Grow on the Go is the first game from Pixel Drip Games, an Adelaide-based game studio from former VFX artist Joseph Roberts. If you’re a fan of cosy games like Unpacking or even Dorfromantik, Grow on the Go takes the core mechnic of plant growing in your own little store and makes it surpisingly fun on a computer.
Initially I had some small reservations as at the core, it’s a very simple mechanic. Plant seeds, grow them, sell them. Thankfully though, I was pleasantly surpised.
Get ready to get addicted
Ever go to the store and purchase a plant (or five) and you’re all excited on the trip home, ready to add it to the collection. You place it on the shelf, stare at it lovingly. Then, life happens. You walk past it a few times, it’s doing okay.
Then, one day. It’s no longer green. It’s suddenly wilted and bereft of life, just like your hopes and dreams of becoming a functioning plant parent. Well, now, you can experience the same thing in a game.
Only this time the plants lovingly wave back at you when you water them and care for them. The Corn Bros sway side-to-side and little Mushroom with its little friends thank you for their care. But, like me, you’ll probably experience the grey-death of an unwatered, forgotten plant.
Look away from the screen for too long and ignore their wants?
Dead plant.
Want to go shopping and spend 10 minutes browsing through various plants and shelves and other plant growing paraphernalia?
Dead plant.
It’s a little brutal and I love it.
The variety of shopfronts are a nice bonus and with each “store” comes a different season, vibe or aesthetic. It’s a pleasure to chillout and listen to the rain, grow plants and fulfill orders. The added bonus is that if you want to fill your store with plants and not sell them, you can! I even noticed that the water requirement reduces as it’s a “display” plant which is a nice little nod.
The two tools you’re given are a watering can and a pesticide spray. The pesticide is when your plants die, cry and weep. They give off a green array of spores and if you’re not careful, they’ll infect your other plants and if you don’t attend to it, the neglect and decay will spread.
I spoke to the developer today and they’ve already hinted that a first-week update is in the works to address a few minor bugs and quality of life improvements such as rarranging some layouts and making things appear a bit more user-friendly. It reminded me of several other games like Weedcraft and House Flipper yet, this was much less involved and way more chill, which was nice.
The array of plant pots, orders, text-fluff and aesthetic-value is definitely worth the small investment of $5.95 AUD (about $4.00 USD).
3.5/5 Cute pot plants