Its worlds are completely alive, though small in scale, its celestial landmasses bringing to mind the tiny, fantastical planets of The Little Prince.

Samorost 3 features strange and wonderfully weird characters, each marvellously animated. Visually, the game is exceptional, all exquisite organic landscapes against the terrific expanse of space. _ “Samorost 3 is surreal, magical, and one of the warmest and most delightful games I’ve had the pleasure of playing.” Despite everything games have taught you, Samorost 3 gives you the option to break the contraption and make a sturdy bridge. You automatically think to jump onto the platform and to go to the other side, but Gnome is too short. For example, early in the game, Gnome encounters a rickety moving platform suspended over a canyon. The puzzles are not too difficult, but require some thinking outside the box and a lot of inference. This is a game about observation and interpretation, patience and persistence. There is the sense that the environment of the game is helping you there are no quest markers, there is no floating text telling you to push this button or that, and you are absorbed into Samorost’s world.

Gnome runs about, toots out a ditty to a plant and the spirit that comes out tells you a picture story that happens to guide you in the right direction. The clues in this puzzle game appear as vibrant spirits, and are so seamlessly integrated into the game that it should be considered the other way around. “Playing Samorost 3 is like paging through a children’s storybook, one with many movable parts and the most beautiful of illustrations, but this story can also dance and bloom and challenge you - all without words.”

Samorost 3 plant puzzle