Solving Mysteries...with Plants

I'm always on the lookout for new games that offer something unique so when Strange Horticulture began showing up on my Steam home page, my interest was immediately piqued.  Even better, the user reviews were "overwhelmingly positive" which is usually a good sign that a game is solid.  At the price of $14.99 it seemed like a low-risk purchase, so I gave it a whirl.  I've gotta say, it made me wish there were more games that involve plant-based capers.

What is it?

A point-and-click mystery/detective game that involves discovering, identifying, and using plants to unravel clues.  You play the role of the shop owner (which, of course, you inherit from poor grandpa--can I just say that grandpa characters need a break from dying and being the starting points of games) of "Strange Horticulture," and are trying to continue the family tradition of satisfying the plant related needs of various townspeople.  It's quickly revealed that the lands have been plagued by some mysterious folks who have quite possibly unleashed some sort of nasty, murderous critter.  It's your job to choose who you believe...and who you want to help (or hinder).

The gameplay involves using a descriptive plant encyclopedia (which offers general descriptions of plants and a drawing) to correctly identify plants.  Each plant has multiple uses--some are mundane, like helping to clear up a cough--while others are more sinister.  Customers show up to the shop and will ask for a certain plant for a specific issue--it's your job to correctly identify the plant and its usage.  There's a cast of strange characters who frequent the shop and they each have some sort of link to the greater mystery.

Each in-game day you also receive mysterious clues.  As time passes in your shop you accrue "will to explore" and can use a handy map to help analyze the clues and try to solve them.  Solving the clues will lead you to new plants which are useful to help the customers who show up at the shop.  There's also some choice involved as sometimes you can choose to give someone the plant they want...or a different plant that might throw a wrench in their plans (or give them a nasty rash because they are nasty people).

My full playthrough clocked in at 7.8 hours (and I played a bit extra to finish identifying all the plants), so it's not exactly a long game.

Pros:

+ It's unique.  The entire concept of identifying plants, solving mysteries using vague (and sometimes frustrating) clues, and making choices around the characters you meet just isn't a combination you'll find in other games.

+ Identifying plants is just challenging enough to be fun.  The plant encyclopedia provides general descriptions but it's up to you to puzzle out which plant is which.  Some of the more elaborate puzzles involved puzzling out elixir recipes from just drawings of plants.

The same can be said about most of the daily clues in the game--they're challenging and it might take you a few tries to figure something out, but they're not so impossible as to frustrate you to the point of quitting.

+ Replayability.  Even though the game is relatively short, there are multiple endings (I think one of the end screens said there are 16 different endings--I might be misremembering though).  Throughout the game you are given the choices about who to help--do you help the weird plant cult or the weird forest cult (there's a lot of cult-related activity...)?  Your choices impact which of the endings you get.

+ Your shop has a cute black cat named Hellebore who hangs out while you help the customers.  You get an achievement for petting Hellebore.  I wholeheartedly approve of games with cats and games that reward you for petting cats.

+ After you finish the main story the game gives you the option of continuing to play so that you can locate and identify any plants that you missed.  There's an achievement for identifying all of them (and it's possible that you wouldn't be able to identify them anyway due to the choice you make).  This is a nice option that helps eliminate multiple playthroughs for those who want to go after certain achievements.

Cons:

- It's on the short side.

- There's not much of a tutorial (it's pretty easy to figure out though) and I think it would be nice to have some of the exploration mechanics better explained.

- At one point in the game you receive a clue that is completely boggling.  Solving it requires using an object that is only explained much later--I think they intend for people to figure it out on their own.  It's a minor gripe, but I wish the timing on that object was moved up a bit in the timeline of the game. (*It's one that I will admit that I looked up...and then regretted).

Recommendation:

Strange Horticulture offers unique gameplay and much replayability.  The puzzles and clues are challenging without being frustrating and the game has a relaxing vibe--you're solving puzzles through your knowledge of plants!  I would recommend paying full price (the $15 price tag is just right) and look forward to more games from this developer.

