Have you ever had a garden where you enjoy getting your hands dirty planting seeds then watching them grow? You’re trying to keep them safe from birds, other critters and nature all while watching them sprout into wonderful plants. But who has the time to do all that and especially now with it being winter? Well Ratalaika Games and VaragtP have you covered with Plantera!!!
With Plantera you can simply relax with a peaceful, calming game that doesn’t demand great skill or dedication. Plantera is centered around growing a garden and selling produce in return for money, which can be used to buy more plants and animals or expand your garden. The gameplay isn’t complicated and can become a bit repetitive but it is ideal for sitting down for a few minutes in the evening to check on your garden. It’ll grow from a single carrot patch to a beautiful wilderness of fruit trees, bushes and vegetable patches populated by animals that wander around looking very pleased with themselves.
Plantera starts by throwing you into your garden with no instructions or tutorial, which can be a bit of a learning curve but most will pick it up fast. From this point your garden will grow rapidly. One day you could earn 1000 coins in ten minutes and the next day you could be making 1000 in a matter of seconds! You can help this along by tapping on your crops to get them collected faster than your helpers will.
Progression thru the game is measured by your level, which increases at a steady pace as you earn money. This unlocks new items and animals plus increases their value so you can earn more money to level up again. There is an excellent balance between how much you can earn versus how much is required to level up so it takes approximately the same amount of time to advance between levels.
There isn’t a lot to the gameplay, which generally consists of tapping relentlessly at the GamePad or 3DS screen to pick up your produce and scare off the occasional pests which attack from the air, both sides of the garden and even underground, punctuated by the occasional purchase of a new plant or animal.
There are a handful of items to buy which consist of vegetable patches, bushes, trees, animals and specials. The first three are used to grow crops while animals will supply other commodities such as eggs, milk, wool and, my favorite, green socks! There are special items as well which can be used to improve the efficiency of the garden. As an example, a dog can be used to scare away the odd antagonistic bunny and alarm clocks can be bought to keep helpers awake when you leave your game. With enough money the garden can be expanded to increase the number of helpers and space for items up to 36 times.
There are a few differences between the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game. To start with, there is the setup of the screens: the Wii U version can be played entirely on the GamePad since the TV screen only shows the garden but cannot be used to interact with the game – touch controls are required. On the GamePad the garden is shown and, at the press of a button, the shop shows where you can select from a variety of items to buy. The 3DS version can swap the view of the garden and shop/stats screen between the top and bottom.
Both versions have an advantage. The Wii U‘s advantage being that more of the garden is shown due to the bigger screen on the GamePad meaning that management is easier, while the 3DS version is portable. However, you won’t need to decide between the two as they make use of a cross-buy feature. While the price might seem slightly steep for such a basic game, you have the benefit of being able to take it on the go with the 3DS and play it more easily on the Wii U.
So if you have been looking for the most relaxing, easy to pick up game then Plantera is the one you should look into buying!!
Plantera gets a 8/10 and you can get it on the 3DS and Wii U now for $4.99 and please check out the video below.
Thanks for reading and keep doing it for the love of the game.