Having released in April to positive reviews (currently at a 94% positive ratings on Steam), Botany Manor is the debut game from Balloon Studios. The botanical puzzle game tells the story of Arabella Greene as she compiles research for her herbarium book. Over a total of 5 chapters, players must explore the botanist’s cozy manor and collect clues that will help them grow a variety of colorful plants.
We recently got to ask Laure De Mey, Founder of Balloon Studios and Creative Director of Botany Manor, a few questions about the game following its release. From Tomb Raider influences to the challenges of developing a satisfying puzzle game, here’s what she had to say.
Much like plants, games also grow from a small seed, so what were the ideas/inspirations that led to Botany Manor?
De Mey: As a child, I loved playing the Croft Manor level in the Tomb Raider games. You could explore the whole manor and discover all its secret rooms. Later, I moved to the UK and realized I could actually explore these kinds of historical houses in real life and also learn more about the families who used to live in them. One of the houses I visited was Down House, the house of Charles Darwin, and it inspired me to see how he used his whole garden as a workplace. There was a greenhouse filled with succulents, multiple variants of ivy on the walls and pots all over the place… All of those elements combined were what ultimately led to the idea of Botany Manor and the character Arabella Greene.
How has your experience at ustwo games, working on Assemble with Care and Alba, shaped your work at Balloon Studios?
De Mey: I worked at ustwo games as a programmer, and though I wasn’t as intensely involved with the design of those games, I did learn a lot from the people around me. The mantra of ustwo games is to make games that feel handcrafted and can be enjoyed by any type of player. I definitely took that design ethos on board by making sure the puzzles weren’t too obtuse and also didn’t require too many complicated interactions. I knew the audience that would enjoy Botany Manor might not necessarily have any prior gaming experience. It was most of all important to me that every puzzle felt fun and unique, and the information you needed to solve a puzzle was presented clearly.
With Land’s End and Lagoon, you have some virtual reality background, is there a possible VR future for Botany Manor?
De Mey: Not at the moment, though I would be very excited to sit virtually on a bench in the gardens somewhere!
What aspect of Botany Manor are you and the team most proud of?
De Mey: This answer is probably going to differ a little for all of us individually, but we’ve definitely been blown away by the reception of Arabella’s story. We were surprised to see how many players picked up on small details about Arabella’s family and personality, but also how interested they were in the history of the manor. The narrative is quite personal to us, being about dealing with criticism and not being taken seriously, and we’ve really loved seeing other people relate and ultimately feel validated by the game. We’ve seen quite a few people mention how the ending made them cry, and we just never thought it would leave such a lasting impression! The message of Botany Manor is to do what you love despite what other people might say, and I’m personally most proud to see people feel inspired by it.
What was the biggest challenge you faced as a new studio making a puzzle game about plants?
De Mey: There were quite a few challenges! One thing that was surprisingly difficult was to make sure a player didn’t miss the growth of a plant. We knew early on that growing the plant should be your reward for solving the puzzle and should be a very satisfying moment for the player. But when a puzzle is set across a big manor, with many rooms to explore and items to interact with, the player could easily experiment with a device and accidentally trigger the growth of the plant in a different room. That’s where the design of always having to place plants on saucers became a necessary limitation, as well as making sure that any interactions to influence the plant environment were positioned right next to the saucers.
That’s all for the interview. If you have not yet played Botany Manor, it is available now on Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, and PC. The game is also on Xbox Game Pass and is definitely worth a try if you’re already a member. Click here to read my full review of Botany Manor. Or you can watch the video above. Thank you to Laure De Mey for taking the time to answer our questions. And if you want more, click here to check out my interview with Dr. Matthew White, CEO of Whitethorn Games. Who also happened to have published this very game.
