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Game Information

Game Title: Botany Manor

Platforms:

• Nintendo Switch (Apr 9, 2024)
• PC (Apr 9, 2024)
• Xbox One (Apr 9, 2024)
• PlayStation 4 (Apr 9, 2024)

Trailer:

• Botany Manor Release Date | Nintendo Switch, Xbox, PC | Whitethorn Winter
• Botany Manor - Release Window Announcement | PC, Xbox, Switch

Developer: Balloon Studios

Publisher: Whitethorn Games

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 83 average - 100% recommended

Metacritic - 83 average based on 6 Critic Reviews

Critic Reviews


CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 8 / 10

Botany Manor is like spending a Fall afternoon with a hot cup of tea and a good puzzle—relaxing, challenging and beautiful to look at.

COGconnected - Tisha Kambarami - 78 / 100

Botany Manor is all in all an excellent choice for cozy gamers who enjoy gardening and puzzles. It offers a smooth and relaxing gameplay experience that is sure to appeal to both veterans and newcomers alike. It’s a cozy gamers dream and reprieve from a slew of farming simulators.

Digitally Downloaded - Lindsay M. - 4 / 5

Cozy means something different to everyone. For me, a cozy game is about a welcoming atmosphere, no death, and a slow pace. That description fits Botany Manor to a tee. The world is so lovingly crafted, the grounds so abundant and colourful, that I’d like to stay there forever. I have screenshots of every room I’ve been in because they are perfectly decorated from every angle. The logical puzzles require careful observation (and sometimes backtracking once or twice) yet are somehow simultaneously quite straightforward. Botany Manor is exactly the kind of cozy puzzle/gardening sim that I’ve always wanted, save for a couple small bothers. I’m already eagerly anticipating my return to the manor.

GameSpew - Kim Snaith - 10 / 10

Gorgeous, perfectly designed and utterly engrossing, Botany Manor is quite simply one of the best puzzle games of recent years.

GosuNoob - Stefan Djakovic - 8 / 10

Botany Manor has a lot going for it. The puzzles are fun and engaging, but never frustrating. Due to the really brief length alone, Botany Manor falls just short of being something truly extraordinary.

IGN - Saniya Ahmed - 8 / 10

Clever clues entwine with Botany Manor’s charming old English setting to make for a lighthearted first-person puzzler worth tending to.

LadiesGamers.com - Lynne Newey - Liked-a-lot

There is no denying that Botany Manor transports you to a bygone era. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time digging around to find the growing conditions of the forgotten flora, ensuring my herbarium blossomed in completeness and unearthing Arabella Greene’s life.

Nintendo Life - Kate Gray - 9 / 10

It looks like The Witness and it plays a bit like StreetPass Garden, but Botany Manor blooms into something that's not only entirely its own, but also something quite special. Don't let its cosy aesthetics fool you - Botany Manor is packed with nicely challenging, well-designed puzzles, and isn't afraid to tackle heavy subjects, too.

PC Invasion - Anyka Pettigrew - 9 / 10

Botany Manor is a colorful exploration game with clever puzzles to solve and an intriguing narrative to back it up. With each problem solved I felt gratified and smart for putting together the right clues and reading between the lines. The environmental storytelling and the relaxing atmosphere made me want to explore every nook and cranny of the manor.

Press Start - Kieron Verbrugge - 8.5 / 10

Botany Manor is a delight. It's sweet, succinct and serene, packed with clever puzzles that reward thoughtful exploration and engagement with its narrative. At a little under three hours it's the perfect lazy weekend getaway for those that like to stop and smell the flowers as much as they like to enrich the soil of their mind.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Alice Bell - Unscored

Botany Manor is a beautiful, focused and entirely peaceful game that creates an oasis where you solve puzzles and marvel at the world. It's wonderful stuff.

Screen Rant - Deven McClure - 4 / 5

Though short, the time players do get to spend in the world is made immersive and engaging through its diverse map, classical soundtrack, and ambient nature sounds. It's definitely one of 2024's most relaxing puzzle games so far, and I found myself thinking about Arabella and her strange plants even after I'd finished the story. Because of its length, some players may wish to wait for a sale to pick up Botany Manor, but it's an undeniably charming title that's great to explore and unwind with.

