Botany Manor

The puzzle game centered on botany and magical plants, Botany Manor, is currently available for free, for Windows — 100% free to keep — for a limited time in a Epic Store’s giveaway offer! Take advantage of it, as Botany Manor normally costs US$24.99!

Botany Manor is an independent first-person puzzle game set at the end of the Victorian Era, in which the protagonist explores a period English countryside mansion to cultivate magical flora — fictional plants based on botanical research left behind by her grandmother. It was developed by Balloon Studios and initially released on April 9, 2024.

Areas of the manor are unlocked progressively as the house is examined. The focus is on flow and player comfort rather than extreme challenge: there is no combat, punitive failure, or time pressure. The core lies in interpreting clues scattered throughout the manor’s rooms and correctly combining conditions that allow the plants to bloom, in a match lasting approximately 3 to 4 hours, which can be completed in a few sessions or even in a single sitting.

Published by Whitethorn Games and available on Windows, Windows Apps, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5, Botany Manor was generally well received by critics, who praised it extensively. In addition, the game holds very positive user reviews on Steam, at least as of the time of this publication.

Contents

Trailer
Gameplay
Review
About the game
Trivia
Screenshots
More info and puzzlers
Get Botany Manor
Download Botany Manor demo (always free)

Trailer

Gameplay

Set in 1890, Botany Manor places the player in the role of Arabella Greene, a retired botanist who inherits a manor in Somerset and resumes research on rare plants with the goal of publishing a book dedicated to the world’s so-called “forgotten flora.” The game is structured as a first-person puzzle adventure divided into chapters, in which progression is achieved by cultivating one or more specific plants.

Each plant possesses unusual properties and responds to particular environmental conditions, such as light, temperature, or spatial arrangement, and players must observe the surroundings and modify these conditions in order to allow the plants to bloom correctly. Clues required to understand each plant’s behavior are dispersed throughout the rooms of the manor and are discovered through exploration.

All collected information is recorded in a research notebook, which functions as a journal, a map of previously visited areas, and an index of available clues for each chapter. Clues are directly associated with specific plants, with no misleading information, and the game indicates when all correct clues for a plant have been gathered. When a plant successfully blooms, the notebook is updated with illustrations and additional details, and progression to the next stage of the story is unlocked, typically granting access to new areas of the manor through keys.

Puzzles are introduced gradually, encouraging players to fully explore each newly accessible area before attempting to solve the available challenges. The manor is relatively compact in scale, reducing the need for long backtracking and facilitating the review of previously discovered clues and documents.

Review

About the game

Welcome to Botany Manor, a stately home in 19th century England. You play as inhabitant Arabella Greene, a retired botanist. Explore your house and gardens, filled with research, to figure out the ideal habitat of forgotten flora. Grow each plant to discover the mysterious qualities they hold…

Botany Manor is a first-person puzzle game set in a Victorian English manor.

It’s 1890, and you play as botanist Arabella Greene, who is working to finish her botanical research book ‘Forgotten Flora’.

Explore a complete historical English manor and its grounds, researching how to grow rare plant specimens from seed.

There are many rooms and gardens to discover, all set inside a beautiful countryside surrounding.

The manor is filled with mysterious clues for you to discover, including books, posters, letters and fascinating Victorian contraptions.

The plants you grow are fantastical, but still inspired by real phenomena in nature, so some of them require you to think outside the box. Using what’s available to you in the manor, you must create the ideal conditions for each plant.

Room by room, you learn more about the life and career of Arabella, and the challenges she faced as a woman navigating her scientific career.

Botany Manor offers a relaxing and peaceful environment, feel free to stop and smell the roses.

Trivia

Botany Manor was developed using the Unity Engine by Balloon Studios, based in Devon and founded by Laure De Mey, who previously worked at Ustwo Games, the developer of Monument Valley.
According to De Mey, the central idea of the game stemmed from the desire to explore a mansion as the main setting, drawing inspiration from Down House, the residence of naturalist Charles Darwin, and Lara Croft’s fictional mansion in the Tomb Raider series.
The late 19th century was chosen as the historical period to evoke the so-called “age of great scientific discoveries” and offer a plausible premise for a puzzle game centered on fantastical botany.
During development, Balloon Studios adopted a clear and straightforward approach to puzzle design and difficulty, seeking to create a tranquil environment and a balanced experience, without excessive challenges or simplistic solutions.
The game was announced during a Nintendo Indie World event in November 2022 and released on February 9, 2024 for Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series. For PlayStation 4 and 5, the game was released on January 28, 2025.
Some critics positively highlighted the execution of the botanical theme and the environmental design of Botany Manor, with comparisons to titles such as Strange Horticulture and The Witness.