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Flower

The latest PSN release from thatgamecompany is full of incredible floral imagery and a few unexpected twists.
Flower Game Cover
80%Game Brain Score
music, graphics
optimization, stability
79% User Score Based on 2,034 reviews
Critic Score 81%Based on 6 reviews

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Flower Game Cover

About

Flower is a single player open world simulation game with a fantasy theme. It was developed by thatgamecompany and was released on February 14, 2019. It received positive reviews from critics and mostly positive reviews from players.

ESCAPE TO A DREAMLIKE WORLD From the studio behind the genre-bending titles Journey and flOw comes Flower, a unique gaming experience that lets you soar through a dreamlike world of luscious fields and rolling hills. Control the wind to carry a stream of flower petals around each landscape and watch as it comes to life. Every level has its own unique aims and little mysteries – but you don’t hav…

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79%
Audience ScoreBased on 2,034 reviews
music218 positive mentions
optimization20 negative mentions
  • Beautiful and relaxing atmosphere with stunning visuals and a soothing soundtrack.
  • Simple, intuitive gameplay offering a meditative and peaceful experience.
  • Short and sweet experience ideal for unwinding and stress relief.
  • Controls are clunky, sometimes unresponsive, and difficult without a controller, causing frustration and motion sickness for some players.
  • Frequent technical issues including audio problems, graphical glitches (like flickering grass), and performance problems in the PC port.
  • Constant interruptions with unskippable cutscenes disrupt the game flow and immersion.
  • music
    496 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in "Flower" is widely praised for its soothing, atmospheric, and dynamic soundtrack by Vincent Diamante, which beautifully complements the game's serene visuals and gameplay, enhancing the overall relaxing experience. However, several users report technical issues with the PC port, such as music cutting out, delays, or complete absence during gameplay, which detracts significantly from the intended immersion. Despite these glitches, the soundtrack remains a standout feature, often described as essential to the game's emotional impact and artistic expression.

    • “Developed by the creators of Journey, Flower captures that same essence: a minimalist masterpiece with no dialogue and a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and its sweeping soundtrack (arguably the game's best feature).”
    • “The visuals and soundtrack come together to create this perfect harmony that no one should miss.”
    • “This is one of my favorite games and in my opinion one of the most poignant and beautiful pieces of interactive art ever created; the graphics, music, and themes come together to create something so special I struggle to find the words to explain it.”
    • “Broken textures, music stops randomly, horrible performance, this port is fundamentally broken and it's too bad because I remember liking the game on PS3 but a nearly 20 year old game shouldn't run this awful.”
    • “Completely agree with those who say the sounds don't work, there's a little music at the start of a level then silence, pretty disappointing after falling in love with Journey for the visual and music combination.”
    • “The music which plays and is added to each time you blow across a flower and make it bloom is essential to the experience of this masterpiece, and it simply does not work at all in this port.”
  • graphics
    360 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The graphics are widely praised for their beautiful, soft, painterly art style and vibrant, calming colors that create a relaxing, dreamlike atmosphere. While not technically advanced by modern standards, the visuals remain charming and timeless, often described as an artistic masterpiece that complements the soothing soundtrack perfectly. However, some users report graphical glitches, performance issues, and occasional compatibility problems, particularly on PC, which can detract from the experience.

    • “The visuals are soft and painterly, with fields that sway and glow in a way that feels almost dreamlike.”
    • “What the game does best is the visuals - the dense grass rendering, blown away as you pass by, or being grown and pushed away by setpieces - it's beautiful, satisfying, and way ahead of its time.”
    • “The stunningly beautiful and poetic graphic style coupled with its relaxing gameplay make it a true work of art.”
    • “The graphics were terrible and completely ripped me out.”
    • “Stuttering graphics make this unplayable.”
    • “Even with all the graphics settings turned to the lowest, even in the lowest 16:9 resolution available, it’s playing at around 10fps.”
  • gameplay
    281 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of "Flower" is minimalist and highly intuitive, centered on guiding a petal to collect other petals and make flowers bloom, creating a calming and visually pleasing experience. While many praise its relaxing, meditative flow and artistic integration of music and visuals, others find the controls clunky, repetitive, and lacking in challenge or depth, with some players frustrated by camera issues and interruptions that disrupt gameplay flow. Overall, the gameplay is simple and often described more as an artistic, emotional experience than a traditional game, appealing mainly to those seeking a tranquil, sensory journey rather than intense or complex mechanics.