Tranquil Puzzling in Dorfromantik

It's a fact that as you get older your gaming preferences experience a marked change--I no longer have any desire to play anything competitive and mostly am just looking for something that's perfect to relax with (although, there is a time and a place for a suspenseful game).  Recently I came across a game that perfectly fits the relaxation bill and manages to feel relatively simple while also requiring some skills to be truly masterful.

Each landscape you create is unique.

What is it?

Dorfromantik is a puzzle game where you piece together randomly generated hexagonal tiles to create a cute landscape filled with forests, rivers, cities, and fields.  Each new map starts with one simple blank tile and a specific number of tiles for you to lay.  Tiles can be rotated and points are awarded for how well you can match each side to the surrounding tiles--the most points are awarded for a "perfect match" meaning that all the sides match with the surrounding tiles.  Certain tiles have objectives, which are indicated by a number floating above it--this means that if you connect the correct number of the same type of tile you are awarded points as well as a certain number of extra tiles--this could mean connecting tiles with trees into a forested area with a specific number of trees or linking together railroad tiles.  The game continues as long as you have tiles, so the ultimate goal is to keep gaining tiles.

Pros:

+ The gameplay is deceptively simple but requires a lot of forethought to truly master.  All you're doing is placing tiles and trying to rotate them to make the best matches, but it's harder than it sounds.

+Multiple gameplay modes.  The classic mode scores each map you create and the game ends when you run out of tiles.  There's a leaderboard and each time you end a map your score and place on the leaderboard is reported.  This is as close to competitive gameplay as Dorfromantik gets.

If you just want to relax and place a never ending stream of tiles into the ultimate landscape, you can opt for creative mode.  There's no scoring, so no pressure.

+The music fits the gameplay perfectly.  Soft piano accompanies each map and even if I'm listening to a podcast, I don't usually turn it off.

+The achievement system offers up unlockable tiles for meeting certain goals.  These new tiles add more life to your landscape--a beaver dam tile places some cute little beavers on a water tile; granary tiles challenge players to sting together certain numbers of field tiles.  The achievements aren't the kind of thing you stress over, but are simply things you'll accomplish the more you play.

+ Each map you build is unique and it offers up infinite replayability.

Cons:

- It's a puzzle game with one premise--lay tiles, build landscapes.  It's probably not everyone's cup of tea.

Recommendation:

Dorfromantik is a great little puzzler that's perfect for relaxing.  Your sessions automatically save so there's no pressure to play for long periods and it's a great accompaniment for listening to your favorite podcast.  It's fun to see each map turned into a cute landscape and see how you stack up to the rest of the world (I think my highest score so far is something slightly over 18000--I managed to crack the top 20,000--I'm definitely not a master, but I don't care).  

A Cluckin' Fun Detective Story--Chicken Police

I've been on the lookout for cheap-ish but still enjoyable games popping up on Steam as part of their random sales.  I decided to roll the dice on an interesting but potentially odd-ball game--namely Chicken Police: Paint it Red!  For $9.79 I got to enjoy a somewhat predictable, but strangely creative film-noir style point-and-click story...starring anthopomorphized animals.

Sonny and Marty hash out the details.

What is it?

Chicken Police: Paint it Red! is a point-and-click detective story with a classic film noir setting and feeling.  Players follow the storied detective Santino Featherland as he tries to solve a case that involves a series of threatening messages aimed toward the local femme-fatale--Natasha Catzenko.  Like any good film-noir style story, it starts off with a pretty lady who has an unfortunate problem showing up in the office of a down-and-out detective who has had a bad run of luck.  The clincher that makes Chicken Police unique...the characters are all animals.

Part of the gameplay revolves around investigating different areas for clues.  The other part is interrogating people to learn pertinent facts related to the case.  Everything is point-and-click, so the mechanics are all simple.

I finished the story in 8 hours (and possibly missed 1 location) and that seems to be a pretty standard amount of playtime.  I didn't try to 100% anything (which might have taken longer but would've required looking up a guide.

