Nature

Genre: Arcade

Players: 1

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Review:

Nature is a single-button Arcade-style game released on Nintendo Switch in 2022. This game has players controlling a dandelion seed floating on the wind in much the same manner as games like Flappy Bird, by tapping or holding the A button to cause the seed to rise. However, unlike Flappy Bird, players are not trying to avoid obstacles, but come into contact with as many elements of “nature” as possible, with the goal being to travel as far and/or as high as possible before running out a limited meter.

The presentation in this game features simple, cartoony 2D visuals that aren’t especially interesting, and is backed by a soundtrack that I strongly suspect uses fair use music, but quite effectively so – the piano, acoustic instrumental, and choral themes that play during the gameplay are quite nice, and give this game a peaceful and at times even “inspirational” sorta’ feeling. It’s kinda’ disappointing that the sound effects are the generic sorta’ stuff you’d encounter in a mobile game, because otherwise the sound here is rather delightful.

For the gameplay, players are largely concerned with expending energy – every tap of the A button uses up some, and when you’re out of energy you no longer have any ability to control your seed. Players can use plants growing out of the ground to bounce to get some more air time, they can replenish a little energy by touching multicolored flowers in the air (or are they small clouds? It’s difficult to tell), and can replenish a bit more by grabbing floating letters that spell out the word “evolve”. However, the main way players will refuel their metaphorical tank will be either by following behind a paper airplane that drops a trail of flowers to absorb, or colliding with an animal, which will carry your seed some distance and completely replenish your meter.

The main problem with this game is that the elements that will cause you to succeed or fail are largely down to luck – there’s no pattern to indicate how often an animal will appear or where they will show up, meaning that once your meter starts to get close to empty, you’ll just have to cross your fingers and hope to see one pop onto the screen, and also hope that it’s just at the right height that you’ll be able to reach it in time. In addition to this, it’s somewhat frustrating how little altitude your seed gains when you tap the A button, and players must either repeatedly tap it or hold it down to gain any significant altitude… but doing so will come at significant cost to your meter.

The result is a game that is overall a pleasant and enjoyable experience, but also a shallow one. If you’re looking for something relaxing to kill a few minutes with, Nature is light and appealing in a way that will likely satisfy you, but before long you’ll start to notice how little control you have over your own success or failure, and find yourself craving a deeper game.

tl;dr – Nature is a single-button Arcade-style game where players control a floating dandelion seed and try to bring it into contact with as many elements of nature as possible. It’s a pleasant and relaxing experience, but also a shallow one where your success is usually less dependent on your skill and more on luck. The result is a decent time-waster, but not a game you’ll be playing for long.

Grade: C+

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