In VaragtP´s garden simulator “Plantera” (where the only objective is to click as much as you can to collect coins from harvesting), you get the opportunity build your own garden and watch it grow with new plants, bushes, trees and animals. Well, that sure sounds really awesome (so I thought). However, the cute pixel art is the most impressionable thing you will see in this game, because “Plantera” lacks of in-game content, and the game has no goal, and gets tedious after a while.
The mechanics of the game are simple, as you simply click on things in-order to collect coins. And with those coins, you add more animals, trees and bed gardens to collect more coins to expand your area. There is also a knight who will run through your field, and when he does that. It´s up to you to click on him as many times as possible. As you will be rewarded coins by doing so. You will also have to keep an eye open for the different animals coming into your farming area. As they will try to steal your harvest (some animals will even try to scare your farmers away). So make sure to keep an eye out, because you can click them to get them away to protect your harvest. You can also use your coins to buy scarecrows and dogs to help you protect your harvest.
There are five types of trees, small trees and bed garden, and each one gives a different fruit and vegetable. These are rated by tier making the last one to unlock the highest tier for it rewards you with more coins as you harvest them. There are also four types of farm animals in the game. However, cows is the higher tier and rewarding you the most amount of coins). For each copy of the same trees or animals, the cost for the next one gets higher. So make sure to vary the type of trees and animals for lowest consumption of your coins.
The difficulty setting in “Plantera” is extremely easy, as for the game plays itself after obtaining two dogs to protect your harvest and farmers, meaning you can go AFK (Away from keyboard) for an hour and come back to find a nice amount of money gathered by your workers, and all you have to do is plant and expand without having to worry about harvesting. After 1 hour in, I found myself ignoring what was happening in-game and multi-tasking as I waited for my workers to collect coins for my new expansion and points upgrades. The game also allows you to buy clocks, which makes it possible for your workers to keep on harvesting even after that you left the game.
I personally wouldn’t recommend Plantera, because there are other games in the clicker genre that does a better job at entertaining players.
Pros:
+ Cute pixel graphics
Cons:
– No volume control
– No gameplay as for the game plays by itself
– No end goal
– Not enough content
Gameplay: 1/5
Graphics: 3/5
Sound and music: 2/5
Controls: 1/5
Replay value: 1/5
Verdict: 1.5/5
The lack of content, not having a way to fail, and not having an end goal or a reason to keep gathering coins like a leader board, it takes away any point of wanting to play Plantera after reaching level 20.
Title: Plantera
Developer: VaragtP
Format: PC
Genre: Simulator/Indie/Clicker
Resolution: Highest possible for PC
Release date: 2016-01-28
Difficulty: Easy
Spent time: 5+ hours
Average grade internationally: N/A Gamerankings.com
PEGI: N/A
Price: 3 Euros via Steam
Bengie Rodriguez
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @BenjusMaximus
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Tags: Indie games, PC review, Plantera, Simulator, Steam, VaragtP