XenoBloom Reviews

An easy to learn but hard to master puzzle game about growing plants in a confined space where each plant has it's own little preference on space, type of soil, environment and even how close to other plants they are. The game allows you to place and remove dirt and alter the plants traits to try to get as much bio mass as possible. For only 5 bucks it's a pretty fun way to pass the time until some of the bigger games hit the digital store.

Xenobloom is a very relaxing and fun game, like all the joy of gardening, but you don't even have to go outside! At first, it seems a little complex, but getting the hang of it isnt too hard, and I find that figuring out everything is very rewarding! For example, some plants won't grow unless you have dirt in the right formation, so its not as easy as just sitting back and letting things grow! It's definitely a game I'd recommend to anyone who liked the old flash game Powder Game, as it definitely rewards experimentation!

Great strategy and simulation game, that takes away the sense of godlike control sim players may be used to. In Xenobloom, you work with the environment but must also adapt to it's rules. Pretty good art, especially visually interesting as you increase the density of plant life. Game play won't have you on the edge of your seat, but responding to unexpected environmental changes and learning the basic rules of the ecosystem are great brain-teasers. An excellent, meditative game for anyone interested in ecology, simulations, or puzzle games.

Its a shame, I really like this game. Waited to buy it for ages to try it out, ignoring other reviews. The soundtrack is atmospheric and the pixel graphics are perfect. Very reminicent of 'particle' style games. However it very limited. Some different biomes or proper challenges would really make this games reccomendable. Also the game would really benefit from steam achievements / cards as its not really fun enough to play without a 'goal'. It even has some milestones built in that I think would work really well for it. All in all I like what they tried for a relaxing game but I cannot really reccomend it unless its on sale. Id change my review if it got a few achievements or cards.

Interesting concept, but lackluster execution. I'd call it more of an experience than a game. The limitations are really only what you set for yourself. There's not a lot of content, and the space you have to play in is very small. It's not bad, but I don't think it's worth $5.

More of a toy than a game, but certainly an interesting toy. Nerds familiar with Conway's Game of Life will find it more immediately gratifying but ultimately just flipping switches randomly is just as valid a way to play. I don't see myself putting many hours into this but it's an interesting enough little concept that I found it worth the cheap price.

XenoBloom.....well, it is a different game, I'll give it that. I downloaded, played and promptly lost track of time! It seems to be a relaxing type of game, but I wish there was a sort of tutorial to walk you through it. I'll definately be playing it more when I need to waste some time away. Personally, I like it. However, keep in mind that the game won't be for everyone. I'd recommend people to watch a couple of videos on it first before they make their mind up. Me? I'm happy with my purchase of it.

Thumbs up for letting you play with cellular automata (not the main feature of the game, really). For all the rest, watch the intro video, it says what it is :-) I now know I'm not so much a fan of that. Oh and its bugfree, some rarity worth noting too. I consider it more like a proof of concept for a living/evolving biome than a game as such, so that's my thumbs down.

[h1]Xenobloom is an interesting, slow-paced ecology simulator. [/h1] It's less of a game and more of a "fish tank". You have some tools with which to affect an environment, and you use them to help various organisms grow and thrive. Some organisms have different unchangeable rules than others (ex: trees can grow up or down, but never underground or sideways, while worms and bacteria can only grow in soil), but all can be tweaked in one way or another. There are various soil/environmental conditions and nutrients that affect everything on the screen. Xenobloom has various modes that provide different game rules. Normal mode is almost a clicker-genre game— you harvest plants for "power" (basic points with which to influence growth and organism environmental preferences), modify the environment by adding or removing soil, and slowly unlock more organisms. The goal is to grow as much stuff as possible all over your screen. Environment-wide tweaks are just something to spend points on to keep them turned on— random events will raise and lower them, among other things (such as adding/removing soil). Experimental mode is normal mode, but without resource (power) restrictions. Observation mode plays the game for you. It would make a great screensaver. Ecology mode is the most realistic, though it's far from accurate to reality. Environmental settings (water, wind, phosphorus, nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, sunlight, etc.) can't be directly affected, and organisms are changed to produce an excess of one thing while consuming a smaller amount of something else (ex: tall grass produces oxygen while consuming nitrogen). The player no longer has power restrictions for changing plant variables and terrain; the objective is to balance the various organisms so that every environmental variable reaches its maximum. If an environmental variable gets low, organisms that depend on it will struggle to survive. Xenobloom isn't for everyone, but it's cheap and well-designed. I haven't encountered any bugs, and I love seeing systems like these at work. I'd love to see more sandbox games focused around restricted manipulation of an environment and its inhabitants.

XenoBloom does what it sets out to do well. The biggest criticism I have is that it doesn't feel as though it reaches the level of "game." It's more of a proof-of-concept for a ecosystem manager FOR a game, but by itself it's more of a simple simulator than anything. With what Xenobloom offers, you get the notion that Ibology set out to make the next Terraria/Starbound with more complex flora behaviour, finished the flora behaviour code, and decided to publish that. Ultimately, I think I'd get equal enjoyment out of having Observational Mode as a screensaver. I'd prefer to give this a neutral review if I could, but I'm required to either recommend the game or not in order to submit the review. Due to feeling as though I've seen all it has to offer in the brief time I played it, I'd have to go with not. If you can spend more than an hour in things like Universe Sandbox, you may still enjoy XenoBloom.