Celebrating Through Costume: Unveiling Plant Puzzles and Joyful Festivities

Twenty-First December

Greetings! Welcome back to our latest segment where we share a little bit about some of the games we’ve been enjoying over the past few days. This week, we delve into a delightful festive level, tackle some plant-based puzzles, and journey through a charming open world while wearing some fantastic outfits.

Catch up with previous installments of this column in our What We Have Been Playing archive.

Astro Bot, PS5

Look, I’ve got an abundance of games on my list that I’m eager to experience, but when Astro Bot received a complimentary winter/holiday themed level, I had to jump in right away. It is, as expected, utterly charming. I composed a completely original tune, in no way resembling any existing Christmas classic, to mark its release.

-Tom O

Botany Manor, Xbox Series X

As we approach the final weeks of December, a.k.a: the phase of the year when we engage in ‘Let’s catch up on all the countless brilliant games we overlooked earlier in the year’. I’ll be honest, readers, despite playing numerous titles from January to March this year, and another wave during the latter months from September onwards, there’s a substantial gap of games I’ve overlooked from the spring and summer months – something I’ve endeavored to remedy with some quick-fire sessions lately to see what catches my interest and what doesn’t.

One game I devoured in a single sitting recently was Botany Manor, a tranquil puzzle game centered around cultivating all sorts of unusual and extraordinary plants within a picturesque stately home in Somerset. These aren’t your standard roses and daffodils, mind you. Rather, these peculiar and exotic strains can only flourish under very specific conditions – the ideal room temperature, for instance, or by enriching its soil to a precise pH by mixing certain apple varieties into it. My favorite was the Wolfglove, which only springs to life when you replicate specific sounds and wind speeds in an old tower to mimic the environment of its mountainous habitat.

It’s executed beautifully, and the challenge of determining what conditions are required demands a good bit of mental effort to piece together clues and information from notes, letters, and observations scattered throughout the manor’s desks, boxes, and tables. I expected it to be just another cozy game with everything spoon-fed to you, but I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of its cerebral puzzles. Plus, it’s simply a delightful place to explore, with its vibrant and cheerful color palette and seemingly endless picnic setups and discarded deckchairs bringing to mind elements of The Scream. It’s undeniably a fun experience, albeit a touch summery for such a wintry, end-of-year playthrough.

-Katharine

Infinity Nikki, PS5

Despite playing a fair share of open-world games (welcome to guide writing), there aren’t many that I genuinely enjoy exploring. I might get momentarily drawn into completing side quests, but there’s a reason the last Ubisoft game I finished was Assassin’s Creed 2: open worlds often feel colossal, overwhelming, and frankly tedious at times. However, when a game knows what its players desire, an open world becomes an invitation rather than a burden.

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Infinity Nikki beckons us to discover hot air balloons, bubble blowers, magical hopscotch, and grand chicken-like Sky Monarchs, which you can ride on the back of to soak in the enchanting sights of Miraland. There are also charming fairy-like Faewish Spirits to assist, adorable animals to pet, and countless clothing items to customize your Nikki with, allowing you to choose what style you’d like her to wear while exploring.

It’s delightful, without a doubt, but Infinity Nikki’s world appears to be designed to enhance how happy and whimsical you feel, rather than focusing on how much content it can deliver to keep you occupied. While it’s not perfect – there are bugs at launch, and the usual open-world trappings like collectibles are still present – for the most part, Infinity Nikki is as upbeat and cheerful as a game can be. Not what I anticipated from a franchise rooted in mobile dress-up games, that’s for sure!

-Jessica

Don’t get too festive in the comments just yet. We’ve got a Christmas special edition of What We Have Been Playing going live on Christmas Day morning. Catch you then!

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, PS5

I must admit I’ve never quite been the biggest Dragon Age enthusiast, though as a fan of fantasy RPGs and Mass Effect, by nature the series seems aligned with my interests. I’ve played Origins and Inquisition, but they always felt a step behind their grand sci-fi sibling and, aside from some enjoyable character moments with companions…