Welcome to The Grove, a scenic island with gorgeous views of an increasingly threatening hole in the sky. The Rift between our world and the realm of the gods is opening fast, and the big guys in the sky are a little too preoccupied to close it.
A sudden flood of hate mail from the soon-to-be god of eloquence has the pantheon in shambles on the eve of the apocalypse. With the help of the god of leadership and a megaphone-gun that can take the words from people’s mouths, it’s up to you to pick up the pieces and save the world from certain doom.
From the art and music, to a vibrant variety of mortals and gods alike, “Great God Grove” is a brightly colored storm of chaos with a unique core mechanic that’ll leave you speechless. Solve an ancient mystery, join a revolution, run a successful matchmaking event and more in this psychedelic adventure game by LimboLane.
“Great God Grove” invites you to use the power of communication in the most literal way possible. Using the divine doodad Megapon, you can suck up sentences from one person and use them as ammo on another. You can shoot any dialogue at any character in the area to trigger a conversation which will hopefully give you something new to lock and load.
It isn’t as simple as walking up to Saul Boggle and telling him that no, your beloved corn-shaped god of the harvest doesn’t want a blood sacrifice— each chapter is its own puzzle as you work your way through the story to find the right words to fix everything.
This can get frustrating when the answer isn’t obvious and you get stuck in a loop of trying every speech bubble with every character, but these moments are few and far between. It also helps that, much like in real life, you can just walk away halfway through a conversation.
As a game with a heavy emphasis on dialogue, the writing doesn’t disappoint. If an interaction doesn’t give you a way to progress, you’ll still come out of it with a piece of lore, some funny dialogue or a long story about someone’s hamster wearing a hat made out of meat.
That’s not to say “Great God Grove” is all great godly goofs. There’s a lot of heart in the more emotional scenes, especially as you unravel the conflict at the core of the game.
Aside from the clever, and occasionally gut-wrenching writing, the game’s fresh and funky aesthetic is a trip to be immersed in. With bright colors and inky lineart, creator and artist Yugo Limbo’s distinctive style is immediately recognizable to fans of their previous works like “Smile for Me” and “Face Love.”
Each citizen of The Grove has an eye-catching design that draws the player in to converse with them. The gods themselves are animated with 3D models, putting them on a literal different dimension from their mortal followers. Their animations are bouncy, fluid and bursting with personality. Add to that the occasional appearance of physical puppets and you have a truly multimedia experience.
Your mileage may vary when it comes to replayability. There isn’t any new content or alternative endings if you spent your first playthrough thoroughly exploring dialogue options with every character in The Grove. Play the game at your own pace, especially if you think you’ll want to replay any of the chapters.
“Great God Grove” is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series S and Series X. If you’re looking for a story-driven puzzle adventure game you can finish in a couple days, this is one trip worth taking. Grab your Megapon and get ready to make some friends in high places — it’s time to save the world.
