Are you looking for a title to mindlessly while away a few hours of cute and colourful gaming? Do you like plants, flashy dopamine hits and colourful graphics? If so, Petal by Petal is the incremental game you have been looking for.
Petal by Petal
Your goal is simple: water the plants and harvest them for sale within the time limit. Starting with basic resources and working your way up to more expensive plants, your income blossoms alongside your garden until it lights up your entire screen.
Incremental games have never needed anything more than a loose concept to keep them entertaining, but Petal by Petal manages to keep the gameplay loop engaging without bloating the mechanics. Simply hold your cursor over a plant to water it, and you’re good to go.
Some plants do require watering multiple times, but you get tools like sprinklers to help you out. There are also bugs and other critters for you to unlock, which interact with plants to speed up their growth, as well as other environmental factors like rain to help you out.
The Buds Are Blooming
Petal by Petal starts off slow, but its incremental nature makes it pick up quickly. The numbers soon went into the thousands, and even into the millions, by the end of my few hours of dedicated gameplay.
Its extensive skill tree gives players something to work towards between rounds and levels up gameplay by adding new flowers and different boons. Some of these were basic extend-your-reach or effectiveness unlocks, while others added more animals and weather effects.
Eventually, the boons and bonuses will make it so you don’t really need to try and play all that much if you don’t want to, making it feel more of an idle game. The game finished soon after this, though, and it was fun watching all the effects pop off.
These games don’t offer much accessibility, but there are plenty of options, including volume sliders and a light mode. If you find the timer is too much for you, there are different modes to try. They offer calmer sandbox experiences, but I didn’t find them as engaging.
Don’t BeLeaf Me?
As far as cheap idle games go, Petal by Petal hits all the sweet spots. The music is unobtrusive, and the sounds activated some major ASMR chills as I collected water. The £5 entry point might put people off, especially since I completed a 100% run within a few hours. However, I walked away feeling relaxed and ready for my next challenge, which is what I want from my clicker games.
Platforms: PC
Publisher: Orquin Games
Developer: Orquin Games
Played On: Steam
Code Provided By: Keymailer
About the Author
