Indie Gaming Spotlight: Grow

Sometimes great things can be simple, very simple. The proof of this is Grow, an indie game series by Eyezmaze. All the Grow games are all based on one simple premise, you start with a blank world, every turn you can add something to that world, and every turn everything previously existing in the world “level ups” and becomes bigger, or better in some way. The trick to solving the puzzle of Grow is to have everything in your world at its highest possible level; which then becomes a simple matter of adding things in the right order. What complicates the whole matter and wherein lies the genius of the game is the fact that the objects interact with each other when they are added. So while one object might just upgrade over time, another object might require something else to be added to “level it up.” Conversely, an object might destroy another if it is added too early or at the wrong time. This cause and effect style of gaming ends up being real fun and considering Eyezmaze has animations for all of the different combinations(even for the completely wrong combinations) you’ll be tempted to replay the game again and again tell you solve the puzzle. Even then you might play on still just to see the hilarious results of the mismatches. Like the gameplay, the animation is incredibly simple but very effective. The little people that inhabit and live in your little world are truly a joy to watch and see them react to your new additions and the ever evolving landscape.

There are 6 full length Grows to date: Grow 1-3, Grow Cube, Grow RPG, and Grow Island. One of note is Grow RPG, where you slowly build a little RPG world for your hero to adventure in, and only when everything is fully leveled up can the hero finally make it to the end and defeat the final boss. Truly an experience that is not to be missed.
All games can be played, for free, on www.eyezmaze.com