This one really is very good. A particularly important feature I haven't seen mentioned in the comments is the ability to pan forward. It's easy to get stuck in the details, I was about ready to give up near the end, but when I saw how close I was, I carried on.
I also like the forward/backward and mutliple-abilities business, that's very cool.
I'm a webmaster and let me say that for me, at this time, we already have a winner...
...This game is very well thinked and design...
A bug
Such a moment in the game, when the fat bird is flying to his nest theres is already a bird is his position (a copy of him)!
A question
Does someone know if theres a way to interact with the catuar or its just there to make it pretty?
I have to say I love this game. More than anything else, it's like an interactive storybook. Simple to understand, despite the lack of instructions, and puzzling enough that you are entertained all the way through.
Have to admit I did laugh out loud when the bean sprout 'twanged' the big bird out of the picture...
Oh wow. This game gives me enormous squee. This one is definitely getting my vote. Elegant, simple, hilarious, and cute as hell. And no real way to screw up -- that refreshing little bonus more than balances out the relative lack of replay value (except to see the humorous bits play out again!).
The graphical style caught my interest right away. I love the artistic quality, drawn and layered. It reminds me of the little sticker storybooks that were very popular when I was a kid -- several pages of glossy backgrounds and scenarios, and a page or two of character stickers and accessories to put on the pages. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
And look! The little edamame (soybean) wants to grow up to be a brown bowling ball! *LOL* j/k
The way the bean would converse with other growable things reminds me of the conversational style in Tork. With the precious addition of *boingboing*, of course.
The natural and organic way in which the bean would be recycled made me laugh, and reminded me of a line from the movie "Man in the Iron Mask" ...
Porthos to Aramis, after Porthos tries to hang himself and ends up with his butt on the floor in the barn: "You sawed the beam! Admit it! Admit it!"
which made me laugh some more ...
"You pooped the bean! Admit it! ADMIT IT!"
*LOL*
The dusty-cloud actions (farmer picking fruit -- which look like persimmons to me, dam breaking, coconut falling into waterfall, etc.) make me think of PigPen from the Peanuts comic.
That blue and red bird is quite the pignacious. (No, that's not a real word, but I use it anyway.)
CATAPULT THE PIGNACIOUS!!!
I almost cried, laughing so hard at that one!
I can fault this game for only two things:
1) The end seemed a bit abrupt -- the moral of the story is that it is better to be an oak tree rather than a palm tree? (Or a soybean resting at the base of a palm tree, for that matter.)
2) There should have been more blue and red bird flinging by vine at the end. (: Maybe sending the bird all the way back to the beginning, to rest under the palm tree, to give the impression that a sequel is forthcoming.
Ok, great game and stuff. But to the people who thought that was an apple tree or tomato plant... seriously, when was the last time you saw a bird eat an entire stinking apple? Seriously, wake up your senses or something. It is some kind of berry bush - raspberry or something like that. Birds decimate those things.
I win! I win! I never win... That was goregeous and I got through a game for once! Yea, me! It was a great end to my crappy day. I felt like I was visiting a far away land, like I could see myself there and the cool thing is, if you win, I'll be able to share it with my twenty month old later on in his life! Thank you! (curtsy)
Marie - try this alternate link
I set that up just for you (and for anyone else having trouble accessing the game for any reason.) =)
So cool!!! I want a sequel with more plants, longer board, and maybe more than one seed so that they can interact?
Oh and Andrew...I can't believe nobody thought of pomegranates!! Yes we have them in the USA, but I don't think they grow here!! ...which explains why nobody knows what that bush looks like ;)
Coconut across the ocean.
Learn Dandelion.
Dandelion to the hill.
Coconut down the hill.
Learn Berry Bush.
Dandelion up the hill.
Berry Bush to move sheep.
Dandelion to sheep.
Dandelion to bridge.
Coconut bridge.
Dandelion to bridge.
Coconut bridge.
Dandelion to bridge.
Coconut bridge.
Dandelion to bridge.
Coconut bridge.
Berry Bush for robin.
Coconut to waterfall.
Learn Vine.
Vine up cliff.
Berry Bush to robin.
Vine robin.
Dandelion to blue bird.
Berry Bush for blue bird.
Coconut down hill.
Coconut ledge.
Vine up ledge.
Coconut down hill.
Learn Acorn.
Thank you all for your comments! As the little sprout would say; *boing* *boing*! Making this game was a ton of fun, and I'm glad so many people enjoyed playing it.
