
Busboom
231 escape rooms
for me, the best games are ones where the world falls away and I'm immersed in some alternate reality. Botanist Manor doesn't do that. It's a meta-game about escape rooms. Every clever puzzle reminds you of another clever puzzle. And so on. I was constantly being mentally pulled out of the game to be reminded about some other game I played. Some people love that energy. In fact, a few people on my team were absolutely delighted by it. I admired the mischief in the design, but it's hard for me to love a game that winks at you more than pulls you in. And then came the third act. It doesn't hold back. It's hilarious and absurd and just plain zany. And at the center of it is a great set piece that made me laugh not because it was funny, but because it was audacious. Botanist Manor did win me over in the end. But it didn't do it by pulling me deeper into its world. Instead, it blew that world open in a way that was genuinely joyful. It was wild. And alive.









