while.
![Two towers drawn in a notebook in Botany Manor. They show some windows on the tower open and have wind speeds recorded.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/WFxt0Zqvy-rCbwvhZwzzTRXam6g=/0x0:1600x900/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1600x900):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25402954/20240411165822_1.jpg)
Picture: Balloon Studios/Whitethorn Video games
![A note showing information about cider making and apple blending in Botany Manor.](https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/V2rAmsDo7hIUoe2mZnXh6eT_wOU=/0x0:1600x900/1200x0/filters:focal(0x0:1600x900):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25402958/20240412155047_1.jpg)
Picture: Balloon Studios/Whitethorn Video games
Botany Manor isn’t a tough sport general, but it surely’s extra complicated than you’d anticipate, with every puzzle intricately specified by numerous areas of the property. Many sections are initially closed off, and you may solely unlock them by fixing puzzles. Generally any person will ship a key to your property on the entrance gate after you’ve grown a sure variety of crops, or fixing a puzzle will unlock a secret space. You’ll should verify your map typically as you go about your quests.
However inside that complexity is a streamlined consideration to element. This turns into clear as you progress, with one room providing you with a clue about one thing you’ve seemingly already seen in one other. You’ll see a lab setup, for instance, and discover a word in a close-by room about the way you’ll want to mix some chemical compounds to get a fabric you may then use to assist develop a plant. There’s not loads of subtlety in how the clues are introduced, both. They’re often on notes you’ll discover scattered all through the manor or on bottles and different objects, they usually spell out what you want with out saying particularly methods to use it. Within the chemical instance, you’ll discover a recipe on a bottle, however you’ll want to search out one other word that claims what the bottle incorporates, why it is advisable make your personal, and what it’s for.
The sport additionally typically retains you to related, close by areas so that you don’t should wander too far to search out clues. As you progress, the areas will change into extra unfold out; what was as soon as confined to 2 rooms may now be throughout a number of areas on the grounds. Nonetheless, they’ll all be linked. You may want to enter rooms which are barely off the crushed path, however they’re seemingly ones you’ve already visited and couldn’t do something in simply but.
This may all look like commonplace puzzle sport fare, however Botany Manor makes all of it really feel so easy. Even when you’ve by no means performed a sport like this earlier than and also you didn’t do effectively through the tutorial part, it’ll nonetheless streamline the expertise till it seems like second nature to stroll round, seize notes, and document them in your journal. The sport’s puzzles will regularly get extra intricate, however you’ll use the identical expertise all the time. In that means, whereas Botany Manor may disguise one thing extra complicated beneath its “cozy” demeanor, it’s nonetheless a comfortable sport. You simply stroll round a picturesque manor, develop some crops, and chill.
Botany Manor is now accessible on Nintendo Swap, Home windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Sequence X. It’s additionally accessible on Xbox Sport Move. The sport was reviewed on PC utilizing a obtain code supplied by Whitethorn Video games. Vox Media has affiliate partnerships. These don’t affect editorial content material, although Vox Media could earn commissions for merchandise bought through affiliate hyperlinks. Yow will discover extra details about Polygon’s ethics coverage right here.