Flower, Sun, and Rain (2001)

Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher: Victor Interactive Software
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Genres: Puzzle, Adventure
Rating: 3.8 of 5, 15 player ratings
Where to get it: Website

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

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The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

A strange, hypnotic loop of mundane island errands and number-crunching puzzles that grows increasingly surreal as the same doomed day resets over and over.

surrealrepetitivemethodicalquirkycontemplativeslow-pacedoffbeatdreamlike

About

Flower, Sun, and Rain is set on the Micronesian island resort of Lospass, and is loosely connected to the events of The Silver Case. The story follows Sumio Mondo, a "searcher" who makes a living looking for things people have lost. Mondo is initially contracted to defuse a bomb planted on a plane, but is so distracted with helping the islanders that the bomb goes off. He ends up caught in a timeloop, where he relives the same day running up to the explosion. Gameplay focuses on Mondo exploring the island, solving numerical puzzles with the help of his computer "Catherine" to solve people's problems on Lospass.

What players say

A surreal, hypnotic Suda51 adventure that captures a dreamlike near-death haze through deliberately janky movement and bizarre satire on tourism. Deeply polarizing: much of it is walking and solving math puzzles, so players either adore its weird magic or find it tedious.

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This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.