Scrap Garden Review

scrap-garden-review-screenshot-1

In Scrap Garden you play as a robot named Canny. When he wakes up after having his battery charged, everyone in his world has been shut down. Signs of decay are everywhere and he is alone. It is up to Canny to find out what happened and to find a way to make things right. He is the only one who can bring this city and everyone in it back to life. As Canny walks through his once lively world he becomes more aware that much time has passed. He must get to the bottom of this mystery.

As soon as you start the game you get your first objective. In the beginning, the objectives are all pretty easy. One is to get a battery and use it to power the switch and another is to find city hall.  The story is pretty simple and finding out the mystery behind the shutdown will make you want to keep playing. This doesn’t last though because you find out the reason behind the shutdown after completing a few objectives. In order to find out what the reason behind the shutdown,which is one objective you must complete, you have to get to the top of a tower. At the very top of the tower is a robot who survived the apocalypse. Somehow a dragon came into the city and destroyed the power supply which is a big red crystal.

He only survived because he was near the power supply. He thought he was the only left and had given hope because many years passed. Once he saw Canny his hope was restored and told him how to get things back to how they were. In order to recharge the power source, Canny must recharge 5 separate beams. He warns Canny it won’t be easy but he is a robot and they are built to survive. From there, your goal is to recharge the 5 beams to bring everyone back to life. At first, this game feels like an adventure game but the farther you get in the game the more it feels like a platformer. You have to collect gems and other items to progress through the game. For example, in order to open the entrance to city hall, you have to collect 60 gems.

scrap-garden-review-screenshot-2

The story isn’t the only simple aspect of the game. Most of the objectives are simple as well. The only real challenge comes from boss battles. You don’t need to be a hardcore gamer to beat this game. The difficulty level is perfect for casual gamers. There were times where there was no real motivation to keep me playing the game. I am not a big fan of casual games. I usually need more of a challenge. The controls are simple as well. You just use the arrows to move, and spacebar to jump. What intrigued me most about Scrap Garden was not knowing what I may encounter. Since you know that all the robots are shut down and there are no humans you don’t know what creatures you may find. Scrap Garden is one game that isn’t predictable. Even though the objectives are simple what you have to do to complete them varies. Having a variety of puzzles definitely helps to keep the game from being too boring.

The environments are just as varied as the puzzles. In order to complete the various objectives, you will explore just about every corner of this post-apocalyptic world. You will explore basements, streets, rooftops, cavernous areas and more. When exploring above ground you will find other robots standing still and lifeless. It kind of gives you a sad and eerie feeling. Classical music is played throughout the game which also adds to the sad, lone robot vibe of the game. It is also possible to die in the game too. If you get hit too many times you die and get a game over. What I didn’t like was that in order to kill or break anything you have to jump on it or throw something at it. Which would be fine if Canny could throw harder, and farther. Even jumping on a spider is tricky.

scrap-garden-review-screenshot-3

There aren’t any game modes and replayability isn’t high. Once you complete the game there isn’t any reason to go back and play it again. You don’t get points and there are no leaderboards. I did not feel that the graphics were sub-par at all. The colors weren’t too dull or too bright. The use of colors and graphics were done in such a way that everything looked exactly like how it would in real life. Screens and bulbs glowed exactly like how they would in real life. I also loved that Canny himself looked like he was claymation. I also loved that backgrounds got blurred when they were too far away and anything that was close came perfectly into focus.

Scrap Garden isn’t for everyone. The simplicity of the game is perfect for casual gamers. If you want something that is deep, complex, and complicated then keep looking. It’s a game that slow paced and takes its time getting to the overall point in the game. It isn’t a game you can rush through or has a lot going on in it. It is for people who don’t mind taking their time to enjoy the simple things in life. If you like taking the time to smell the roses this is your game. It has a good story, graphics, and tons of mystery. Scrap Garden lacks a good challenge and just didn’t have enough  going on it to keep me hooked.

Rating 5

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary PC code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

Subscribe to our mailing list

Get the latest game reviews, news, features, and more straight to your inbox