Scrap Garden

A gaming website I used to use is apparently shutting down so I'm going through my old posts there to see if there's anything I want to archive, below is a comment I made about this game there about 6 years ago:
I finished Scrap Garden and it was really good!

Feels like this game should've been a collectathon platformer, and not platformer with some puzzles, because collectathon gameplay would've complimented very well with SG's best aspects
And the best aspects of Scrap Garden are the environment design and music. You go from daytime in the city, to day or dusk hills, to evening/night snowy mountain, to dark swamo area, and then slightly lit volcano and ending on dawn in the city. It genuinely adds to the feeling that you went on a long journey, but because of the simple gameplay(you only have double jump and can hold then throw objects) it felt like gameplay was too simple and missed something.
Sure there are some puzzles, but one of them(laser mirrors, the classic) is reused like 4 times, while being still very easy. Then theres 2-3 physics puzzles, like stacking barrels on one side to then move up, or using objects to destroy wooden structure holding blue dynamite, I think maybe the game would be better with more physics type of puzzles. The game also has ok, but simple boss battles(although a lot of them feel like cliches you saw a lot, like avoid the gaze of giant boss).
All this meh gameplay almost makes the game feel like a walking sim, while not really being one, if that makes sense. But man, I think the devs have potential at maybe making fun collectathon platformer.
As for this game, its still alright if its one of your first games in general, or introducting to platformers or you want something easy to breeze through(or easy 100% I did long ago) Just make sure to only get it on a heavy 80% discount or more.

Receiving this game for free means this review will be a little lenient towards it.
I found this to be a charming little platformer to stroll through. Particularly enjoyed the relaxing OST.
The story was cute, akin to a children's book. Decent VA delivering it. Overall good vibes.
The gameplay and level design itself does feel like a student's project or perhaps from a game jam, being very barren and bland. Very little engagement, just run around and collect crystals while occassionally solving a "puzzle".
A bug preventing further enjoyment was that my controller was detected but non-functioning no matter what I tried. KB/M ended up playing just fine anyway.
If you got / get it for free, try it out. Maybe on a steep discount.

First playthrough review time.
I got this game for free, and it followed its story quite well with simple controls and an easy level of difficulty, though the first boss was a bit hard to manage. The soundtrack was fine, and the narrator added a nice touch to the storytelling. The camera angles changed based on different moments, which made scenes more dynamic.
The physics worked well, and the boss battles had good variety, with different types of creatures appearing across each region. Each area had its own setting and design, giving the game a clear sense of progress. There were also small puzzles that were simple but well-placed and helped balance the pace between battles.
The game seems made for casual players, with a steady flow and clear structure. Some parts were slightly annoying, especially when all the gems were taken even though only part of them was needed, but it still managed to show the main character’s struggle to complete the given task. The overall journey stayed consistent from start to finish.

It's pretty rough around the edges and the voice acting sucks balls BUT it has a lot of charm and some good worldbuilding. The story gets you hooked immediately and the twist ending hit me like a truck, the levels feel big enough to explore but small enough to not waste your time, and the platforming is really solid and satisfying despite the janky hitboxes and physics elsewhere in the game.
Only takes about 2-5 hours to beat, maybe 6-7 if you go for 100%. A short and sweet little adventure. Would totally buy a small action figure of Canny.

seems like a nice passion project. short playtime, not a lot of gimmicks, but i was never bored.
cute little story.

Small Little Indie Game from 2016. I Enjoyed it alot.
Will you Help C4nny Discover what happened to the City of Robots?
some of the mechanics ingame are broken but have very little effect on gameplay mainly you need to collect x gems to open certain doors but the game counts gems incorrectly and the doors always consume all of your gems. It´s never been an issue though since the levels have far more gems than you ever need and each segment has only 1 gem door.