Huge thanks to Jay for creating this site, and bringing together such a great community of people. The links and reviews that jay and co. provide on a daily basis are really quite amazing. With so much stuff out there, this site's consistent quality and thoroughness is fantastic.
This contest was a great experience. I've always had lots of opinions about what makes games fun or not-so-fun, and this contest was the kick in the pants to finally "put up or shut up." The community on jayisgames is so open-minded, honest, and constructive that I knew if I put in the energy to do my best, it would be kindly received. So thank you all for being my inspiration, and giving me the confidence to do something a bit different.
I don't have any plans for a "Sprout II" just yet, but I'm sure one day the little green guy will tire of the crowded forest and dream of new exotic destinations. There's a whole world of adventures waiting out there!
The crowded forest to exotic destinations... it feels like as if one of those seeds want to go backwards in the storyline...
Quite addicting to see how the seedling and its plants interact with the environment, and it does have that imaginative flair thanks to the drawing styles. Good game to pass the time :).
Congratulations Jeff =D
I'm glad that so many people (including the jury) knew better than me and valued this game as the best. After reading the people's comments I must say that I was blind for number of things that made 'Happy Seed' to distinguish from other games. Now that I consider this game, I noticed that there are a lot of unique problem solving and learning.
P.S. I just noticed that I can scroll the view horizontally if I hold the mouse near the edge. That is nice :)
Okay, clumsy me :(
I meant of course to say 'Sprout'. I scrolled up the page to check what was the name of the Jeff's game and as it happen there was 'Happy Seed' on Replay section.
Well, that would have been a good name for Jeff's game too if only it were not used already. That seed just must be happy :)
what a beautiful game, I absolutly loved it! so cute! and I made it through the whole game by my self! jizez! hope more comes! love the idea of the little seed that doesn't know what it wants to be! adorable, and so cute ending when (read spoiler for rest)
it becomes the tree and the nuts fall off and all the different plants it had been grew up from them, just adorable.
by the way, what you people have been calling tomato plant, apple tree, berry bush, whatever is actually a pomegranate, it has big seeds inside mixed with the red fruit inside, tastes actually very good!
Here is the complete walkthrough (Sorry Jay I forgot my typKey account info)
After the intro, click on the coconut to float across the sea.
Learn how to become a dandelion, then click on the dandelion to float inland.
Click on the Coconut to roll back down into the depression.
Learn how to become a fruit bush.
Choose dandelion to float back up.
Choose fruit bush to attract the sheep.
He'll go back to the top of the hill.
Choose dandelion and you'll get stuck on the back of the sheep.
He'll carry you back home when he gets called in to his pen.
If you turn into a fruit tree to make your way into the desert you will get fried. But you get stuck and have to float back, anyways.
Choose dandelion (Yes you're flying backwards!).
Click on coconut. See how you hit the dam? Repeat this process until the dam breaks. This will cause a river to flow into the desert (If you don't do this, you can't turn into a fruit tree in the desert, you just burn up).
Now you can successfully turn yourself into a fruit tree in the desert.
The bird flies down and eats you and 'drops' you off on the top of the cliff.
Choose coconut to learn how to be a vine.
Choose fruit tree. The bird on the left steals you away and puts you back at the top of the cliff.
Choose vine to fling him away.
Then choose coconut to float back over.
Choose vine to climb up, then choose fruit tree to let the smaller bird to the right eat you.
Choose coconut. You end up rolling back under the branch.
Choose coconut to push the branch up. Then choose vine, then fruit to get back to the top of the hill.
Choose coconut to fly across the water. Then choose acorn to win.
brilliant game!
and i managed it without using a walkthrough =]
i'm completely lying i'm rubbish at these so i used a walkthrough for most of it =]
oh yeah annddddd a bug
people have already said it but the first time the robin flies to get the berries another copy of him stays there.
and just because i like using them
i love it when the bird gets twanged into the distance =] i laughed out loud xD
great game xx
this is a spoiler i guess.... just didn't know why the spoiler thingy wouldn't paste onto here
well anyways. i'm not sure if anyone else stated this yet but theres an easier way then taking a hour taking smacks at the dam, you can just turn into an apple tree outside the farmers house and then when he's done "plantin" you, you can turn into a coconut and roll into the desert~
Fantastic game. Love the artwork. What really put this over the top for me was the interaction with the environment and the fact that you can go back and forth in the story, so to speak, without having to start over.
Quick note to Amanda: Guess it's a good thing they're not tomatoes then, eh? ;)