Strange Horticulture is a curious puzzle game where you run a local plant store, full of plants that you don’t seem to know much about. You do have a little book of information, and a bunch of plants on the shelves, to help you figure out what plant is being requested by your customers.
Your book has a bunch of information on each of the plants, with their name, a little sketch, and a description of what it looks like. When someone comes to your shop, you need to figure out what plant would be best for what they need. Sometimes, customers ask for a specific plant by name, but other times they actually make a vague request for a plant that has a specific use; to sleep better, for example.
When it comes to deciding which plant you want to give to a customer, you do have some options in Strange Horticulture beyond looking at the book and at the plants. You can inspect the plants to see them in a closer look. As you figure out the names of plants, you will start to get labels on the pots, so that in the future it’s not as challenging to find the plant that matches the name.
Beyond the puzzle elements when it comes to figuring out what plants are needed for each customer, there is also a lengthy story behind Strange Horticulture. There seems to be a coven and a cult that you can join, a cat you can play around with, and some interesting customers. You are also able to travel around, meeting new people and finding new plants!
I got my hands on a small amount of Strange Horticulture at EGX this year, where I became quite curious about the deeper story. This game is currently for sale on Steam and Nintendo Switch.