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Some games are made to make you smile, fall in love, and get lost in a magically created world, and few games can delight you like Botanicula.

Botanicula, a charming adventure/puzzle point-and-click, is available for only $9.99.

Little feather-fly, glowing nut/bulb, mushroom, fungus, and branch-guy--here’s the party of five little tree-friends that need your help to save their home-tree from evil black spidery monsters. On your way you will find dozens of tree-creatures: reimaginations of frogs, flies, bees, and beetles, all beautifully (and bizarrely) hand-drawn and animated. The whole environment is alive with chirping, buzzing and music. Actually, the whole environment is music--all your actions will be accompanied by symphony of chirps, tweets, growls, hums and gulps, all created by the band DVA, that won the game Excellence in Audio award at IGF.

Amanita Design, authors of Samorost and Machinarium, have created an adventure subgenre og their own: one where the exploration is as rewarding, touching, and delightful as the actual puzzle-solving. The simplicity of controls (click something when your cursor turns into a hand) combined with gameplay that encourages exploration (click everything that turns your cursor into a hand!) and brilliant ideas offer an amazing experience beyond regular point-and-clicks. You will want to find all the easter eggs before solving every puzzle and when you do, you will want to share this game with all of your non-gaming friends as an example of something that will delight and astound anyone.

[url=http://kotaku.com/5902784/the-splendid-botanicula-overflows-with-weapons+grade-joyfulness" target="_blank]Kirk Hamilton from Kotaku summed up Botanicula[/url] with a number of “100% true” facts. We found his summation so accurate we thought we’d include a few of them here:
* Botanicula is so adorable that it can only be controlled by picking up a puppy and moving its puppy paws on your computer's trackpad.
* Botanicula is so charming that it stole Julia Roberts away from Pretty Woman-era Richard Gere. He was pretty pissed but reported that he "couldn't stay mad at [Botanicula]".
* Botanicula is so clever that it snuck up behind the raptor that snuck up on Muldoon in Jurassic Park. "Clever game," said the raptor.

Botanicula is probably the closest thing to that dream you once had you never wanted to forget because it was so creative and fun. If you forgot that dream, get it back for only $9.99 now on GOG.com.
Come on weekend promo...
high rated
I don't know if this was an accidental poorly thought-out move or a cold greedy one, but I think people are reacting too quickly to it. Amanita has already offered a couple of extras to those who preordered (mostly the soundtrack, because I think that whomever preordered this game is because they've already played Machinarium). Wheter they did this out of a "What have we done?" thought or a "Crap. Let's fix this ASAP!" one is something we cannot know.

I mean, the guys at Amanita have always seemed nice people, maybe this was a flash-offer they received from HIB and they jumped on it without thinking. In that case, HIB should be the one to blame. But those guys... do they look like greedy bastards to you? They probably weren't thinking either.

I'm more inclined to think this is an accident, one of those occasions in which an oportunity arises so quickly you just take it without considering the consequences, but that's me. People are in their right to think otherwise, but they shouldn't let their rage cloud their thoughts.

Me, I pre-ordered the game here. And the reason I did it was because I thought it was worth the price. And I still think that's the case. I don't need any more extras, I already feel I got my money's worth. I don't feel ripped off for it showing up cheaper elsewhere, but it would be nice to know what was the real reason for this situation. So it would be good to hear some statement from the HIB guys about when was this idea crafted and if they had considered what would happen to those who preorder.
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the_bard: Come on weekend promo...
+1
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htown1980: I posted this on the other discussion topic but everyone seems to be ignoring me :(

sorry if this has already been posted, but:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/04/20/amanita-sorry-to-botanicula-pre-orders-give-free-stuff/
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spinefarm: No one is ignoring you :) Just readed it ... Even with the extra stuff... the bad taste stays ...
i agree, it doesn't totally take away the bad feeling i have, but its nice to see them acknowledge that maybe they didn't do a fantastic thing, and try to make amends. better than "f you guys, i do what i want!" anyway.
All the controversy aside (I preordered here as well.. and would have bought here regardless). I just got done playing this with my 3 year old and we had a great time together so far. Very art tastic PCA.
Aw crap, now I am honestly extremely sad.

