Groan Home

Grow Home reminds me of no other game more than Shadow of the Colossus -- because it's deliberately difficult to control, and this forms the basis of the game's challenge. Climbing Grow Home's "star plant" and directing its buds into nourishing, uh, energy rocks?, is frustrating to do but satisfying to pull off.

But, Grow Home's terrible controls go beyond just climbing, which I feel works to its detriment. The robot protagonist has way worse handling than Mad Max's wasteland junker, and it frequently feels like he's going in an effectively random direction. Even walking across a seemingly-horizontal section of plant can be fraught with danger.

And while falling, or dying, in Grow Home doesn't have much of an immediately-obvious punishment, having to re-climb up from the last checkpoint is a real chore.

There are some extra optional mechanics, like hard-to-find collectibles that unlock minimal upgrades, and hard-to-carry items that fill in, uh, text profiles in the pause menu. I guess, if you actually enjoy how the controls work against you, these features add some value. Personally I made a beeline for the main objectives and only collected what was in front of me.

Thankfully, that critical-path experience is brief, between 1 and 2 hours. I feel thoroughly okay about "beating" Grow Home, and absolutely no compulsion to spend any more time in it.

Better than: A Story About My Uncle
Not as good as: Shadow of the Colossus
The game does have a cute sense of humor: but applies it very sparingly.

Progress: Mission Status = Complete!!