Some games just exude charm. There’s something about how they look, how they feel, and the story, all of which combine to suck you in to its world. And so it is with Growbot. Created by children’s illustrator Lisa Ann, Growbot looks like one of the large, lavish children’s books you remember from your childhood, with each image and scene carefully, and beautifully composed.
But just what is Growbot? Well, Growbot is a point-and-click adventure game set on Kew – a lavish, garden-filled space station (the game describes itself as ‘biopunk’). Players are put in the shoes of growbot-and-captain-in-training Nara, who has to help save the station when it is attacked by a mysterious, crystalline force.
In terms of gameplay, Growbot has quite a wide variety of puzzles and games. While some puzzles revolve around the standard point-and-click fair of finding the right tool or missing piece to enable you to activate machinery, this is mixed up with mazes, sliding-block puzzles, and pattern matching (both visual and auditory), to name a few. This gives the game a pleasing variety of activities, and you never know just what to expect. Also, where Growbot uses more traditional point-and-click style puzzles, it departs from the standard approach by keeping nearly all the required components close at hand, and with no red herrings or illogical solutions.
While this does technically make it easier than many other games in this genre, I actually found it to be an improvement, as most of the difficulty in the other games comes from having an obvious solution, and then adding confusion or hiding necessary components all over the place – leading to frustration, and bewilderment (often capped off with an eye-rolling ‘so that’s how it’s supposed to be solved’). The experience of Growbot is actually one of clarity of thought and focus and is quite enjoyable for it.
But what really sells Growbot is its setting and visual delivery. A space-station powered by plants. Singing flowers. A living coral reef whose colours can take fright and run away. An energy core which is a huge space-yeti with a belly full of stars... It’s strange, foreign, and doesn’t try to explain itself. It’s ultimately something you simply have to accept at face value. Combined with the brilliant, illustration-style visuals, you’ll find yourself simply enjoying looking at the characters and environments.
In terms of story, most of Growbot revolves around exploring the station and learning about it, and the who and why of the crystalline threat, would be at home in a picture-book. While the game does feel that it finishes a bit abruptly, the overall impression is one that is rich and satisfying and actually leaves you wanting more.
Growbot is, without question, one of the prettiest and visually compelling games around, and an extremely pleasant way to pass the time. I can happily recommend it to gamers of any age, and while it is perhaps the perfect introduction to point-and-click adventures, it also makes a very pleasant diversion for seasoned gamers. With a free demo available on Steam, there is absolutely no reason not to check it out. Highly, highly recommended. ■