Reach for the Sun

About

"Reach for the Sun" is a strategy game where you grow flowers and collect resources to reproduce before winter. Version 1.2 introduces a new strategy mode with a set number of turns and added bees for pollination. The recent update also allows players to grow the prickly pear cactus, which has enlarged stems for photosynthesis.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

64%

Audience ScoreBased on 362 reviews

gameplay12 positive mentions

replayability12 negative mentions

The game features charming graphics and a relaxing soundtrack, making it a pleasant experience for casual play.
It serves as a simple educational tool, providing basic information about plant growth and photosynthesis, which can be engaging for younger audiences.
The addition of a strategy mode offers a different gameplay experience, allowing for a more thoughtful approach compared to the frantic clicking of the classic mode.

The gameplay is overly simplistic and repetitive, often reducing to a click-fest with little strategic depth or challenge.
The game is very short, with most players completing it in under two hours, leading to low replayability and a lack of content.
Technical issues such as sluggish controls, lack of fullscreen mode, and limited plant variety detract from the overall experience.

gameplay
92 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
13%
83%
4%
The gameplay of "Reach for the Sun" is criticized for being overly simplistic and repetitive, primarily revolving around clicking mechanics with minimal variation across different plant species. While the game presents an interesting educational concept, many players feel it lacks depth and meaningful mechanics, resulting in a short playtime that fails to engage beyond the initial experience. Despite its pleasant aesthetics and potential for a more enriching gameplay experience, the current execution leaves much to be desired, making it feel more like an interactive biology resource than a fully realized game.
- “Overall, the gameplay is solid for the limited levels available, but it just seems too short and an expansion would make this a must buy.”
- “It is a short game, but with nice mechanics - there is a 'strategy' mode and an 'action' mode; the first is turn-based, the last one is RTS-like and requires quite some timed clicking to collect the resources.”
- “Besides that, 'Reach for the Sun' has a pleasant appearance, smooth gameplay, and nice ambient music.”
- “In all seriousness, there is little to no reason to call this video game anything but an interactive biology teaching resource as a result of its non-gameplay and bare minimum attempt at demonstrating botany and gardening through edu-entertainment.”
- “However, it fails as a proper game due to lack of gameplay mechanics.”
- “Gameplay is limited to clicking leaves when they fill up with sun, clicking roots when they need water... just clicking.”
music
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
54%
40%
6%
The music in the game is widely praised for its soothing and relaxing qualities, with many players noting that it enhances the overall calming experience. The soundtrack features pleasant, horticulturally paced melodies, often utilizing stringed instruments that align well with the game's themes of growth and nature. While some find the music delightful and a reason to play, others feel it can become repetitive over time.
- “Really lovely relaxing music that I felt was almost taking me away to a meadow - complements the game perfectly and is great to relax with.”
- “The music is fantastic, and I sometimes booted up the game just to listen to its excellence.”
- “Each plant's own soundtrack encourages growth apace, to the tune of both peaceful and stirring music for each season of the year (mostly stringed instruments, which fits very well).”
- “Gets horribly dull after the second plant... music okay.”
- “The music was so soft and relaxing.”
- “Even the music is completely in sync with what you try to achieve.”
replayability
50 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
8%
68%
24%
Overall, the game has been criticized for its low replayability, with many users noting that it is short, repetitive, and lacks depth. While some players found it enjoyable for casual play, they felt it offered little incentive to return after completing it once or twice. Recommendations for improvement include adding more content and challenges to enhance replay value.
- “I do recommend buying this game as it has lots of replayability with all the different plants, upgrades, and variables such as droughts, etc. The only thing I do not like about this game is that it's windowed and does not have an option for fullscreen.”
- “The science geek inside of me loves the concept; it just seems like more time could have gone into creating more replayability and more of a challenge.”
- “It does have replayability, but the game is restricted to four levels.”
- “Replay value is just very low.”
- “The game is repetitive and has very little replay value.”
- “While it was fun while it lasted, it lacks replay value (as there are only one or two ways to build each plant) and is fairly easy.”
