Flower

A downloadable semi-game on Playstation Network.

It's 10 bucks. It's worth it. Made by the same team that made Flow, and it's similar in a lot of ways. It's got an ethereal darkish ambient soundtrack that you add too with notes that are struck as you collect flower petals. It's a 3-D world and you are ... the wind... maybe? you basically fly the camera around and as you pass flowers their petals will blow off into a train of petals that grows longer and longer as you get more flowers. Blowing over glowing flowers will change the environment in different ways, like turning a patch of brown grass to green or moving Stonehenge-like rock formations, unlocking new areas to explore.

While this mechanic is a bit odd, it's not really the point of the game. Flower is closer to a painting that you can fly through. It truly is interactive art, drawing the viewer in to participate in a vision. Screen shots really don't do this game justice, as the mood is heavily dependent on the music, whooshing wind sounds as you glide around, the animation of the grass parting as you fly by, and the gradual renewal of the environment.

It's really nice to see an "art game" that is both thought provoking, sense-stimulating and fun at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAQjvuyljZc

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