FlowerQuest Review

Written by: Dustin Arient Published: August 27, 2006 With a name like FlowerQuest, you might expect Alawar Entertainment's puzzle offering to be full of elves and fairies making magical chains of posies. You'd be right, of course, but don't let your overabundant machismo bar you from this title. Beneath the botanical theme lurks a challenging game. Each stage presents you with a board of clickable tiles. Some of the tiles contain flowers; most contain vines. Some of the vines are straight, while others take the form of right angle pieces or t-junctions. Your task is to connect two or more flowers by rotating tiles to create an unbroken path. As you link blooms and stems, they vanish, changing the tiles under them from green to white. New flowers and tiles then drop into place until you've banished all of the green from the field. This process is simple in the early stages, but as you progress, you'll encounter flowers that re-grow green patches around themselves, odd-colored tiles that must be changed two or more times to be cleared, and other hazards. Fortunately, you'll receive help in the form of tools, including exploding blossoms and a visit from your fairy mentor, who can remove bothersome tiles with her magic wand. FlowerQuest is a solid puzzle game. The mechanics are easy to learn, but the difficulty ramps up fast. Plus, enough wrinkles are added to the mix every few stages to keep you on your toes, but not so many the rules become cluttered. Scoring (out of five dragon heads): Graphics: Ease of use: Gameplay: Difficulty: Sound effects: Music: Final analysis: Click here to download the free trial version of FlowerQuest.