Flower (Video Game)

ThatGameCompany. Flower. (Video Game) Sony, Year. Available only on PS3.



Plot Summary

You are a flower petal on a breeze. As you fly by other flowers, petals break off to join you until you are a cloud of multicolored petals soaring across the landscape. In the scene that precedes each level you see a dark and dreary city devoid of life. The city is shades of grey. Then, you're in a meadow that is also grey, as you fly past the flowers, more flowers appear. Once you touch enough flowers, a portion of the landscape is colored and the screen lightens. A path of flowers appears leading you further into the dark. Follow the flowers until the whole landscape is bright and alive. Each level is progressively darker, with more signs of humans, but eventually even the city is overtaken with wildflowers.



A note about gameplay: At this time, Flower is only available on PlayStation 3 and takes advantage of the motion sensing controllers. To move, simply tilt the control from the horizontal axis. You can't turn the controller along the axis, it must be tilted. Press any button to gain speed. The game is designed to be intuitive, thus there is very little instruction and once the game begins there are no words only the path of flowers to guide you.


Critical evaluation

Flower is designed to be intuitive, thus there are few words and players are encouraged to explore. Luckily, exploring is fun and as you fly around you may inadvertantly unlock new pathways, and learn more about the game's quest. As far as a quest goes, the purpose of the game is simple, but profound. As a flower, fly around gathering more flowers in order to make the bleak human landscape colorful again. Flower is unlike most other video games, so frequent gamers won't have an advantage. The landscapes are breathtakingly beautiful and the game is accompanied by symphonic music that intensifies as the game progresses. Although short, Flower is worth playing.



Readers Annotations

Borne on a breeze, you are a petal, gathering both petals and speed as you fly through the landscape. You are bright and colorful in a dreary land. As you fly, you spread life across the meadow. Using the motion sensing controller, this game is as easy to play as it is enchanting.



Information About the Designer

Flower is produced by ThatGameCompany. The company website says, "our goal is to make video games that communicate different emotional experiences the current video game market is not offering. We encourage innovation and experimentation and believe that our creative games will appeal to new, yet untapped, audiences."



Genre

Fantasy


Curriculum Ties



none


Booktalking Ideas

What does it feel like to be on a breeze? How would you like to bring color back to the world?



Reading Level/Interest Age

Grade7+



Controversial Subject Matter and Defense of Ideas

none



Why Game Included

 This is one of my favorite games. It is really different from other video games, so I hope that people who don't usually play games will try it.