Seedlings

Seedlings

Immerse yourself in nature as a sentient seed in this relaxing award-winning 2D puzzle platformer. Set in the tranquil backdrop of New Zealand’s native forest using real photos and videos.

Traverse through earthy greens, rocky plains and crystal-clear waters filled with interesting puzzles and secrets to uncover.

Features

  • Take control of several unique creatures, each with their own abilities.

  • Solve intriguing puzzles through beautifully hand crafted levels.

  • Collect hidden secrets strewn across the photo-realistic environment.

  • Relax with the beautiful ambient soundtracks and nature sounds.

  • Learn more about the origins of the Seedlings through a narrative driven story.

Are you ready to be one of the Seedlings?


Read More: Best Ambient Puzzle Platformer Games.


Seedlings on Steam

Kanso

Kanso

How to describe Kanso? Well, you play with your mouse, and you have to draw a line around a shape! Sounds pretty simple right?

This is one of those relaxing, zen like games, where you think everything is all easy and simple, but quickly you realise that things take some skill. This is a “line following” game. Everything is very bright and colourful and really is a joy to play.

As you draw around the shapes, there are “Koi like Daemons”, they kind of look like giant sperms, or perhaps tadpoles, they are on their own little journey, come into contact with them and you will have to start again. As you draw your line, you cannot go backwards, only forwards, but you can speed up or slow down, or even stop, that will allow you to avoid the Daemons, and finish the shape. As you progress through the levels, the shapes become more interesting and there are more Daemons to avoid, some will try to follow you, some will avoid you, some do not care about you. But you must always care about all of them if you want to progress.

Real player with 0.8 hrs in game


Read More: Best Ambient Relaxing Games.


Kanso on Steam

Bloat

Bloat

I usually play puzzle games to relax after work.

This game is amazing. It’s both really calming and aesthetic in every way. The music and scenery is really original and both perfectly complement each other.

The tutorials are easy to follow and intuitive, so both children and adults can play and enjoy.

I find gameplay is a great experience overall and so far (I have yet to finish it) the difficulty is a perfect ramp up for where you are in the game. Showing mechanics as you progress in a slow and understanding fashion.

Real player with 14.6 hrs in game


Read More: Best Ambient Indie Games.


Loved it!

Good puzzles, but not too hard. So it’s one of those rare games that can give you a challenge, but you can actually beat it!

I love short games that don’t waste my time, and don’t have bugs.

This is why I love indie games.

Also amazing soundtrack. Spotify when??

Real player with 6.7 hrs in game

Bloat on Steam

Marginalia

Marginalia

Super interesting. Didn’t quite get the story but I think it’s supposed to be vague in that regard. Really enjoyed the music, atmosphere and environment. I didn’t expect it to be inspiring but seeing the distant pink lights and hearing about an old family story really made me want to start brainstorming a new music project. I don’t know if any of these characters or events are real or based on real events, but I think researching it would remove its mystique, so I won’t. I played it again straight after finishing it (mainly because the ending dialogue cut out mid-way through) to see if there was anything I missed but I couldn’t find anything. A short fun little experience!

Real player with 1.6 hrs in game

There’s a moment early on when you’re following the traditional walking simulator flow of moving from exposition drop to exposition drop that you’ll see something… weird.

And there’s a moment where you’ll get lost in the woods and stumble upon something unpleasant but unremarked upon.

And there’s a moment where you’ll realize something is extremely- well… the less said about it the better.

I really enjoyed this interactive story. The writing and voice acting is excellent and the level design is incredible. You won’t understand why I say that at first but… you will eventually.

Real player with 1.3 hrs in game

Marginalia on Steam

OVIVO

OVIVO

Quite an unusual game, fantastic visual design! It feels like half a post modern art installation and half a puzzle-platformer.

Although the core gameplay mechanic is very simple(you switch between two colors) they’ve managed to build surprisingly rich set of different gameplay elements with it.

Art design is definitely something. The amount of hidden references and allusions is just mind blowing and I definitely haven’t spotted all of them.

Special praise for the soundtrack, it goes perfectly with both the general feel of the game and specifics of each level.

Real player with 30.2 hrs in game

My goodness this game is simply stunning. The visual style speaks for itself; if you’re interested in this almost sort of Native American or tribal white-on-black starkness, you know this game is for you already and you should play it. The mechanics feel just like they should and there’s only one annoying bit where left and right get reversed (I raged a little bit). The music is great but they are fixed songs on loops, not responsive to your actions or the progression of the level as in 140 for example. Still, excellent compositions that fit the game’s mood perfectly.

Real player with 5.6 hrs in game

OVIVO on Steam

Undergrowth: VR Maze

Undergrowth: VR Maze

Experienced on the Oculus Quest 2

You can view my review & gameplay here: https://youtu.be/-Q9Ddui0KVo

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this game. It’s just subpar in almost every aspect. Your normal walking speed is too slow. Performance is pretty bad. The 3D scans are mediocre at best. The ambient sounds are generic. The narration has a poor sound mix. The text signs are low quality. The mini-activities are bad.

What is supposed to be an enjoyable walk with positive vibes while you walk around a green maze surrounded by nature and having museum pieces scattered around, along with some activities, just becomes a generic, poorly optimized experience that is forgettable. You’re more likely to be upset than have good vibes.

Real player with 1.2 hrs in game

This is nice and easy. You just sit back and relax. The positive messages helped me (had a rough day), and the laying down under a tree and closing my eyes is nice, especially with the sun.

The statues are nice, and the environment is relaxing. The map is small, but a lot of detail in it. I was able to play this on high settings with a 5700xt.

There are very minor bugs, but it doesn’t affect gameplay; just make sure your resolution isn’t at 3k per eye. I had that issue(my fault).

This isn’t a run and gun game. It’s a relax and don’t think about anything game.

Real player with 1.1 hrs in game

Undergrowth: VR Maze on Steam