The Sundew

think The Sundew is worth a go if you’re looking for a distraction, but expect a fleeting bit of entertainment with some confusing caveats. Considering that this title was obviously a labor of love from one person, at the end of the day, I enjoyed my time with The Sundew overall and am looking forward to seeing what future works may come from this promising developer.

Playing The Sundew is much like eating at a fancy boutique restaurant. You’ll be served something that’s beautifully presented only to then find the meal isn’t nearly substantial enough to fill your belly, and you’ll be aghast at the bill for it. The story flies by before it’s even had a chance to begin, and even though there are multiple endings, they only add a little sliver of extra playtime. Though there’s a little fun to be had in exploring the lovingly rendered pixel art scenery, this cyberpunk outing is sadly destined to wash away from your memory – like tears in The Sundew.

The Sundew is an interesting, if short, adventure game. It has its rough edges, but it accomplishes what it seeks, which is to be an enjoyable and interesting experience.

While some of its puzzle flow can be hit-or-miss, The Sundew delivers an entertaining graphic adventure. While I hate to see the sound design miss the mark so badly, genre fans should enjoy pointing and clicking their way through this tale's surprises.

Drenched in the sci-fi dystopian rainfall, The Sundew emerges with admirable ambition. Join Anna Isobe as she's tasked with an objective that will change her life forever. Be sure to bring a little brainpower and intuition; this is a game not for the faint of mental puzzle-solving.

Overall The Sundew is a strong and engaging point and click adventure game with a compelling story and enough strong puzzles to keep players scratching their chins for its run time. Fans of the genre will find things to love here, and the fact that it comes from a one person development team makes it all the more impressive.

Except for the visual style which you can count among the best of pixel art designs in the world of video games, The Sundew doesn’t do anything mind-blowing or innovative in its other aspects but it still tells an intriguing, if a little cliché, cyberpunk story and couples it with a classic point-and-click gameplay with good logical puzzles.

The Sundew isn’t perfect; every so often I ended up shaking my fist at its list of tasks, mocking me with its empty boxes, knowing full well some of them were entirely dependent on others. But this pixel-based point-and-click adventure still had me hooked to the end. All the more remarkable for being a solo effort, The Sundew is a real treat for adventure fans, cyberpunk aficionados or anyone who’s sick of being a chirpy chosen one.

The renewed popularity in recent years of point-and-click adventures has been great to see, though certainly people who've hoped to see games that have a more serious tone have likely been a bit disappointed...