    • “The core gameplay of making the world pretty by opening flowers and adding more petals to the current stream of petals is satisfying and relaxing.”
    • “The mechanic of “blowing” on flowers to release more petals, which then combine into a larger stream, is beautifully crafted to evoke feelings of growth and harmony.”
    • “The simple but fun and satisfying gameplay mixed with the absolutely gorgeous visuals make this a truly wonderful experience.”
    • “The gameplay interrupts with unskippable video cuts. 20 seconds of gameplay - let's see a 20 seconds level change video. If you don't get it - the gameplay should not be interrupted.”
    • “All in all I found myself struggling for control and getting increasingly frustrated throughout each level to the point I wanted the game to end as soon as possible; I stopped caring for their message or what they want to convey all because of terrible gameplay.”
    • “Flower's gameplay didn't quite work for me: the only 2 speeds are very fast and very slow, it's unnecessarily difficult to control with a mouse, in-game cutscenes drop off the camera in unexpected places, the general inertia, the loss of clarity with tons of particles on screen - it felt too stop-and-go, as I slowed down to reorient myself, kept turning around to go back to places I wasn't done with, came up against invisible barriers, wriggled back and forth in place trying to get where I was trying to go - I didn't feel like a free-flowing breeze as I assume was the intent.”
  • story
    179 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Flower offers a minimalist, wordless narrative conveyed through its environment, visuals, and music, inviting players to interpret an emotional story about nature's resilience and the human impact on the world. While some find its abstract storytelling evocative and poetic, others note the lack of a traditional plot or clear resolution, making it more an atmospheric journey than a conventional story-driven game. Overall, its subtle, non-verbal narrative is praised for emotional depth despite being simple and open-ended.

    • “It's amazing how a beautiful story is told without any words.”
    • “The story has no narrative but is more of an emotional journey that uses the environment and events that transpire to tell a story, thus leaving meaning up to interpretation.”
    • “The story weaves seamlessly throughout the experience, beginning with a hopeful introduction, building into joy, dipping into dystopia in the middle, and culminating in a euphoric final stretch.”
    • “Flower is cozy and relaxing with no story or pressure, but it feels a bit unfinished and the controls can be frustrating.”
    • “The game is very artistic, I'll give it that, but as a game, concerning story, characters and mainly gameplay, it just is very lacking.”
    • “The story is sadly not that deep or advanced you could say.”
  • atmosphere
    87 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Flower is widely praised for its exceptional, calming atmosphere, characterized by minimalist visuals, soothing music, and a serene, dreamlike quality that deeply immerses players. The game’s peaceful tone and evocative soundscape create a relaxing and contemplative experience, often compared favorably to Journey and Gris. While some find the controls occasionally frustrating, the atmosphere remains the standout feature, delivering a beautifully crafted, tranquil journey.

    • “An exceptional atmospheric experience in the vein of Journey and Gris (and nearly as polished).”
    • “Developed by the creators of Journey, Flower captures that same essence: a minimalist masterpiece with no dialogue and a heavy emphasis on atmosphere and its sweeping soundtrack (arguably the game's best feature).”
    • “The sound design, music, atmosphere, visual storytelling, and tone are so memorable.”
    • “The game is designed for atmosphere, and unfortunately it doesn't cope with it.”
    • “This game is ok, but something is missing from the atmosphere.”
    • “Sweet mood and atmosphere, ruined by extremely frustrating game controls and camera movement.”
  • emotional
    58 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game delivers a uniquely emotional and serene experience through its simple, contemplative gameplay and harmonious blend of visuals and sound, evoking feelings of peace, joy, and introspection. While not as deep as some narrative-driven titles, it resonates strongly as a wholesome, calming journey that has moved many players to tears and reflection. Its emotional impact is subjective but undeniably heartfelt, making it a standout for those seeking a meditative and evocative interactive experience.

    • “The story has no narrative but is more of an emotional journey that uses the environment and events that transpire to tell a story, thus leaving meaning up to interpretation.”
    • “It offers a serene and deeply emotional journey, where players take on the role of the wind guiding a single petal through lush landscapes, interacting with the environment in a way that feels both intuitive and meditative.”
    • “This emotional resonance is heightened by the game’s pacing, which gently guides players through moments of quiet reflection punctuated by bursts of joyous color and movement.”
  • optimization
    51 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization is generally poor, with frequent reports of stuttering, low framerates, crashes, and audio/visual glitches, often requiring manual tweaks like disabling fullscreen optimizations to improve stability. Performance varies widely depending on hardware, with some users experiencing smooth play on high-end systems, while others suffer from serious issues even on capable machines. Controls and camera issues compound the technical problems, making the PC port frustrating for many despite the original game's appeal.

