Eden to Green Review

It’s difficult to tell from the screen shots, but Eden to Green is a rather bizarre mix of genres, both free-to-play and otherwise. The amazing thing is that all these elements manage to avoid getting in each other’s way. In fact, they make for an incredibly neat (albeit a little stifled) experience.

The world of Eden is under siege by a horde of alien machines, and the only way to stop them is with - wait for it - flower power. Players fight off the evil mechanical menace by planting flowers. Not normal flowers, of course. Eden’s flora is actually quite capable of taking care of itself. Plants like Pump Flowers and Two Lips are needed to extend the reach of healthy land on a given level, while Catmos and Beak Beaks that can be planted on said healthy land and will attack any nasty machines that get close enough. The goals change from level to level, but for the most they involve wiping out all the enemies, dispatching their spawning points, or freeing a large tree from mechanical oppression. It’s weird, sure, but it’s also decidedly different.

Eden to Green is kind of a tower defense game and kind of not. Each turn players have to use the limited assortment of flowers they’ve brought along to expand their territory and set up defenses. Then it’s the machines’ turn to try and destroy everything. It’s an interesting system that feels genuinely different than a lot of the other defense games out there. The CCG elements such as collecting, upgrading, and evolving plant cards are also a welcome addition. And there are so many different plants, too. I’m particularly fond of Beak Beaks due to their significant attack range. Simply beating a level isn’t the end, either. Players can also increase the difficulty for more potential gains (at the cost of more energy/stamina) if they’re feeling brave enough.

The unfortunately part about playing Eden to Green is that it adheres a little too strictly to that whole energy/stamina thing many freemium games love to use. Normally this sort of thing is reasonable but in this case the math seems a bit off. It takes 5 minutes to recharge a single bit of energy, but playing one level on the lowest setting takes 10. So one stage essentially uses almost an hour’s worth of energy on one go. It’s not particularly fun to have to wait so long to jump back into the action, even if the action is so entertaining.

Eden to Green is a very fun and capable pseudo-tower defense game. It’s held back a little too much for my liking by a rather strict energy mechanic, but it’s still plenty of fun to play and full of CCG goodness. CCG goodness, people.