A Warm Cup of Tea | Verde Review

Verde is based on a creative and refreshing notion, with a unique ambiance, nature and an intentionally calm gameplay.

The plot isn’t very difficult, nor does it need to be. But the story is really only a pretext to bring you into this tranquil and pleasant experience. You are a little boy named Verde, living in the town of Dewdrop, and embark on a quest to remedy the region’s lack of clean water and revitalize its dying ecosystem with the help of tiny creatures called Seedlets.

At its heart, Verde’s built on a simple, straightforward gameplay loop. The main goal is to create the city, but there is no risk of bankruptcy or any difficult and demanding management system. The whole process is simple enough: build houses, install roads and different facilities, keep the creatures happy, grow the population gradually.

The major resource in the game is leaves. Every building and decoration you construct takes leaves, which you can obtain by cutting grass, performing missions, or just waiting. The building system also provides you a significant amount of creative freedom, from changing the colors of buildings and planting different flowers and greenery to making paths made of wood or dirt.

But the main problem is there is no challenge. Leaves are so easy to generate that after a time you can just leave the game running and go do something else, and come back to enough resources waiting for you to build nearly whatever you desire.

There are also certain issues with the building system itself. Sometimes the camera position might be inconvenient for construction, and transparent structures and more and more busy locations can make it tough to clearly see what you are doing.

Overall, the gameplay feels less like a challenge to the player and more so about relaxing and designing your village. Unfortunately, the lack of depth and challenge mean that it can lose its charm rather fast.

Verde’s progression system is entirely linear, and mostly revolves around levelling up. Your level improves as you do basic quests, unlocking new regions, buildings, flowers and decorations little by little. It seems good at first, but that feeling of progress doesn’t last all that long.

On the surface of the game, diversity is plentiful. There are tons of buildings and decorations to unlock, some of them are customizable too. Most of that variability, though, is cosmetic in effect. The basic routine, from the opening hours, is not much different: mow grass, collect leaves, build a few buildings and wait for the next area to open up.

The thing to take away, though, is that going much further isn’t going to provide any new mechanics or major adjustments to get you excited again. Verde’s advancement feels less like a constant new thing to find and more like a long bar you fill up that unlocks the next step.

Therefore, the repetitious nature of Verde might make it rather monotonous, despite the enormous amount of structures and stylistic options.

Pros:

• Beautiful mood and graphic design: Verde has a wonderful visual identity with bright colors, rich settings and adorable characters.
• Relaxing music and sound design. Soothing music enhances the experience and helps the game’s relaxing mood.
• Lots of customization: Players have plenty of freedom to personalize their towns thanks to a good range of decorations and flowers, as well as the opportunity to modify building colors.

Cons:

• Lack of challenge and depth: Resources are far too easy to obtain, making the experience increasingly effortless as you progress.
• Repetitive gameplay: Very few new mechanics are introduced over time, causing the core activities to become repetitive fairly quickly.
• Camera and environmental clutter: As your town grows, locating creatures and placing new structures can become increasingly difficult and occasionally frustrating.

Final Verdict

If you’re searching for a really deep, tough city-builder, Verde is probably not the game for you. But if you want something simple and pleasant for a peaceful afternoon, maybe it’s worth a try.

Verde is like a warm cup of tea after a long day, peaceful, lovely and simple. The cute graphics and soothing music will whisk you away from the grind for a few hours of fun.

Sadly, that charm wears off fast. The activities are soon monotonous, there is little challenge and the organization is straightforward. Verde is not intended to be a hard resource-management game. Instead, it provides a serene green space where you are able to design and customize an adorable village with little pressure. Go in with those expectations, and you’re likely to have a good time.

Score: 76/100