Shacknews - Larryn Bell - 9 / 10

Despite its brevity, Botany Manor is a wholesome puzzle game that turns academic research into an engaging endeavor. The central theme focuses on finding the conditions to allow a living entity to flourish, a concept that is elegantly reflected in both Arabella’s personal journey as well as in gameplay. The game thematically underscores the overall interconnectedness of nature and highlights the influence that one's environment can have on well-being. Botany Manor left me yearning for more botanical discoveries and I can only hope that the developers sow the seeds of a sequel someday.

TechRaptor - Samiee Tee - 8 / 10

A puzzler that challenges as much as it inspires, full of life and passion, even if its narrative offerings tend to stumble towards the end.

The Punished Backlog - David Silbert - 8 / 10

Botany Manor is a beautiful game that caters to anyone with a love of horticulture, science, or mystery. It’s also an important game, one that tells an effective story about the resilience of women—past, present, and future.

In terms of quality, the game delivers. However, at its $24.99 asking price, the three- to four-hour experience (five if you hunt for achievements) may leave you wanting. Thankfully, the game launches day one on Game Pass—and it is the perfect way to spend an afternoon or two.

Whether you pay to play or you subscribe to vibe, Botany Manor deserves a look. Bring the brains, and it’ll bring the seeds, the planters, and the heart.

Windows Central - Zachary Boddy - 4 / 5

Botany Manor is a lovely little puzzle game that's relaxing, engaging, beautiful, and approachable. It's a great first game from Balloon Studios with a lot of charm, but it's not perfect, and it's even shorter than I expected. Being a day-one addition to Xbox Game Pass, though, makes it stupendously easy to recommend Botany Manor for an afternoon of fun.

XboxEra - Genghis Husameddin - 8 / 10

Botany Manor is an enjoyable puzzle-focused adventure with an obsession in weird plants and an interesting estate. What might be lacking in overall narrative is made up for pleasant pacing and a relaxing homework assignment at a country side world of plants.

 

[Punished Miku]

I already downloaded it. In the mood for a short game with solid puzzles. Really like the art style and music as well from the trailer.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Finished updating the OP with more reviews.

Most of the reviews seems to be very positive so that's great to see.

 

[Punished Miku]

Finished 3 puzzles. They're pretty involved for sure. Game is very chill in terms of setting but the puzzles are quite open ended. You have to read all the clues and figure it out yourself.

 

[Punished Miku]

I know some people think this is easy but one part on Chapter 3 I just had to look up. I would have never gotten that. Some pretty complex clues in my opinion.

 

[Little Chicken]

Another Game Pass hit, it never ends

 

[Punished Miku]

Finished chapter 4. I absolutely love this game. I could see how hardcore puzzle fans may think its too easy but for me this sits really comfortably in a sweet spot on difficulty. Chapter 4 has you collecting clues for 4 plants simulatenously and its just really enjoyable to gather it all while exploring, slot them into the correct clue slots, then execute the correct conditions. 1 chapter to go. This is probably going to be a 9/10 from me. Really enjoying it.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I just made it to the library I think I'm on chapter 4. Want to keep going but it's past midnight.
So far this has been a nice stroll.
I've left the flowers where they bloomed, not sure if I am supposed to be moving then somewhere or not.
I started out sitting everywhere but gave up along the way. If sitting everywhere turns out to be an achievement I won't be getting it.

 

[Certinty]

Great game.

Most definitely a few puzzles where I thought the solutions were rather absurd though.

Fair play to anyone who can finish this without a guide.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Finished Botany Manor, Nice way to end the story.
The flower that took me the longest to figure out was the one that grew in the bathtub. I had to read and reread the clues to figure it out.
I only got 75 percent of the achievements and the game can be finished in an afternoon though it took me two days at 2.9 hours total.
If you play make sure you slot in the clues as you find them. I wasn't doing that for the first few flowers and by the time I realized how the clue slot system worked I had already forgotten which flower was with what clue for those first few.
But the game lets you bloom a flower without slotting the clues, so not really needed, I guess.
Some of the flowers I realized right away what was needed, but others required more searching around.

I liked the story of the woman and her trials with the get back in the kitchen mentality of academia.

Very nice little game with simple but effective graphics.
Magical Flowers and an escort quest with a bird. I liked it.
"A" Grade