Flower (video game)

Flower
A trail of red, yellow and white petals arc over a brown-and-green grassy hill. The sun is in the upper left of the image, set in a clear blue sky, and the word "flower" is overlaid across the image, with the top of the "f" sprouting orange petals as if it were a flower itself.
Banner on Thatgamecompany's website
Developer(s)Thatgamecompany[a]
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Jenova Chen
Designer(s)Nicholas Clark
Composer(s)Vincent Diamante
EnginePhyreEngine
Platform(s)
Release
February 12, 2009
  • PlayStation 3
    • WW: February 12, 2009
  • PlayStation Vita
    • NA: November 12, 2013
    • EU: November 29, 2013
  • PlayStation 4
    • NA: November 15, 2013
    • EU: November 29, 2013
  • iOS
    • WW: September 28, 2017
  • Microsoft Windows
    • WW: February 14, 2019
Genre(s)Adventure, art game[1]
Mode(s)Single-player

Flower is a video game developed by Thatgamecompany and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was designed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark and was released in February 2009 on the PlayStation 3, via the PlayStation Network. PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of the game were ported by Bluepoint Games and released in November 2013. An iOS version was released in September 2017, and a Windows version was released in February 2019, both published by Annapurna Interactive. The game was intended as a "spiritual successor" to Flow, a previous title by Chen and Thatgamecompany. In Flower, the player controls the wind, blowing a flower petal through the air using the movement of the game controller. Flying close to flowers results in the player's petal being followed by other flower petals. Approaching flowers may also have side-effects on the game world, such as bringing vibrant color to previously dead fields or activating stationary wind turbines. The game features no text or dialogue, forming a narrative arc primarily through visual representation and emotional cues.

Flower was primarily intended to arouse positive emotions in the player, rather than to be a challenging and "fun" game. This focus was sparked by Chen, who felt that the primary purpose of entertainment products like video games was the feelings that they evoked in the audience and that the emotional range of most games was very limited. The team viewed their efforts as creating a work of art, removing gameplay elements and mechanics that were not provoking the desired response in the players. The music, composed by Vincent Diamante, dynamically responds to the player's actions and corresponds with the emotional cues in the game. Flower was a critical success, to the surprise of the developers. Reviewers praised the game's music, visuals, and gameplay, calling it a unique and compelling emotional experience. It was named the "best independent game of 2009" at the Spike Video Game Awards, and won the "Casual Game of the Year" award by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.


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  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Genre was invoked but never defined (see the help page).