The UnderGarden
Score: 89% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Atari Developer: Artech Media: Download/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Most of the videogames that I play get your heart racing. Actually, it's rare that you find a videogame of any type that relaxes you so much that you're almost meditating. The UnderGarden does just that, though! The scenery in The UnderGarden is simply beautiful. It's almost like you're under water, but yet it's lighter than water. Everywhere you look, there are flowers of various shapes, sizes, and so many colors, or at least there will be flowers after you make them grow. Your character is a little blue creature that swims through the air. You can change his color and horns after you unlock new ones. The music is a must, and not just because it's really cool. The sounds that you make when you pick something up let you know that you roped in everything that you wanted, which is important because you can't zoom in to check and make sure you got what you wanted. The beginning score of the music reminds me of the Masters of Horror theme music, except peaceful. You can increase the intensity of the music in the levels by picking up the musicians and carrying them around. The more musicians that you carry, the more music you get.
Gameplay: In The UnderGarden, you start out in the main world. Everywhere that you need to go branches off of the hub. You have to start with the "Welcome to the UnderGarden" level first. It's in the top, just to your right as you're falling. You go through several different areas before you complete the entire level and make it back to the hub. After you beat one level, you will unlock the next one to play. You are, of course, free to go back and replay any of the previous levels at any time and there are 9 levels total. The UnderGarden is a puzzle game. The whole point of the game is to figure out how to get from the beginning to the end. While you're going, there are things that will block your way. You have to figure out how to move these things with the objects available to you. All the objects that you need to use are seeds that will bloom from flowers, provided you pollinate them. You get pollen from these small green pods that you bounce on to release pollen. You need pollen to make the flowers bloom and seeds grow. Granted, you don't have to make the flowers bloom, but your score will be better if you do. Once the seeds have sprouted, you can pick them up and carry them where you need them to go. There are 3 different types of seeds that you can carry. There are heavy seeds that will weigh things down and there are light seeds that will push things up. There are also exploding seeds that will remove some obstacles from your path entirely. Use these seeds well and you'll be able to get almost everywhere you need to go. You will have to push other objects around sometimes because you can't pick them up. Just keep on going and eventually you'll make it to the vortex that will take you to the end of the level and out to the hub. When you complete the level, you get a score. It tells you what percentage of the flowers you pollinated, if you found the mystery gem, and a few others things. These all add together to give you a final score.
Difficulty: The UnderGarden is probably one of the easier games that I have played, and I really like it that way. The puzzles aren't very hard to complete. You just have to move some things around and you'll get through. If you find yourself just wandering around trying to bloom all the flowers just to make sure you get them all, don't be shocked. The game is just so relaxing to play that you just keep on playing. I did find that if you're dragging several things around with you, it can be difficult to get them through tight places. As you're going through, you'll find little musicians along the way. These little guys will change the color of the flowers. When you're dragging 6 of them around, you tend to get one or two caught on things. Just wiggle a bit and you'll get them out. Even though the game is easy, collecting the achievements isn't. There are 200 points in achievements total and at least half of them require completing several objectives on several levels. If you're someone who wants to collect all of those, you'll really need to work at it!
Game Mechanics: The controls are easy to get the hang of in The UnderGarden. To float your creature around, you simply use the control stick. There is no limit to where you can move, there are only obstacles in the way. If you want to try and float against the current, use the (A) button. It will propel you around the screen. I find it very helpful when I'm dragging around things. To pick up those things, hold down the (X) button. You'll see a bubble appear around you and you'll start picking up everything that is inside that bubble. You can let go of the (X) button when you've picked up everything that you want. When you want to let go of those objects, simply press (X) again. To go in and out of the vortexes, press the (Y) button. That's all there is to controlling the game. Everything else is up to you. I've never played a game as relaxing and calming as The UnderGarden. You can't get mad while playing it and you can't stay angry even if you start playing angry. Granted, you can get a bit frustrated if you can't figure out what to do, but the music and visuals are so calming that you don't worry about it. You just keep on trying. If you're a fan of puzzle games or simply want to relax, go download The UnderGarden today!
-Cyn, GameVortex Communications AKA Sara Earl
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