To be clear, we like this game a lot. The gameplay mechanic was original and compelling. The game played very fast, with simple levels we could clear quickly, and the overall experience was simple casual gaming at its best. We expect to see a dozen knock-off games with a similar mechanic within a few months, and if history is any indicator, most of them won’t be as good. That being said, the game has enough warts that it will likely never be a top seller, and that makes us sad. The casual market needs a few more original games like this to break up the endless monotony of Diner Dash and Zuma clones.

The basic game has you spinning vines to make paths between flowers; somewhat like Magic Vines or the new Popcap game, Talismania. When you make a vine path through a tile, the tile is cleared. Clear all of the tiles, and you finish the level. The game is pretty simple, and you can match vines without trying very hard. That keeps the energy up and the game fresh. With even a little forethought you can make very long vine combinations, which is very satisfying. They mix up the gameplay with special flowers, special tiles, and a creepy fairy on the edge of the playing area that uses magic to help you out every now and then.

The bonus games are also fun. We won’t spoil them for you, but they are cute, simple, and break up the game a bit and make the quest mode more interesting. I especially liked the flower-catching bonus which is as simple as it gets but still a hoot. I did wish I could replay the bonuses, but the game doesn’t make that very easy.

The music is of the generic “I’ll turn it off and listen to my MP3 collection” variety, which is par for the course for most casual games. But what really mars the game is the art. This is especially sad, because much of it is really beautiful. The main menu, for instance, fools you with its very polished look, including some great little animated touches that give you a lot of hope for the game. But the first glimpse of the main ingame screen will cure you of that hope. It’s really frustrating, because some of the art in this game is actually very good, but other parts of it are actually very bad… and it is all mixed into a sort of thematic soup that ends up not satisfying. This game wants very badly to be beautiful, and it has its moments, but it just has too many warts to get there.

Overall, this is a great little game that rises above its own implementation. Bee Games keeps putting out these little gems, and each time, they get a little better. We expect more and better games from them in the future, but for now, we suggest you give this one a try.

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