Strange Horticulture

An engaging mystery set over the course of a couple weeks with an ever building sense of dread. The main mechanic of collecting and identifying plants for an array of various customers that frequent the shop and in turn build up the mystery is similar to Papers Please, albeit with a very different English countryside flavour. I really enjoyed my exploration of the mystery and was invested in solving the puzzles by paying attention to small, fine details. My criticism is that, ultimately, most plants are only used one single time despite a seemingly unending growing collection. Some plants are not even used at all, and at the end of my first playthrough the game revealed that I had twenty unidentified plants, which means I never used them a single time. Some unused plants were from day 1 of the game. I feel that there was so much more that could have been developed with this material and that the story could have been more fleshed out, significantly longer with multiple intersecting mysteries, many MANY more potion recipes to discover with the under utilized potion crafting equipment, and more complex plant interactions with repeat applications. This game was made by two people from what I understand, and what they achieved was impressive, enjoyable, and well executed with a very respectable presentation. I just wish that I had more!