Strange Horticulture

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Very Positive · 94%Very Positive · 94%2022

$15.99

US Steam price, checked 1 h ago

The verdict

A slow, atmospheric occult plant-identification puzzler with a cat and multiple endings. Skip it if you want real challenge or variety; the loop repeats and it's short.

Great for

Players who want a relaxed, cozy-spooky puzzle game with cataloguing, a cat and light mystery

Main risk

The plant-identifying loop is repetitive and easy, so it can feel boring and too short for the price

What players love

Cozy, atmospheric spooky vibe

Mentioned in ~1 in 2 positive reviews

“Music, interation effects and A CUTE CAT that you can pet gives it the cozy vibe whereas the customer interactions adds the spookiness.”
Steam review · 15.5 h played ↗

“I absolutely love the mysterious atmosphere, beautiful art style and relaxing gameplay.”
Steam review · 5.8 h played ↗

“An amazing meditative puzzle with an incredibly cozy but slightly creepy atmosphere.”
Steam review · translated · 9.6 h played ↗

Satisfying plant identification and puzzles

Mentioned in ~1 in 2 positive reviews

“Finding the correct plant for each customer is strangely relaxing and getting it right feels very rewarding.”
Steam review · 5.2 h played ↗

“It strikes the right balance of difficult enough to keep you entertained, but not hard enough to frustrate you.”
Steam review · 6.5 h played ↗

Intriguing story with multiple endings

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews

“It is one of those games that will make you come back and try to see if you can do things differently the second time around.”
Steam review · 5.8 h played ↗

“You can skip things or solve everything and decide in the end whose side you're on, which changes the ending.”
Steam review · translated · 8.3 h played ↗

Cute cat and charming art

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“Hellebore is the absolute sweetest little bean and I feel horrible if I ring the bell before I pet him.”
Steam review · 48 h played ↗

“Plants, puzzles, petting a cat. What more could you want?”
Steam review · 8.6 h played ↗

Satisfying cataloguing and organizing

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews

“That could be because I'm more interested in organizing my plants than progressing the story to figure out who done it.”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗

“A great game if you love to collect and organize items.”
Steam review · 37.9 h played ↗

Helpful hints and no time pressure

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews

“There is no sense of urgency (which is a good thing for a cozy game)”
Steam review · 4.5 h played ↗

“Having no time limits was also a huge plus, and made the game all the more relaxing to play and think about.”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗

What players complain about

Repetitive, boring gameplay loop

Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews

“it's the same thing over and over and over, it's so boring....”
Steam review · 27.1 h played ↗

“you sit at your desk, customers come in, ask for a specific plant, you figure out which one it is and hand it over. end of story.”
Steam review · 5 h played ↗

“In my opinion it's boring, with monotonous gameplay.”
Steam review · translated · 5.8 h played ↗

Bland story and forgettable characters

Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews

“Very boring visitors and an uninspiring detective plot.”
Steam review · translated · 6 h played ↗

“What deprives SH of its charm, is its weak writing, forgettable characters and terrible plot.”
Steam review · 5 h played ↗

Puzzles too easy and shallow

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews

“It's an exercise in iteration more than intuition.”
Steam review · 6.4 h played ↗

“Game is too easy, there's barely a challenge.”
Steam review · 4.8 h played ↗

Vague clues and obscure puzzles

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“The clues to identify plants can be helpful or very useless. It's incredible inconsistent.”
Steam review · 3.2 h played ↗

“On day 14 a woman asks for a mushroom antidote. I read the whole almanac and nothing fit.”
Steam review · translated · 5 h played ↗

Clunky UI, cluttered shelves, tiny text

Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews

“the UI is missing a number of basic quality of life features that adds a lot of needless busywork.”
Steam review · 6.2 h played ↗

“The interface is BUTT. It starts fine, but as your plants and doodads pile up, your shelves and drawers become a nightmare.”
Steam review · 4.7 h played ↗

Map searching and travel cooldown are tedious

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“I absolutely hated the map mechanic where you have to scan it for minutes several times every day just to find a required location.”
Steam review · 4.9 h played ↗

“The map is very awkward to use, and the adventure points cooldown is a chore.”
Steam review · translated · 6.4 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Verified

Minimum

OSWindows 7 or later

Processor2.4 GHz

Memory1 GB RAM

Graphics512 MB display memory

Storage1 GB available space

OSWindows 7 or later

Processor2.4 GHz

Memory1 GB RAM

Graphics512 MB display memory

Storage1 GB available space

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