The Great Tree - from Reflexive

[cyrus_zuo]

Hey all!

Our next game, The Great Tree, was officially announced today.

The art is by the same artist who did Wik, and the simlarities in the look of the game are fairly apparent (and I think that is a good thing!).

The game is a survival collecting game where you collect pollen and avoid enemies. Some of the enemies, like the Death Toad, interact with the player from the background of the scene. I personally found it shockingly cool the first time a background element came to life. (the mushroom face in the screenshot below is another background creature that 'wakes up' when you are near - it's hard to describe, but as you play a character whose survival is based on flight, not fight, those huge creatures in the background noticing your presence is terrifying in a VERY good way)

The story is told through movies made up of voice over and panning over drawings. The effect is pretty cool.

The package overall is very different than your typical casual game. We're excited for the more grown-up feel and the game being a "gamer's" game. Enjoy the screenshots below.

Screenshot - Story (http://www.reflexive-inc.com/images/screenshots/tree_of_life_06[3].jpg)
Screenshot - More Story (http://www.reflexive.com/images/Skin_RA_Flex/Blogs/blog_images/tree_of_life_07.jpg)
Screenshot - Gameplay (http://www.reflexive.com/images/Skin_RA_Flex/Blogs/blog_images/tree_of_life_03.jpg)
Screenshot - More Gameplay (http://www.reflexive.com/images/Skin_RA_Flex/Blogs/blog_images/tree_of_life_01.jpg)

Drawings, more screenshots, story, wallpapers and more info on the game can be found here: http://www.thegreattreegame.com/index.html

The game is currently slated to come out on the 19th on Reflexive, and a few days earlier (13th?) on The Great Tree website.

[Maupin]

Looks good! I'm looking forward to seeing it in motion.

You might want to remove the "download it now" link from the game's page until it's available for download. :p

[Andy]

Oh! F..k! Russ!!!
The website doesn't block the visitors from Russia!!! :eek:

HEEEEEEEELP!!!! :D :D

[Aisle5]

Looks great! It makes me want to play. I'll be waiting for it's release.

[WaveRider]

That mushroom guy is amazing.

[Polycount Productions]

Oooh... this is wonderful. Loooking amazing.

[Pluvious]

Looks smart. Much more interesting than most casual games I've seen.

[amaranth]

This is absolutely beautiful!

[Adrian Cummings]

I'd like to see it but for some reason I can't except for the first screenshot? - oh well :P

[cyrus_zuo]

Glad to hear so much positivity. Joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/wik-devs-plant-the-great-tree-for-pc) and a couple of other places noticed it as well, which is very exciting.

Sorry that the pics aren't working for some, not quite sure why. The Joystiq article has one of the gameplay screenshots, one of my favorites. I keep thinking we should do a video of that Mushroom waking up and then tracking you with his eyes, and trying to eat you, it's just amazing to see. (and terrifying!...but in an 'this is freaking awesome' sort of way)

[Midnight Synergy]

This looks really nice.

There've been some very nice visual designs in indie games of late. This and Aquaria immediately come to mind, of course. Can't wait to see it in action.

[amaranth]

Can we affiliate on the 13th? Or do we need to wait for the Reflexive release? A long shot I know... I really want this game on my site!!!

[Desktop Gaming]

Looks cool - I'll be sticking this somewhere up the top of my site when its released.

[Grey Alien]

Yep looks awesome, I'm keen to try out the gameplay.

[Luis]

Yep, played it. :)
Looks and plays great! Maybe the music is a little bit repetitive but the rest of the game is really, really great.

Hope you have success with it!

[Grey Alien]

Yep it's pretty good, I'll be posting some first impressions tomorrow on www.binaryjoy.com when I get an affilaite code! I found a bug too, put it in your blog Russell.

[cyrus_zuo]

Official launch has been moved to the 27th. We are working on that bug you and a couple of other people ran into. :)

[SteveZ]

Just played forty minutes on normal. I like the gameplay, it's fairly addictive but I thought it was easy and felt short, beating 23 levels on 5th of 10 sets with only one loss. This have to do with the magic + strength focused upgrade along with the ancient fire multiplly score factor - I launch a fire, kill a bunch of critters, restore pollen, and retrieve the bonus from critters (like a mega pollen), and repeat.

Nevertheless, this game is fun. Good luck with sales!

-Steve Z.

[Polycount Productions]

Yeh, fun game... although the first screens got me expecting something else :D I enjoyed Wik - and this game was fine, but kind of not in the theme I enjoy. Putting Wik dude as the main character would have been interesting :D

[sound app]

The story is told through movies made up of voice over and panning over drawings. The effect is pretty cool.

The package overall is very different than your typical casual game. We're excited for the more grown-up feel and the game being a "gamer's" game.

the game is totally mesmerizing. bravo !

[mrkwang]

Tried demo around 10 minutes.

Another good-but-unusual game from Reflexive, as I think. Almost unique & special & (kinda difficult) as [Wik...]? :)

[Seb]

Great game. very simple but absolutely addictive. i will definitely buy it in the near future. after playing it for about an hour i must say that i have the bad feeling, that this game is not quite long. looks as if it could be played through in about 2h. that seems a little short.