Waking Mars is a science fiction adventure that’s almost entirely built around gardening. Other games might despatch you to the red planet to reduce its caverns to shrapnel with sizzling laser bolts, but Tiger Style is more concerned with having you restore this arid landscape to full bloom, one well-placed flower-bed at a time. Coming from the developers of Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, such an idiosyncratic approach to the genre should hardly be much of a surprise, of course. Neither should the steady unspooling of a quietly fascinating plot, or the elegant way it’s married to the gradual unveiling of a smart range of interlocking systems.
Players are cast as Liang, a scientist that has a mission on Mars. The year 2093, there are elements of life found beneath the surface of the red planet. Liang’s mission is to research and find out more. With the help of Armani and his computer companion ART, Liang dives beneath the surface of the red planet.
Last week Game-Modo attended Game On Austin, a gaming convention focused on independent games made in you guessed it, Austin, TX. There were plenty of people playing games in alpha and beta stages, as well as recently-released independent games available for play. Free pizza, retro gaming provided by Game Over Videogames, a tournament featuring multiplayer God of Blades, and the event being held in a location with a bar (wristband required), meant fun times for all ages!
Waking Mars is an attempt to embody this aesthetic into a game that is parts Metroid, The Dig, and Discovery Channel. The result is an iOS release unlike any other, a daring experiment that unfortunately comes with a host of problems.