Pros:

+ The anthropomorphic characters give the world and characters a unique spin.  Different types of animals live together in the city of Clawville--predators, prey, and insects--and the world has been developed with a deeper amount of lore than one would expect from a point-and-click detective game where you play a chicken detective.  

+ It's forgiving (maybe a bit too forgiving...) and there are plenty of chances to re-play interrogations you mess up.  Each time you interrogate a new suspect you receive a score based on how well you manage to keep the interrogation on the right track.  The goal is to pick the correct questions (based on character traits you learn during the interrogation) and to keep the conversation on track.  You're offered the chance to immediately re-play interrogation sequences once you've finished.

+ It has a fun film-noir feel--from the black and white graphics to the general vibe of the characters and world.  If classic films and old school detective stories are your jam, it'll be right up your alley.  Personally, I enjoyed the classic movie posters with new animal stars and names.

+ The story is somewhat predictable but was still entertaining.

+ The voice acting is shockingly good.  It's also carefully crafted to give the game that film-noir vibe.  The dialogue is pretty good and includes plenty of animal themed jokes.

Cons:

- It's the type of game that you'll probably play exactly once--for the price of $10, I guess that's fine.

- I wish some of the mechanics were a little bit deeper.  For example, there is an inventory where you can collect items pertinent to the investigation.  You can sort of take a closer look at the items (they will get somewhat larger and there's some commentary on the item) but I wish you could inspect it for clues.

- Most of the "puzzle" type of scenarios in the game are very simple but can be frustrating.  Namely, I wish there were a few nudges to point you in the right direction if you get stuck.

Recommendation:

I found Chicken Police to be a unique and fun detective game.  There's nothing overly difficult about it and the story, characters, and lore are entertaining.  If you are looking for something light, short, and fun, it'd be a great buy for about $10 (I'd grab it on sale give the fact that it's a one and done kind of deal).

 

Old News is Good News

It has been a busy few weeks for me and I missed one of the big breaking pieces of gaming news--namely the fact that CDPR decided to release a teaser about the next game in The Witcher saga.  The teaser came in the form of an image of a lynx medallion half-buried in the snow and led to many predictions about what could possibly take place in the next game.  Everyone is making their own projections about the next game, so, why not me too?

New medallion; who dis?

The lynx medallion seems to indicate that next game will focus on an entirely new school of witchers.  Throughout the games and books there's mention and interaction with witchers from some of the other schools--the school of the cat (home to witchers who tend to dabble in assassination) and the viper (the school of the witcher-come-kingslayer Letho)--come immediately to mind, but nary a word about a school of the lynx.

I think we can read a few things into this message--firstly, it looks like we probably won't see the series staple characters--no Geralt, Ciri, Triss, or Yen.  I don't think this is a bad thing as we've had three games to get to know and basically set these characters on their various paths.  Maybe we'll get some cameos and surprise appearances, but I have my doubts that any of them will play a major role.

Secondly, the slate has been wiped clean in regards to the protagonist, the setting, and the storyline.  A new witcher means an entirely new story and that is exciting!  This leaves a ton of unanswered questions--will the story still take place in the Northern Kingdoms?  Could we possibly get a choice as to the gender of our new witcher (I would love to be able to choose a male or female option--before people get all bent out of shape about "canon" though--yes, I know there are no female witchers in the books)?  Maybe we'll get a story based somewhere new and more exotic; maybe we'll get some new sorceresses (or sorcerers) and fun companions; maybe we'll get an even better Roach!

There has also bee a lot of buzz this week about the fact that several games (including the upcoming Witcher game) have announced the fact that they will be using Unreal Engine 5.  I don't know anything about how these engines work and the development process, but all of the images of characters I've seen look really amazing.  Maybe by the time the game releases there will be some affordable GPU's so that we can all take advantage of the amazing graphics.

Okay, so now for the fun part--my wishlist for the next Witcher game!

Wish #1:  As previously stated, I think it would be great to have the option of choosing a male or female option for a new protagonist.  I mean, CyberPunk gave us this option, so why not the next Witcher game? 

