PEGBRJE: ephemera of evalynn cott and The Valley of Super Flowers
Stress and Flower Power.
ephemera of evalynn cott is a narrative adventure crafted by duo indie developers Ash Weymers and Spencer Baughman (game published under attempting entertainment). Players will be stepping in to the shoes of one Evalynn Cott as they navigates through the stressful aspects of college life, specifically revolving around the situations that have lead them to scrambling to hand in assignments and handle motivations. All while 30 000 years in the future. Probably.
Players meet Evalynn at probably the worst time, as talking with a friend reveals that many assignments are due that have yet to be completed, while everything around is in a constant state of disarray. Evalynn finds themselves moving from place to place as we the player search for interactable items, indicated by them being a different colour than the rest of the backdrop. There are no sets of controls outside of the arrow keys, so players can focus on simply exploring the campus to discover other individuals that Evalynn knows such as Penny, Rivers or… Naomi. There are also tons of things to discover and interact with, from bizarre characters that can be ‘recruited’ to drinks that can be stepped in, all in the name of being so distracted that there’s absolutely no time to do anything else. In case the usage of the term ephemera wasn’t clear, Evalynn is one constantly at war with trying to find the motivation to complete tasks before the semester ends, attempting to deal with the constant regrets that can come from life’s woes while writing emails to professors about how time has ‘slipped by’. It’s about grappling with the enjoyment of short term pleasures while accepting the melancholic realization that they may not create the fulfillment one desires, or even distract long enough for the problems to go away.
There’s a lot of themes being jostled with in ephemera of evalynn cott, from the need to find motivation to the possible meaninglessness of life. It can be a tad niche for some, as the discussions revolve primarily around their feelings as art students, but I feel that these experiences of scrambling with stress and motivation don’t have to be exclusive to the arts in the slightest. There’s much more going on, especially thanks to the constant conversations about relationships that Evalynn struggles with. If you are looking for a dive in to the mental health of a student with a dabble of whimsy, try this title out.
The Valley of Super Flowers is an action platformer created by AMAXANG GAMES, a solo indie developer based out of India with over a dozen short titles. This one in particular follows a chosen flower man named Flowa, destined for greatness. Armed with his trusty gun, he goes forth to destroy the Evil Satanis ruler that has taken over the valley to bring back order and good living conditions for the people of Super Flowers.
As one might expect based on the description, The Valley of Super Flowers delves in to a fantastical world in which flowers have super powers, and Flowa needs to understand his own abilities in order to thwart the evil plans of Satanis. His primary ability is to be able to jump, allowing for him to platform through the valley’s bizarre construction scheme as he searches for the exit to each level that comes in many forms. Some levels require Flowa to collect all of the gold coins in order to be victorious, while others simply require discovering the door to the next location. Knowing what style of level it is can help change the approach players can have, such as the need to explore every nook and cranny versus a more fast and loose playstyle. Platforming can get Flowa in to many locations and allow him to dodge out the buzz saws and other traps, but cannot stop the actual henchmen of Satanis; this is where his trusty gun comes in handy. This gun contains a set amount of shots that can be replenished by pickups, along with being able to hold three different kinds of ammunition. Outside of the standard shot, players can find a secondary shot known as the Flower Converter and a third ammo for the Mind Changer mode. Both can be clutch in tight scenarios, but because of this are found much more sparsely than common ammunition, so don’t waste them.
The Valley of Super Flowers is a quaint little title, giving players a bizarre macho flower to run around as while shooting dozens of minions and finding strange yet engaging bosses to fight. I’m definitely not the best person to discuss such a title due to my aversion to platforming titles in general, so I encourage you to try it out for yourself and see if you enjoy this bizarre trip through fields full of enemies.
