I love the games that have a unique and strong concept. Grow Home is definitely one of those games. In this game you are controlling a small robot that climbs high places. You connect sprouts of a very big plant to "power sources" that make the plant grow even higher. It is one of those games where you are discovering new realms by going higher and higher or deeper and deeper, that create a sense of wonder that keeps you going. I also love how you are creating the platforms yourself when climbing. As you reach the top, it feels very satisfying to look down and see the whole world overgrown with vines that you created.

But the climbing part in this game is rather short. You reach the final destination in about 2 hours or less. Depending how clumsy you are. Besides climbing, the game offers a number of achievements and things to collect.

However, the fun part of this game is definitely climbing and figuring out the way to connect sprouts in order to progress. Making leaps of faith when trying to reach another sky island was really fun. But I wish that game would do more with that mechanic. Whether that would be more difficult platforming challenges or simply making the game longer by adding more levels in the sky. Collecting items across the world is not bad, but it doesn't really expand on the gameplay as you are pretty much just backtracking and looking for stuff. It also becomes rather boring to collect everything as you don't need to reach for stuff using the sprout growing mechanic. When you reach the top you just need to dive down to islands. Perhaps adding some puzzle element with the sprout growing mechanic or adding more interactivity to the environment could spice up the collecting part of the game. I would also appreciate some kind of locator option for all the star seeds and crystals.

Nevertheless I adore this game and appreciate it. If you are looking to try it out I would definitely recommend at least the climbing part of the game, as it is unique and satisfying, even if it is rather short. I am not sure how it plays with the mouse and keyboard but with the controller it felt very good.

I didn't play the sequel yet (Grow Up 2016), so I am excited to see whether they expanded on the concept as I think it has lots of potential.

Grow Home should, by no means, be as perfect as it is.

It was a test game made for the people working at the studio to just have fun with that was then developed into a full title and released to the mass public. It's visuals are blocky, yet charming, it's gameplay is clunky yet workable and the overall tone is cutesy without being saccharine. It's very basic premise is as basic as premises come; you are B.U.D., a small robot whose entire purpose is to take seeds and plant giant stalks to reach your quite literal Mother Ship so you can go home. You can find upgrades, you can scan things, and it is really super straight forward.

So then why, despite all that, did it leave such an impression on me? Well, I for one am not your typical gamer. I don't care about visuals, I don't care about multiplayer, and frankly I love childlike wonderment stuff like this. I miss this sort of thing, so it had that going for it. But I think the thing that really hit home with me was that it comes across as so endearing, wholesome and sincere, and that's missing from a lot of games these days.

There's nothing negative in it. You're simply a cute little robot toying with plants whose mother ship is almost literally their mom and encourages and supports their progress and growth. It's the definition of wholesome. Perhaps that's why it hit me so hard, because while there's no real "plot" to speak of, the fact that it's wholesome to begin with is enough. The world has become a dark, dismal place full of awful horrid things (to be fair, it's always been that way, but it's become even MORE so), and so having small shining lights like this are just...wonderful. It's hope in a world that has none anymore. But it's also nice to be encouraged, even if its by a robot mom ship in the sky. As someone who grew up with parents who didn't encourage her whatsoever, who downright discouraged her in fact, seeing that sort of love between a parent and a child brings a warm feeling to my chilled dead heart. It gets to me like nothing else. This is why I like anime like Usagi Drop and Sweetness & Lightning because it's the same thing. It's making sure that the thing you're taking care of is okay and knows its loved, no matter what.

There's something to be said for wholesomeness. I've talked about that ad nauseam in my Slime Rancher review and more, but this is different, and it's because of that pseudo parent/child relationship. When a ship mom from a video game is more encouraging than your real life mother ever was, then something truly great has happened. I talked about the parent/child relationship when I reviewed Shelter as well, the whole concept of doing whatever it takes for your child to be happy and loved and, in that games case, simply survive. But there's no real danger in Grow Home. I mean, you can fall from thousands of feet up in the air and have to be repaired, but you never really "die" and nothing is ever actively trying to "destroy you". It's about literal growing pains. Learning through experience, figuring out how things around you work and then using them to your advantage, all while being told you're doing a fantastic job.

The fact that my mother was actually more robotic than a genuine robot in a video game made up of computer code is pretty telling.

I wouldn't even really call Grow Home a "game". Not in the proper sense of what we consider games to be. It's an experience. It's something you DO. We should all strive to be more like B.U.D. and work on building things instead of tearing everything down. We should all be like his mother ship and work on encouraging one another instead of destroying each other. I know, this all sounds incredibly out of character for your favorite cynical lesbian to be saying, but it's true. Grow Home taps into a universal feeling of love that I don't get from many other things. This feeling to do good, help others, make the world a better, more beautiful place, because in the end, it can make US better, more beautiful people. Don't worry. I'm not going to turn into an armchair psychologist spouting psychobabble using faux positive platitudes on a forum somewhere. I'm still incredibly depressed and I still believe the world is a dark, cruel place.

But every now and then...every now and then, it's nice to be happy. It's nice to fix things. It's nice to be encouraged.

Sometimes, as B.U.D. teaches us, you need to stop and smell the roses. Then grow those roses right into the fucking sky and into outer space.

This game is a wonderful little treat. You control a little robot who has to explore around on this little world and collect things while trying to grow this tree. The fascinating thing about this game is it's totally vertical; all of the exploration is up and down as you use your jetpack, hang glider and various other upgrades to discover the secrets of this magical planet. The game is such a neat package; the world is so huge but the graphics are composed of simple polygons which allows the game to run on such a large playing field. It gets away with the lack of textures by clever design and it has an endearing style.

The greatest strength of the game is the atmosphere. The cute robot, animals, the plants and the alien world; you peacefully explore this place with a perfectly serene ambient soundtrack. There's no monsters trying to get you and there isn't really death. It's such a peaceful experience to visit this world, I didn't want to leave. I played it through with a smile on my face and it felt like I was meditating. Even after I finished the game I kept exploring around and just enjoying the atmosphere. There's also an element of wonder, when playing you feel like a child again, exploring this mysterious place and allowing the magical atmosphere to roll over you with a delightful sense of progression as you find new things, upgrade your robot and alter the world (by changing the huge tree). It's tough to explain.

This game is really unique, there's nothing else like it. The only similar game I can think of is the wonderful Dig-n-Rig, a free game that can be found here (http://games.digipen.edu/games/dig-n-rig). Dig-n-Rig has a strangely similar premise, except it's 2D and you're moving down instead of up. If you've never tried it or if you enjoyed Grow Home and want something similar I would recommend it.

The only complaint for Grow Home is the game's length; it can be mostly completed in a couple hours. Nonetheless it was one of the most memorable and delightful gaming experiences I've had recently and I feel like launching in and playing it again from the start. If you find it on steam for a couple bucks then I'd definitely recommend it. Short and sweet.