Wish #2:  Related to wish #1--the ability to custom create your witcher.  I know, I know--we've never had this option, but CyberPunk did it well with V.

Wish #3:  A new setting--the Northern Kingdoms are great and all, but I feel like the first three games have really covered that territory.  The Blue Mountains--maybe an elfier plotline?  Zerrikania?  Nilfgaard?  I just think it's time for somewhere new.

Wish #4: Improved combat/new abilities.  I know that many people find the combat in the series to be a weak point (to me, it's fine--I would rather be more focused on the story and characters) and would like to see it improved.  I think after three games and introducing a new witcher school, there's some room for new and improved abilities.

As a big CDPR/The Witcher fan, I will be keeping my eyes peeled for any and all news related to this upcoming game.  I can't wait to learn even more!

Become a Mighty Commander of Ambulances in the "Speedy Recovery" DLC

Over my spring break week I had the chance to check out the latest DLC for my favorite silly hospital management sim Two Point Hospital.  The surprise "Speedy Recovery" DLC offered players three new hospitals and a fleet of goofy ambulances to manage.  All the DLC for Two Point have been relatively cheap--about $8 if you purchase it early and that price tag is appropriate.

My fleet of ambulances.

What's new in the DLC?

The main feature of "Speedy Recovery" is the addition of a new map with special "emergency" events that periodically pop up.  Each hospital features a plot of land that serves as your ambulance bay and that can serve multiple parked ambulance types.  Once you've purchased an ambulance you can deploy it to the site of an emergency to retrieve patients and return them to the hospital for treatment.  In order to operate ambulances you need to have staff trained in driving--these staff (nurses and doctors can both be trained in driving and eventually flying when you reach the second hospital) will stop what they are doing, run to the ambulance you deployed and then be unavailable while they are retrieving the patients.

During the ambulance ride patients will be partially diagnosed (and diagnosis level depends on the type of ambulance you deploy) and can skip the trip to the GP's office when they arrive.  Instead, they will head directly for various diagnosis rooms, so you can expect your general diagnosis, cardiograms, and other diagnosis rooms to stay fairly busy when ambulances return.  Basically, you need to make sure that you have enough staff to operate ambulances and also keep the diagnosis rooms manned.  I found that I needed to hire more staff than in previous hospitals--and more staff means more monthly expenses.

The Airloovator and Big Healer wait for deployment.

The highlight of the DLC is the variety of ambulances available for purchase.  At first you can only purchase ground ambulances that travel on the roads, but once you get to the second hospital flying ambulances are unlocked.  The ambulances range from a giant, speedy monster truck to a slow, floating giant duck.  Smaller ambulances tend to be fast, offer poor diagnosis, and have a limited capacity (only carrying 1-2 patients).  Larger ambulances offer the opposite--slow travel times but better diagnosis and higher capacity (the flying duck ambulance can carry up to 8 passengers and the Pantmobile--a clown car--can carry up to 12).

Part of the challenge in the DLC is strategizing how to best use your ambulances--certain emergencies only have a few patients, so it's a race to get to them before your competitors do.  Patients will expire over time, so it's important to get to them as quickly as you can.  There's also the matter of ambulance maintenance--your ambulances suffer wear and tear and must be repaired.  A new staff member--a genius mechanic named Gretchen Gearbox joins the staff at each hospital and will repair your ambulances.  You can also train janitors in the new mechanic skill, which is generally a good idea because like other staff, Gretchen also needs to take breaks (and those breaks can coincide with times when you want to deploy an ambulance and it needs to be repaired).

Treating a patient with Under the Weather.

Like previous DLC's there are also a few new diseases to manage--patients presenting with Under the Weather are dressed in rain proof attire and are accompanied by a tiny storm cloud that periodically rains...leaving small puddles anywhere those patients travel to (meaning that your janitors will be busy mopping up).  The other new visible disease, Hive Mind, presents as patients who have a beehive stuck on their heads and honey dripping onto their clothing.  Patients with Snowed In present once you've reached the final map in the snowy reaches of Two Point County--they resemble giant, walking snowmen and must be treated in their own treatment room.  One of the interesting decisions with these three new diseases is the fact that you can build more than one treatment machine in the room.  Unfortunately, each machine requires a doctor to operate it, so you have to up the number of staff who can work in the room and it can also add to the staffing burdens.  There are also several other new visible diseases that utilize traditional treatment rooms (like the pharmacy and psychology office).

