Botany Manor
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| Botany Manor | |
|---|---|
 Steam header art | |
| Developer | Balloon Studios |
| Publisher | Whitethorn Games |
| Director | Laure De Mey |
| Designers | Laure De Mey, Kitt Byrne |
| Artists | Tim Steer, Kitt Byrne, Jim Bending |
| Composer | Thomas Williams |
| Engine | Unity[1] |
| Platforms | |
| Release |
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| Genre | Puzzle |
| Mode | Single-player |
Botany Manor is a 2024 video game developed by English independent developer Balloon Studios and published by Whitethorn Games. The game is a puzzle title in which players explore a period English countryside manor to cultivate magical flora. Upon release, Botany Manor received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the game's environmental design, tone and pacing.
Set in 1890, players assume the role of Arabella Greene, a retired botanist and inheritor of a Somerset manor who is undertaking research on plants in preparation of publishing a book about the world's 'Forgotten Flora'.[2][3] Players complete point-and-click puzzles across several chapters by growing one or more plants, in turn completing sections of Greene's book. Plants in the game have magical qualities that respond to certain behaviors, such as light or temperature, with the player changing these environmental conditions to allow the plants to bloom.[4][3] Clues on how to grow plants are dispersed throughout the areas of the manor in each stage and collected in a notebook. When a plant successfully blooms, the notebook will reveal an illustration and more details, and unlock progression to the next stage,[4] often where a key to a new room of the manor is delivered.[5]
Development
Botany Manor was developed by Balloon Studios, a Devon-based team founded by Laure De Mey, who had previously worked with Ustwo Games, the developers of Monument Valley.[6] De Mey stated that the inspiration of the game was to explore a setting for a manor, with the house of naturalist Charles Darwin, Down House and the fictitious manor of Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider series serving as inspiration for the design.[6] The late nineteenth century was pursued as a setting to capture the "era of great scientific discovery", and provide a "feasible" premise for creating a puzzle game about fantastical botany.[7] Development of the game pursued a "clear and straightforward" approach to puzzle design and difficulty with the stated aim of designing a "nice peaceful setting" and gameplay that struck a balance between being "not too challenging, but obviously not too simple" to minimise "strain on the player".[8] Balloon Studios announced the game at a Nintendo Indie World event for the Nintendo Switch in November 2022,[9] and was published on its announced released date of 9 February 2024 for the Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.[10][11]