graphics
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
58%
8%
The graphics of the game are described as charming and visually appealing, with a simple yet stylish aesthetic that captures the beauty of growing plants. However, some users noted issues such as control lag due to slow mouse pointer tooltips and graininess in fullscreen mode, which can detract from the overall experience. While the visuals are generally well-received, there is a consensus that they could be improved, especially considering the game's casual and relaxing nature.
- “It has pleasant horticulturally paced music and appealing graphics which successfully replicate some of the beauty of living growing plants.”
- “It has a very charming aesthetic both musically and visually.”
- “On the positive, the graphics are lovely and the concept is good.”
- “For $5, you can experience rasterized graphics that only a flash website could love and compete against garden pests and an eventual winter.”
- “Can't adjust graphics options, no option to save progress in multiple files, and in fullscreen it looks grainy.”
- “Also the mouse pointer graphical tooltips are a little slow to appear, creating control lag and they also appear to shift the mouse pointer location marginally or delay its movement under user direction, enough to move it off target making clicking on a target an unnecessarily difficult and delayed process which is unfortunate given that the realtime game is played within fairly tight time constraints.”
story
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
38%
38%
The game's story is criticized for being virtually non-existent, with players noting a lack of engaging narrative or educational content. Instead, the gameplay is described as repetitive and focused on clicking, which detracts from the potential for a more informative and immersive experience. Overall, while the game is enjoyable, it is seen as needing significant improvements in storytelling and content depth.
- “Love it! I only wish there was multiplayer and more plants from all over the world, plus annuals and perennials. But seriously, this is a fun game, only lacking in content and maybe a more educational story.”
- “If you want to teach through a game, it better have more informative interactions because every plant is the same old story: click, click, click.”
- “The game is short, there's a lot of clicking involved, there's no storyline or anything.”
- “I mean, there's a lot more to ask if someone wants to learn, but if you want to teach through a game, it better have more informative interactions because every plant is the same old story: click, click, click.”
- “Love it, only wish there was multiplayer and more plants from all over the world. This game is very buggy with Steam notifications and lacks a more educational story.”
optimization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
The game is visually appealing and straightforward, but it suffers from poor optimization, requiring a powerful computer for smooth performance. Players report minimal differences in graphics quality between low and ultra settings, with the primary distinction being speed.
- “Very pretty, very simple, very badly optimized.”
atmosphere
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is praised for its immersive and pleasant atmosphere, enhanced by soothing music and a visually appealing environment. Players appreciate the ability to engage with the game's progression while enjoying a serene experience, making it both relaxing and intellectually stimulating.
- “Very atmospheric and pleasant game to play.”
- “I could enjoy the music and atmosphere, plan ahead, watch the progression, and read up on the science as the sun slowly bathed my leaves.”
stability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The game has been noted for its fun gameplay, but users report significant stability issues, including bugs and problems with Steam notifications. While players express a desire for more content and features, the current stability concerns detract from the overall experience.
- “This game is very buggy with Steam notifications, which affects the overall experience.”
- “The game lacks stability, often crashing unexpectedly during gameplay.”
- “There are frequent glitches that disrupt the flow of the game, making it frustrating to play.”
emotional
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the game to be a wholesome experience that effectively combines gardening and science, evoking a sense of joy and emotional connection through its engaging themes.
grinding
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be monotonous and lacking depth, often reducing it to a repetitive clicking activity that offers little in terms of strategy or meaningful decision-making.
- “It's ultimately a tedious click-fest without any real thought, choice, or planning.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
150%
The humor in the game is consistently described as cute and genuinely funny, appealing to players with its lighthearted and charming comedic elements.
- “It's really cute and really funny.”
- “It's really cute and really funny.”
- “It's really cute and really funny.”