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Press release:
Erie, Pennsylvania (November 9, 2022).
The Erie-based (Pennsylvania, the US) indie games publisher Whitethorn Games (the publishers of “APICO”, “Princess Farmer”, and “Lake”) and Devon-based (the UK) indie games developer Balloon Studios, are today very proud and happy to announce that their charming exploration puzzle game “Botany Manor“, is coming to PC (via Steam) and the Nintendo Switch (via the Nintendo Eshop) in 2023 (as announced at the 2022 edition of the Indie World Showcase event).

Set in a historical English homestead, “Botany Manor” is an exploration puzzle game in which players must investigate clues around the house and grounds to figure out the ideal habitat for a collection of rare flora.

“With Botany Manor, I wanted to create a game for underrepresented audiences like myself,” said Laure De Mey, Founder of Balloon Studios.

“I’m proud of the work we’ve done, and grateful for the support from my team and the team at Whitethorn Games.”

“Botany Manor is an impressive debut title from Balloon Studios,” said Dr. Matthew White, CEO of Whitethorn Games.

“It has all the qualities Whitethorn Games looks for in a project — escapism, casual, relaxing gameplay, an engaging story — and so much more. The world always needs more of this kind of game, and Laure is delivering.”

Welcome to Botany Manor, a stately home in 19th century England. Players will see the manor through the eyes of its sole inhabitant, retired botanist Arabella Greene. Her collection of rare, forgotten flora needs a proper home, which means it’s time to do some research.

Explore Arabella’s house and gardens, filled with botanical notes, books, and posters, to find the right habitat for the precious plants. Use interactable items scattered around the manor and grounds in order to solve plant-based puzzles. Once Arabella starts growing each plant, she may discover some mysterious qualities within them…

Key features of Botany Manor include:

Seeds of the Past: Room by room, learn more about the life and career of Arabella, and the challenges she faced as a woman navigating her scientific career.

Fawning Over Flora: The puzzles in Botany Manor come in the shape of growing plants. Find seeds, pot them and carry your seedlings to the right environment. But finding their ideal habitat will sometimes require you to think outside the box…

Stop and Smell the Roses: Botany Manor is a relaxing and peaceful environment, with many rooms and gardens to discover. Take the time to enjoy the beautifully rendered countryside, 19th century architecture, and of course, the flora.

Botany Manor will release on Nintendo Switch and PC via Steam in 2023.

To keep your botanical research up to date, be sure to follow Botany Manor on Twitter and Instagram, and visit the official website. Follow Balloon Studios on Twitter and the official website.

To keep up with everything Whitethorn Games is doing, you can follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Twitch, join the official Whitethorn Games Discord, and visit https://whitethorngames.com.

About Whitethorn Games
We’re an indie game publisher focusing on pleasant, cozy games that can be played in pieces, that require no special skills or knowledge, and that anyone can pick up and play. We’re believers in accessibility, inclusion, and widening the audience that gets to play. We like to consider ourselves the defenders of easy games. While our games might challenge you, they’ll respect your time, they’ll make sure you can play, and most importantly, they’ll never punish you. Learn more at whitethorngames.com.

About Balloon Studios
The studio is founded by Laure De Mey, who previously worked at the award-winning ustwo games on Assemble with Care and Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. Laure was also named as BAFTA Breakthrough UK in 2020, and was part of Apple’s Macbook Pro campaign in 2019. With Balloon Studios, she has set off on her own journey to cater to underrepresented audiences like herself, and deliver welcoming game experiences for people who want to escape to peaceful, historical worlds. Learn more at balloonstudios.com.