As someone who struggles with motion sickness in video games, finding a good game that doesn’t make me feel sick is hard. Fortunately, glimpsing at the Growbot trailer for the first time had me loving the unique art style. The game gave off a feeling of peace and serenity, with a hint of danger, and that’s exactly what I was craving.
“Each room has a different challenge or someone you can help, so you’re always looking for ways to move forward.”
In the beginning, you are introduced to Nara, a cute little robot on her way to training at the space station. Everything is peaceful until the music turns dark and you find out the station has been attacked by Chrissy, an unknown evil.
As you journey throughout the station, you are introduced to your separated inventory and coloured cursor, entering various rooms like the kitchen or engine room. Each room has a different challenge or someone you can help, so you’re always looking for ways to move forward. More often than not, there is an obstacle blocking you from leaving, so you need to venture further into the rooms to find the answers. Growbot only lasts a few hours, and this felt like it negatively impacts the narrative.
Growbot‘s characters aren’t given the time to mature and evolve with the story. Initially, the evil of Chrissy was only really developed through flashbacks and briefly within the guidebook. Furthermore, they didn’t really touch on any of the character’s backstories, other than Chrissy.
The opening scene is the only time where the game touches on Nara’s story, and even then, it was all part of the world-building. Admittedly, if the game was a bit longer and allowed the characters to breathe, it would have made the ending a lot less unbearable. While it more or less wraps everything up into a perfect present, it still left me wondering if there would be more about Nara’s future.
” The poor tutorial continued to give me problems throughout the game.”
As with most click-and-point games, Growbot provides a lot of puzzles in its gameplay loop. The puzzles increase in difficulty as the game goes on, but the instructions aren’t always clear. In the beginning, you receive a guidebook explaining what flowers you need for certain shields. However, when it comes to your first shield, the tutorial is quite confusing. It wasn’t until after I replayed the tutorial countless times that I realised a shield requires a tune that comes from flowers and that each flower has a different sound. If this was explained a little better, I might have had a better time.
The poor tutorial continued to give me problems throughout the game. You can press the spacebar and the game will briefly show red crosses on all the interactable objects. However, this wasn’t explained in the tutorial. This would have been a great tip and saved me countless hours clicking every object to find the one to get me out.
“Growbot takes its time to create and craft a picturesque world that looks stunning in every scene.”
Growbot has a breathtaking soundtrack from start to finish. Every room has a different theme and you can feel all the emotions the composer wanted to convey. Switching between tempos was also flawless. The music never felt out of place, flowing beautifully between each room.
When first watching the trailer, I was drawn in by the unique art style of the game. It had a hand-drawn aesthetic about it and as a fellow artist, made me feel at home. Fortunately, playing through the game made me feel exactly the same. The game takes its time to create and craft a picturesque world that looks stunning in every scene.
Growbot is a decent game for those looking for a beautiful click-and-point adventure. However, it does feel a little rough around the edges. While the asking price of AU$28.95 might be a little steep, Growbot would be a great game to pick up in a sale.
*Disclaimer: Reviewed on PC, code was provided by the Publisher.