Each new hospital presents different challenges at each star level--most of them revolve around utilizing your fleet of ambulances.  I found the most difficult challenge to be maintaining top emergency reputation for three months straight--doing so requires making sure that your ambulances are constantly being deployed and that you're able to successfully treat the patients who arrive.  It's easy to fall behind or dispatch an ambulance that arrives too late to an emergency and comes back empty.  The first two hospitals also feature a steady flow of regular (non-emergency) patients who still need to visit a GP's office and go through the same normal treatment pattern.  The final hospital relies strictly on emergency patients and it's very important to make sure you're maintaining a steady flow of incoming patients or your finances can go downhill very quickly.

The one negative point worth mentioning is that the DLC is currently slightly buggy.  Most of the bugs involve ambulances and staff getting stuck.  I had to restart one map several times because of this bug.  Hopefully future patches will address this problem.

Recommendation:

I love Two Point Hospital and will happily play any DLC they release.  It was surprising that they released more DLC when the new Two Point Campus is coming out in May.  I found the addition of ambulances to add another layer to the management aspect and to be somewhat challenging (mostly maintaining reputation for three straight months).  I didn't feel that the DLC added anything earth shattering, but it was a chance to relax and play more Two Point, so I'll take it.  If you enjoyed the base game and just want another chance to try out some new hospitals, it's the perfect opportunity.

Even More PC Building!

I'm just here, patiently awaiting the March 15th release of the "Speedy Recovery" DLC for Two Point Hospital and re-playing a few games.  In exciting simulation game related news, it was revealed this week that PC Building Simulator 2 will be released this year!  I greatly enjoyed the first game and it actually got me interested in building my first PC (yes, I built my own PC after being inspired by a video game!).  Here's the announcement trailer:

Neat-o, right?  Even though the trailer is short, I can't help but notice that the level of detail seems greatly improved.  According to this PC Gamer article, PC Building Simulator 2 will offer up a career mode that focuses on repairing and building PC's (similar to the first game), but also looks to improve on the more technical parts of the PC building process (overclocking and whatnot).  Since no one can actually afford to buy a GPU in real life, why not enjoy the feeling of buying them in a video game?

There are a few interesting things to point out--first, PC Building Simulator 2 will be an Epic Games exclusive.  Yeah, yeah...I know!  I would prefer to have it on Steam, but having it on Epic is fine.  You might be thinking...why?  Apparently, The Irregular Corporation (the dev that was responsible for the OG PC Building Simulator) was purchased by Epic.  Secondly, PC Building Simulator 2 is being made by a different company.  It's also worth noting that there's no release date--it just says 2022, so, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Waaa-wooo Waaa--wooo--There's a New Ambulance Themed DLC for Two Point Hopsital!

This week some surprise news dropped that made my month (it's only the fifth day...so it's only up from here, right?)--Two Point Hospital, my favorite whacky hospital management sim will be getting a new DLC!  The "Speedy Recovery" DLC looks to add ambulance services to the competitive world of hospital management.  Of course, there are also new hospitals, new diseases, and new cure machines.  I'm not exactly sure how the ambulance aspect will work, but I love Two Point, so I'll happily play anything new.  Take a peek at the release video if you're curious about this surprise DLC:

"Speedy Recovery" releases on March 15th and I can't wait to dive into managing new hospitals and a fleet of silly ambulances.  This DLC announcement was a big surprise to me--I assumed the upcoming Two Point Campus (which I'm also floored for) would be the number one concern for the folks at Two Point.  I guess we get something to tide us over until Two Point Campus releases May 17th.

You can currently purchase "Speedy Recovery" on Steam for 10% off and the fabulously low price of $8.09.