Nature Matters
Go back to nature with this platform puzzler
$1.99 From Digital Melody Games, digitalmelody.eu Made for iPhone, iPad, iPod touch Needs iOS 9.0 or later
In Nature Matters you control a plant spirit that’s been abandoned and forgotten by its caretaker, a boy who moved to the city and is too caught up in the modern world to care for his plants. As the spirit, you need to find him and convince him to appreciate nature once again.
To do this, you need to solve platform– based puzzles by swiping the spirit around each level, never covering the same tile twice. But the controls are a little fiddly, and aren’t as responsive as we’d like. We often had to restart levels after swiping too quickly for the game to keep up.
As you move, luscious grass and flowers sprout in your wake, turning your ugly surroundings into a floral haven. The graphics are striking, looking like Monument Valley with a naturalistic tinge. We don’t think we’ll ever get tired of gazing at this gorgeous game.
The gameplay is slow to get started. Early levels are really easy and there are too many of them, meaning you risk getting bored before you get into the meat of the game. Later levels, though, are much more challenging, introducing elements like teleportation orbs and keys that raise and lower the ground. At this point, it becomes much more stimulating.
Nature Matters is unlikely to present too much of a challenge to puzzle veterans, but it’s a good dose of casual gaming that’s easy to dip in and out of. If only its controls were not so finicky.
THE BOTTOM LINE. A beautiful platform puzzler that’s just a little too slow to get started.