Eufloria Review

For some reason, it’s often the loveliest, simplest games that are overlooked. I would be very surprised if Flower, for instance, doesn’t have more universal appeal than Call of Duty: Black Ops. And being a fraction of the price one wonders why Flower isn't one of the best selling game of all time, as Black Ops is. Yet this is the world we live in. When people think of videogames, they either think of Mario or Call of Duty, which leaves very little room in the videogame universe for minimal, cerebral experiences.

Photo credit indiegames.com

Eufloria shares these qualities with Flower, along with inspired art direction, calming sound-editing and music, as well as plant and color motifs. Strictly speaking, Eufloria is a Real Time Strategy game, but to compare it with Starcraft, World in Conflict, or other staples of the genre seems patently ridiculous. The latter games are built around excitement and action; shrewd troop movement and resource management; destruction and war.

Eufloria is about growth and expansion, planting seeds and reaping the benefit of patience as your trees grow and provide more seedlings. From a gameplay perspective, like many RTSs, it boils down to amassing as much firepower as possible and overrunning your enemy. But this game feels different because when you defeat your enemy on a given asteroid, it is to clear the way for you to plant more of your seeds. The act of wanton destruction of your enemy is more akin to weeding. In the end, you simply have a lovely arrangement of monochrome, not a demolished battlefield.

Despite an overwhelming array of backlogged games to play I currently possess, I have spent an inordinate amount of time playing this simple, relaxing, addictive, and fulfilling game. I recommend you do the same, and there is little reason not to given its price (about $15, depending on where you look) and system requirements (pretty much any computer can play it).