    • “Aside from minor camera issues, the game runs flawlessly in terms of performance.”
    • “Had some performance issues at first, but they soon fixed themselves and it now works flawlessly; overall a great and relaxing experience.”
    • “The PC port has serious optimization issues regarding GPUs; using a GT 1030 on lowest quality at 1080p gets only 30-40 fps.”
    • “Unfortunately the performance is poor and the game has visual and audio issues.”
    • “The controls are wonky and the performance on an OLED Steam Deck is unacceptable, at times dropping to 5 fps.”
    • “The PC port is an unpleasant experience due to multiple factors (poor optimization and low fps, infuriating controls and camera (much worse than the original), audio glitches).”
  • stability
    43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game suffers from frequent stability issues, including visual and audio glitches, frequent bugs, and poor optimization, especially in its PC port and on certain devices like the Steam Deck. Many users report game-breaking audio dropouts, flickering graphics, and occasional freezing that necessitate restarts or troubleshooting, significantly detracting from the intended relaxing experience. While some bugs have been partially addressed via patches, overall the game's buggy and inconsistent performance remains a major concern.

    • “The game is extremely buggy with graphics that flicker like crazy and sound that constantly bugs out and goes mute during play.”
    • “The pc port is an unpleasant experience due to multiple factors: poor optimization and low fps, infuriating controls and camera (much worse than the original), audio glitches.”
    • “It is meant to be a relaxing experience but there is a number of shortcomings: it's buggy (sometimes audio just stops for no reason and you have to restart), you can't save in the middle of the (fairly long) levels, and controls are awkward and not configurable (supposedly uses wasd but why they use w for jumping and space for moving forward instead of the opposite is beyond me).”
  • replayability
    24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Replayability in the game is generally limited due to its short length and simple content, with most players finding value in replaying to collect achievements, hidden secrets, or enjoy favorite levels again. While it offers a relaxing and memorable experience, it is primarily enjoyed once, with additional playthroughs appealing mostly to completionists or those seeking to fully explore the game’s artistic elements.

    • “The achievements are the biggest factor to add replayability to this game, but even just playing through it once is memorable and fun enough to be worthwhile.”
    • “It is relaxing, has short 10-minute levels but can be 100% completed in under 10 hours; the replayability is outstanding.”
    • “It's a short game but definitely has replay value, which at first you would probably think is primarily because of the collectibles and achievements, then secondarily because it's nice to go through your favorite level(s) again sometime.”
    • “However, it is very short and there's hardly any replay value, so while it's cheap I still think you should wait until it's on sale to get it (I've seen it on sale quite often).”
    • “It is a very soothing, creative and artistic experience, but once again, the replay value is next to zero.”
    • “It's a short game with not a lot of replay value; you only play it for the experience and relaxation, not for content.”
  • grinding
    22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in the game is widely seen as tedious and repetitive, often involving searching for numerous flowers to progress or unlock achievements, which can require multiple lengthy playthroughs. The process feels more like a chore due to clunky controls and poorly paced collection tasks, detracting from the intended relaxing experience. Overall, grinding is considered boring and a significant downside to the gameplay.

    • “You'll need a second life for grinding.”
    • “My problem is that after beating the game I'm at 13/14 achievements, and to get the last one - bloom 10k flowers - from what I'm reading I'll have to beat the game one or two more times, just grinding the figure.”
    • “I was expecting to enjoy flying around and making flowers bloom at my own pace but instead you get a few levels where you often have to touch every single flower to proceed to the next area which ends up feeling grindy.”
    • “The early chapters require the player to collect every flower in the field in order to progress, so the gameplay often turns into a tedious search for those two or three glowing flowers that you missed while flying at full speed and enjoying yourself.”
  • humor
    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in the game is appreciated for its playful and funny moments, such as entertaining complaints and amusing credits with bloopers or extras. However, some users find it only mildly amusing and critique the game’s artistic value with a sarcastic tone.

    • “Still laughing from her complaints about the control and gameplay.”
    • “The credits are part of the experience, and sometimes you get rewarded with something special in the end like some funny blooper or an extra/deleted scene.”
    • “Funny little game.”
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81%Critics’ scoreBased on 6 critic reviews
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5h Median play time
5h Average play time
2h Main story
5h Completionist
3-10h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 4 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

Flower is a open world simulation game with fantasy theme.

Flower is available on PC, Phone, PlayStation 4, iPad and others.

The main story can be completed in around 2 hours, while the entire game is estimated to take about 5 hours to finish. On average players spend around 5 hours playing Flower.

Flower was released on February 14, 2019.

Flower was developed by thatgamecompany.

Flower has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked Flower for its music but disliked it for its optimization.

Flower is a single player game.

Similar games include Journey, ABZU, RiME, The First Tree, GRIS and others.