Syed Imran Haider 
A first-person puzzle game, Botany Manor gets you to grow various plants and has a sweet and short story that comes with engaging and witty mysteries to keep you digging happily. If you enjoy gardening, you will certainly find the game interesting and fun. You take on the role of Arabella Greene, a retired botanist who returns to her grand English manor in 1890 Somerset.
The puzzles
Every ‘puzzle’ that you will come across is actually a fictional plant that you need to grow and it has clever clues that help you in tending to each new seed type. Some clues are very simple, but you will notice that the complexity starts increasing gradually, as does the quantity, for you to bring the plant to life. Time period and real-world science inspire unconventional growing methods.
You may not actually learn gardening when you play Botany Manor, but its surreal nature is highly appealing. From the beginning, it is quite clear that the clues do not just help in solving a puzzle, but actually put together a much larger story related to your character and the house she lives in. You have to fill all the pages of the herbarium book you are provided. It is like writing your own botany book.
The challenges
While you solve plant mysteries, you will also visit the front gate occasionally for picking up a decrypt secret lock, or key, to access a new area. This can help in reducing some of the repetitive tasks you do during the six hours you spend playing Botany Manor. Every section of the manor has different clues and they continue to get creative as you make progress.
Every challenge comes with picturesque scenery and strange ideas, but Arabella’s story is quite slow. Instead of using spoken dialogue and characters to tell her story, the game opts to write notes that peer into her life. Arabella is a strong-willed botanist and has had to face a rejection in her field, which is quite unjust, but the letters and notes do not really manage to dig into her emotions properly. It is possible to create intimate moments with letters from friends, family and groundkeepers, but the game fails to take advantage of this element and you are likely to forget them during your hunt for clues.
Other details
As far as the manor is concerned, you can see the fire burning beneath the stove in the kitchen, showing it has not been abandoned. However, it feels as if everyone left the manor quickly, which is certainly odd. But, this is also a good thing because it means there is nothing to distract you from the puzzles. Arabella’s focuses on filling out the herbarium to get it published and earn her rightful position.
The Verdict
Botany Manor has a rather charming old English setting that comes with clever clues, which makes this light-hearted puzzle game worth trying out. You can feel a sense of achievement when you fill out the pages of the herbarium.