I've been a very staunch & happy customer of GoG (the very idea of giving us the chance to legally obtain some golden oldies, as well as making sure they run on modern PCs is awsome).
Also I bought one copy of every Humble Bundle released (paying more than the average usually - I enjoy the idea of supporting the indie developers and giving to charities at the same time)

And now this happened. Even though GoG takes in a very sportsmanlike way (they put a lot of effort in advertising Botanicula, it obviously would have been a good source of income for them) and the Humble Bundle guys were probably surprised a bit too (well, if I were them I'd assume that Amanita Design talked with the other distributors first) it does leave a quite bitter taste in my mouth. Kinda like the feeling when seeing ones parents fight. Brrrr.

I have not decided what to do yet. I must admit, I would not have bought the game normally (got a big "to play" pile here - I'm looking at you Witcher 1 & 2), but probably still would have blown some bucks for the bundle (as I said I am a sucker for HiB's indie & charity combo).

Now? I'm not sure. I'll have to sleep over this. Might buy the HiB bundle (already got Machinarium and Saramost 2) for a buck and order the game from GoG. Or not buy both. Or something. Argh. Unhappy. Sad.
Well I bought the HIB for $0.99, split $0.15 to HIB Tip, and $0.84 to the charity (forget its name, something about forests or trees.)
To buy, or not to buy. I don't play point and clicks. I would never buy this game at full price. But with all the rage, do I want to buy this game at half price. Is it better to get $5 in a bundle from some one that wouldin't buy the game anyway. Or $0 because they would feal bad about being cheap and skipping the bundle all together, and not buying it from anyone.

Still debating on buying or not.
Post edited April 20, 2012 by cloud-envy
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gameon: <snip>
Which made me feel sorry for everyone who bought fallout, and had to sit by and watch everyone else get it for free. Even newbies got it!
<snip>
As someone who had already purchased Fallout before the giveaway, I in no way felt cheated. GOG did something they did not have to, and by giving Fallout away they were exposing a number of people to the title who might have never played it otherwise. I personally know someone who signed up with GOG so that they could get Fallout. She had never played an RPG like it before, and it opened up a whole new world to her. that is something that might not have happened otherwise. Isn't part of what makes GOG special the fact that they make PC gaming largely hassle-free, easily accessible, and affordable? Giveaways like the one with Fallout are fantastic, even if you are unable to personally benefit from it, because it introduces "newbies" to GOG's excellent service and a broader world of PC titles. I know that is neither here nor there with the Botanicula situation, but i felt it needed mentioning.
Still debating about whether to get this, for the same misgivings as some have stated above.

In any case, if I do buy it, I'm afraid it would have to go to the HIB, due to the Linux version. However, seeing as how awesome GOG has been about this (and how awesome they always are), I'll probably get one on GOG too, just to support them.
I have already finished playing this... About the game: you may get lost at times... too many way points. And I was stuck at a spot for like 30 min cause failed physics...Finished in 3-4 hours with a bit help of online walkthrough. Overall I think it's worth $5, but that's about it.
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RockyMM: You really really don't make sense :) Sorry, I had to say that.

Amanita is the owner of Machinarium, so nobody is losing any money. Just GoG, that is paying for extra bandwidth. It's simple.
I said I was off-topic. That should have made it pretty clear I wasn't talking about Amanita. Also following the entire conversation should have made that also clear.
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Dreadjaws: Me, I pre-ordered the game here. And the reason I did it was because I thought it was worth the price. And I still think that's the case. I don't need any more extras, I already feel I got my money's worth.
+1
Not sure this game is for me, however despite my misgivings with the indie releases GOG have been doing some damn fine work of late so while I'll not spring for this, I certainly intend spend some coin now pay day has come around.

Power to ya' GOG.
Post edited April 20, 2012 by drewpants
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gameon: Ok i get it. If you read the whole thread, you'll see i have been completely character destroyed over all of this. I'm wrong, you guys are right. So can people leave me alone on this, and stop downrepping me. Its just rubbing it in now.
There is no reason for you to feel sad or furthermore destroyed for an anonymous conversation on a subject that is not really important. It is terrible this feeling that everybody is falling on you, you don't have to take it.
I wish there was a gift-code on GOG to offer you a beer :)