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Druid's Haven's itch.io pageArtistic Statement / Use of Theme
We took the "plant a seed" theme quite literally and made a game about planting flora to restore an ecosystem and its biodiversity. Our goal was to show how each plant adds to the overall ecosystem by providing a kind of resource or condition that other plants need to thrive, and how, together, they are able to resist harsh conditions. We implemented mechanics that expose the monoculture practices that make a forest so fragile. From spreading infection to forest fires. To communicate this message, we chose the tower defense genre and, much like Plants vs. Zombies, made the plants the towers which work together to combat threats like heat and disease.
Development Summary
The game changed quite a bit from our initial idea to the final project. From the first sprint, a lot of feedback we received was about the big scope, and along the way we adjusted our idea from level based tower defense to an endless mode. We also scrapped a lot of features like different playable and recruitable characters, upgradeable plants, and shops.
(optional) Further Development Plan
Make it so that spreading as far as you can and covering the map in green is incentivied. Add a proper tutorial to explain the many interwoven machanics like infection and fire. Add some lore to explain more the real life consequences and solutions. Add the original idea of going back to level to explore and remember your work. Add enviromental events. And add a scoreboard, achievements and a showroom. Would also be trivial to add coop local or non local.
Topic Tags
biodiversity, ecosystems, habitat loss,
Sprint Participation
Yes
Game Engine, Platform, Format
Unity, WebGL
Generative AI Disclosure
None
(optional) Promotional Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WlKZv5XHPY
(Optional) Feedback Form
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe2SSOZyyoadLWVkrweAv2LZnZjS4HOE_Wdxw5V6FJE0whL-A/viewform
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Comments
Well I had written a long review but I accidentally reloaded the page and now there are only 3 minutes until the end of the review period. So, to condense it down a bit, I think your game is enviably complete. Its progression systems are fun to engage with, the synergies it promotes between plants is a great way to mechanically reinforce the importance of biodiversity, and it is easy to imagine it being expanded to promote more complex strategies and thus more diverse ecologies (which would not be too hard to build a narrative around). All in all, I think y’all did great.
I had so much fun playing your game! The art, music, and sound effects are so well done and work well with the roguelike style of the game. The mechanics and game loops are fun and addictive; it was easy enough to understand but also gets more complex. I enjoyed trying different strategies and seeing how the mobs react based on various arrangements, and improved each playthrough. Doing the same thing over and over again can be tedious, but this was quite the opposite! I think the message was about working with nature and kind of being its helpers and allies.
This game is so polished, with clear design vision start to finish. Thanks for making!
very fun to play around with and interesting concept and visuals. congrats!
Nice game! Maybe you could make the message more visible?
Incredible visual and highly polished, considering the time constraint! The learning process was enjoyable. I had fun learning about the mechanics and playing the game. Very well done.
Visuals are very neat but i just dont know how to play the game
In what way exactly? The controls, the requirements of plants or the advanced synergies?
To say that I've been looking forward to this game's completion since the start would be an understatement, and the product did NOT disappoint. The cute and charming art, the engaging tower defense mechanics, the difficulty curve that always proved a challenge but not frustrating, every facet of this game was shown clear care from its team and remained true to the themes of the jam as well. As a fan of tower defense games, I can confidently say that you all have succeeded at making a very fun one. Amazing work guys!!!!