In Grow Home you play as BUD (Botanical Utility Droid), a robot on a mission to save his home planet by harvesting the seeds of a giant alien plant. On his quest BUD will discover a beautiful world of floating islands that are home to some rather strange plants and animals.
Grow the giant plant and use your unique climbing abilities to reach ever higher ground, but be careful…one wrong move and it’s a long way down!
Key Features
Climbing: Procedural animation allows you to move BUD's hands independently, creating a unique and unrestricted climbing experience.
Growing: Guide and ride the giant alien plant as you create your own pathways in the sky. Everything you grow can be climbed on. Use it as a bridge, a safety net, or simply as a tool for artistic expression.
Steam User 12
Grow Home is such a fresh take on the adventure and platforming genre. It really makes me happy to see that people are still willing to move outside of the "normal box" and venture into new territory. I completed this game and got all achievements within roughly 6 hours, so if you're a completionist this game won't take you long.
Highly recommend any fan of the platforming-genre to give this game a try. You will not be disappointed.
P.S. As of the 29th of February, 2020 the game is currently on sale for 2 dollars which is absolutely insane for the value you're getting.
-berorah
Steam User 4
For some reason, I never got the impression this was a physics game based on the trailer. That caught me a bit off by surprise. I wouldn't call the controls 'intentionally bad' like Surgeon Simulator and the like but they are awkward and take time getting used to. For the most part I didn't have too many problems with it until the later stages, where I kept sliding off of surfaces despite still hanging on. Sometimes falling through objects completely.
I found it to be another good Podcast game. There's very little ambient music and the tasks are simple enough that it's easy to listen to something else on the side. The game itself is extremely short but getting 100% does take a lot more time. Some of the achievements are a little too tedious though.
The sale price is generally around $2 which is pretty damn good for what it offers.
Steam User 4
Ubisoft has always had an obsession with climbing. From Prince of Persia, to Assassins Creed Ubisoft can't get enough of the idea of vertical movement. Well Grow Home seems to be their attempt to make the most interesting climbing system ever put in a video game, while also giving it a child like tone and feeling of whimsy.
Grow Home centers on scampering up the side of a growing plant in attempt to reach home (Ubisofts naming divison has never been very clever). Gameplay is extremely fun but with computer generated movements being the main source of transportation, movement can feel wonky at times with BUD (the player controlled robot character) tripping and slipping on his own head. The very small amount of animal life is somewhat upsetting but even more so due to the very few enemies present throughout the experience. Actually the game fumbles with the idea of a failure state way to much. Most actions feel consequences-less due to the fact the no matter how high BUD falls, a teleportation device is always waiting to send him back to the top of the level. And the player can spend an hour messing around with sheep instead of trying to reach their goal, with little to no consequence. A suggestion would be to add a timer to the game (think Dead Rising) so players are forced to think before acting and make more interesting choices.
But I can say that if you're interested in what a Ubisoft fever dream looks like, or want a different take on the cutsie platformer, Grow Home is worth the price of admission. I just hope that by the time Ubisoft get around to finishing the trilogy they can make a few changes to the formula and really make something special.
Edit: Misspelled "hope"
Steam User 6
This game transports you to another world for a while. It's short but I absolutely love this game.
Steam User 7
Grow Home gleefully sprouts its physics-based legs and climbs an ever-growing beanstalk to the stars.
WHAT I LIKED:
+ BUD, the central character, was fair to control. Whilst sometimes throws himself off a floating island, the majority of the climbing mechanics were well executed and never felt uncontrollable.
+ 100 crystals to collect, which in turn upgrades BUD's jet-pack and other useful equipment, resulted in exploration being primarily fun and rather relaxing. The data bank also supplied more collecting to perform.
+ Once BUD reaches MOM's spaceship, an additional task of collecting star seeds is thrown into the mix, further extending playtime.
+ Unlockable skins. Ninja BUD is the way to go, trust me!
+ Gliding around the gigantic beanstalk is a soothing endeavour to say the least.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- Grabbing hold of flora and fauna with two hands unfairly weighed BUD down, even with unlimited fuel in the jet-pack.
- A few too many teleport devices which makes the game easier if BUD was to accidentally let go when climbing, as it means the player can fast travel to that closest point.
- Short. The game can be 100% completed in approximately 3 hours (if you're speedy at finding the crystals). The extra Steam achievements may add an incentive to come back, however there is nothing to do once all crystals have been found.
VERDICT:
5/10 bioluminescent maggots
Steam User 5
Cute game, good for a little bit of fun. 8/10 this game may give you an Oedipus complex.
Steam User 5
This game is awesome.