Strange Horticulture

Basically a text-based puzzle (actually more like riddle) game in an eldritch setting. Its main strength lies in the 2D art and animation, the mysterious world, and the botanic setting with 77 fictional but imaginative plants. As for the gameplay: * You advance the story by fulfilling requests of the customers. In 90% of the time, a specific plant is requested (and usually the system tells you its name straight away). All you have to do, is to go to the encyclopedia and find the description of this plant, then identify it on your shelves. Giving a wrong plant too many times will force you to go through a mini-game to resuscitate yourself, but otherwise has no persistent consequences. A built-in hint system is also available. * In the rest 10% of the time, you may choose between two options. There is no branching narrative, however: the story is completely linear; your choice only has influence on the eventual fate of your customer or endings available. * Plants are mostly fetched by d...

I was initially going to give this game a positive review due to the artwork, music, story, and theme, but unfortunately I'm another player in the same camp as some of the other negative reviews especially with regards to the 3.5 hour point in the game, which for me was Day 5. Once I got there, it started to fall apart for me. The game began as very chill, interesting, and hooked me in. But unfortunately some of the clues became so convoluted that I stopped playing out of frustration. Today I've returned to the game for the first time in over a year in hopes that my feelings would have changed, but I'm afraid that the exact same point in the game made me want quit again. I checked out the wiki for the game, but I'm rather stumped as to how some came to the conclusion they found with the instructions given. I understand that some people love this game, and that's totally fine as I completely understand why they love it. But it clearly isn't for me and left me feeling more frustrated tha...

Wasn't the best story, and the puzzles were very simple and repetitive

Strange Horticulture is an exquisitely crafted puzzle and exploration game that invites players into a world where botany meets mystery and folklore. Developed with an evident passion for plants and storytelling, the game offers a deeply atmospheric experience centered around running a curious herb shop in a remote and eerie village. From the moment you step into the shoes of the shopkeeper, Strange Horticulture weaves together the delicate art of plant identification with a compelling narrative that unfolds through cryptic requests, ancient secrets, and supernatural undertones. For players who enjoy slow-burning mysteries, detailed research mechanics, and atmospheric world-building, this game offers a unique and memorable adventure. At its heart, Strange Horticulture tasks players with running an old plant shop where villagers come seeking rare and sometimes bizarre herbs for their ailments or needs. The gameplay revolves around careful observation and deduction: you must examine the...

This was an interesting game, but the gameplay got somewhat repetitive and boring after a while; find clues on the map and identify plants. There are a couple places where you get to make choices, but they're fairly rare and often confusing in terms of consequences. I wish there were dialogue options or more ways to interact with the story than the like 5 places where you can choose which plant you provide.

This game is fantastic, I loved it! Not too easy but not too hard. The plants are so exciting and intriguing. The puzzles and exploration are both challenging and rewarding, and Helebore is adorable!! The kitty purrs are so satisfying to the ears! I love the small butterfly effect aspects and the different end story options, so choose wisely what you say and do. Wonderful game.

if you liked the ispy books as a kid and enjoy organizing things, potions, and plants very worth playing. very aesthetically pleasing and the puzzles are fun. looking forward to the next game~

Strange Horticulture is a game that I have not finished yet but would love to continue for the story, aesthetic, and gameplay. I stress about giving the wrong plants to people sometimes and how that might negatively impact the story but I know that I should play the story to the best of my ability and enjoy the outcomes. As you progress through this mystery plant game you learn more about the town's residents and what secrets they may be keeping based on the problems or plants that they want. Reading about what these plants do when you give them to customers gives you more insight on the characters and what mysteries they might be solving as well. Organizing your plants makes the game very fun, running through and naming them for your convenience and learning about different types of plants throughout the game feels educational. Learning about the characteristics of these plants to fulfill customer orders and work through the normal day at the shop gives the game its more shop elemen...

The game was entertaining, but not what I was hoping for. I was expecting a puzzle game, but it doesn't actually have that many puzzles per se. The plant identification that takes up most of the game is just a matter of cross-referencing. Look at the plant, compare it to the book, if they're the same, you're set. There are a few cases where you might be unsure, but the book is not cryptic, and the plant IDs are not very interdependent, which keeps things simple. The clues for map locations are more of a decoding process, but you only get one a day, and they're not super difficult, so they go by fast. Similarly the plot seems like it's going to be a bit of a mystery where you have to piece together what's going on from the snippets your visitors share with you, but then as the story goes along it's all pretty linear, and the main mystery is just sort of given to you in out-of-character text blurbs. I don't hate it, but it feels like a missed opportunity for a puzzle game, and it kind of...

Wonderful game if you want to play a (mostly) text-based puzzle mystery. It is cozy, the puzzles are creative and choices you make actually impact the story. Simple, yet unique graphics and the sound atmosphere adds to the cozy-mystery feeling. I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a casual, suspenseful and cozy puzzle game.