Underwater teletubby creatures and musical monkeys? That’s what you get in Atari’s The Undergarden. The Undergarden tries to recreate a mystical underwater playground(I say recreate because of another much better under water game called Aquaria) where your teletubby creature goes around pollinating the world.
It’s a a mix between just moving around looking at beautiful things sprout and puzzle solving. You’ll get to grab fruits from trees that you will often use as weights to weigh down a platform. There are different type of fruits, some float upwards(used on some platforms that have to be pushed up) and some typically weigh downwards.
All very basic stuff although I assume later on, the puzzles get more complex and there will be more types of fruits and platform types. It is a serviceable experience, while Atari tried to pass this off as a zen like indie experience, it doesn’t quite meet that mark.
It’s mostly got to do with bad controls. Why does Atari have problem designing good controls for PC games? If you’ve missed my Test Drive Unlimited 2 Beta Impressions, that game also had user interface and control issues for the PC version.
Granted, The Undergarden is a much simpler game hence isn’t quite as broken. But it’s hard to layback and enjoy the visuals when you’re grappling with controlling your underwater teletubby or lamenting the wonky physics. I understand that it’s under water, but it just doesn’t feel right.
If you feel like trying it out, you can download a 30 minute limited play demo here. You need to click on the Atari logo to download the PC version.
The Undergarden is available on Steam for USD$9.99
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