Terrorarium Review
Terrorarium
Developer: Stitch Media
Publisher: Stitch Media
Website: https://stitch.media/projects/terrorarium
Genre: Puzzle Platformer
Platform: Steam
Age Rating: PG
Release Date: 28/07/2020
Price: £19.49
A code was provided for review purposes.
Angry Granny
Picture an old woman with a love of gardening followed around by cute, chubby mushrooms as her loyal army. Sounds pretty cute, right? Well, in Terrorarium, this granny uses those adorable mushroom creatures, Moogu, as her expendable pawns in alien gardens filled with murderous plants and hazards. Not so cute.
In Terrorarium’s Story Mode, you take on the role of the Gardener; fed up with coming runner up in creating the most dangerous Terrorariums across the galaxy, she does a little research. In each level, your aim is to make your way through these gardens to find a fruit-bearing plant, the Prime Specimen. Collect this and the level is complete, but getting there, however, is no easy task.
It’s important to note that I first started playing Terrorarium in early access, so I waited until the full game’s release before writing this review. The early access build was lacking in levels, and there wasn’t a story or any explanations as to who the Gardener was and why you were wandering through murder gardens. But the full game jumped up massively and affected my opinion!
Moogu Mayhem
There are around 30 levels or gardens for you to explore/die in in Story Mode with a cut scene after every few levels to showcase the Gardener’s progress. Honestly, the story isn’t that in-depth, but it gave a nice backstory to what you were actually doing, and the main focus is on solving the puzzles themselves.
Though the levels seem quite small, the paths through the gardens are treacherous. I found that the puzzles and mechanics were very creative, and though they were reused throughout the game, their variation would prevent repetitiveness.
Using your Moogu, you would break down walls, weigh down lifts, and even sacrifice them to blow up explosive turnips. There are different types of Moogu with different abilities, so make sure you’re using the right one for what you want to achieve! The Sticky Moogu, for example, can stop enemies in their tracks with their green goo, and the Fiery Moogu can burn down grass blocking your path. Despite their adorable appearance, the game does well to remind you that they’re expendable and you can always breed more.
Separate Paths in Life
What makes things trickier is that both the Gardener and the Moogu have different weaknesses; the Gardener can’t pass through spikes, whereas the Moogu can’t pass through water. And neither can go through lava because, y’know, lava. This meant having to leave your Moogu to go an alternate route at times and meet up with them later by calling them towards you. This is where I found some issues.
The Terrorariums, in general, are surprisingly tricky. There are no checkpoints, which I found frustrating with a game all about trial and error. Though I wanted to experiment, I found myself being more cautious if I was toward the end after half an hour of playing, dreading the thought of having to redo. Though it was satisfying to learn each part and progress each time you tried, I would have liked for there to have been at least one save halfway through. This way, I would have been more daring.
What really made my anger levels rise was some of the glitchy or frustrating mechanics.
Follow Me!
Being able to whistle for your Moogu to follow you was a handy feature, however, it didn’t always work. There were times where they would run in the complete opposite direction, fall down gaps or get completely stuck on a rock for no reason. This meant losing valuable Moogu to finish the level. Sometimes even when simply walking they would fall off a narrow path, often into water and dying instantly. With the puzzles being tricky anyway, I was even more annoyed when I couldn’t complete the level due to no fault of my own.
The controls were fairly easy to pick up after a couple of tries, using the keyboard to move, throw your Moogu and switch their type, and then the mouse to control the camera. However, you would often have to go under walkways or through small gaps; though you would be highlighted if you were behind the wall, it could be quite difficult to get the right camera angle. This was a problem when a murderous plant could be right around the corner!
In A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Terrorarium’s visuals featured bright colours suitable for the exotic alien worlds, with bright greens, blues and oranges. I liked that there were also four different biomes, such as a snowy one and a dark one lit by crystals. Even when a level had the same biome, I found that no two levels were the same.
There were some great 3D work and level design. Though the graphics weren’t amazing with some weird looking textures and rendering, it was suitable enough for this kind of game. Though the song playing throughout the levels was mischievous and fit well, I did find it quite annoying having to listen to it on repeat.
The sound effects of a plant snapping its jaws or a creature stamping its feet into the ground played on the danger element. The Moogu splatting as they died was a little sad though!
Meet Your Maker
Because Terrorarium’s story levels took me quite a while to complete, it’s unlikely that I’d want to replay them. However, Maker Mode comes in to increase its longevity.
Here, you can create your own Terrorarium entirely from scratch. Choose your biome, then build a maze or a castle, anything you like! The next step is to fill it with hazards and dangerous plants. Once you’re done, you can upload it for others to play. Vice versa, you can play levels that others have created.
Personally, I’m not too interested in making my own levels. It is a lot of work if you want to make an in-depth one! I also had a go at some and they were extremely difficult. But I think it’s definitely an element that was needed to expand the game. I thought it was cool how there was a level design contest for design schools, and the winning levels can be easily accessed. So while it’s not for me, there will be budding game designers who may love it!
Can You Conquer the Terrorariums?
Overall, Terrorarium is inventive and offers something a little different from your average puzzle platformer. The puzzles are a little too frustrating for me, but admittedly incredibly satisfying once you complete them. I still would have preferred to have some save points, and watching your Moogu get stuck or plummet to their death was annoying. I’m sure a lot of people will find joy in making their own levels, and I think it was needed for Terrorarium’s longevity. I liked seeing it go from a game with not much content to one with hours of playtime.
Rapid Reviews Rating
You can purchase Terrorarium on PC here:
