Pictured: Lisa Evans creator of Growbot

I walked up to Growbot amid other people playing the game and I was immediately transfixed by the intriguing art style. Like many of the games at IndieCade I had no idea how to play the game. At the time the games Creator/Developer, Lisa Evans, was not present, and I started playing mid game demo since the other people had just left. I didn’t feel like starting the demo over, so I clicked on the mouse and I did tap a few keys on keyboard before quickly realizing that the mouse was the only computer tool necessary to play the game. I then clicked away exploring my surroundings, learning as I went along what was going on.

After finding an in game book, I was able to learn, that in the game, I was a young growbot who on their first day of training on board a space station things had gone amiss and I needed to piece together what happened. As a lover of Sci-Fi/Fantasy I appreciated the intricate background story that a player could easily access with one click of the Escape key.  However, as a player you don’t have to use the book as your only source of information. In fact, I would say that exploration and discovery are even more key to Growbot.

As you move throughout the game as a growbot named Nara, you realize that this game is designed to be a massive puzzle adventure game. You really are not sure of what has happened to lead to this point in the game and as Nara you must put the pieces together. By clicking and interacting with different characters you are immersed in the intriguing storyline that Growbot has to offer.

The story and the game design are really quite amazing, especially considering this is Lisa Evans’ first attempt at creating a game by herself, using the Unity game engine. Before diving into the game I really noticed the intricate artistic details, so I should not have been surprised to learn, when speaking with Lisa, that before creating games she worked as an Illustrator based in England. As I spoke with Lisa I could see the passion in her eyes both for her game and to see and meet other women interested in gaming.

Lisa’s passion for creating a game really shines through in the detailed artistic sprites featured in the game.  A lot of her personal style can be seen in nuanced ways throughout Growbot and when playing the game I noticed greater detail as I moved along.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHWJr5Lh7nY

Lisa was inspired by her curiosity to build the game but the game itself pays homage to various personal inspirations of her work. The atmosphere in Growbot has elements of Amanita’s Machinarium and Lucasarts’ Loom by having the player be pulled into the game play with puzzles that lead the player deeper into the narrative. Additionally, the narrative itself pulls from The Moomins and Kino’s Journey, meaning that the game explores complex philosophical themes in a light hearted manner, making the game great for relatively any level of gamer much like the simplified game controls.

Overall, Growbot is an amazing game that I had the privilege of trying before it is officially released. I can’t wait to see Nara’s journey continue, and I’m sure you can’t wait to start it!  Lisa is still currently working on Growbot and she has hopes of releasing by 2018. So to keep up with Growbot check out the website growbotgame.com or follow the official Twitter here or the facebook page here.