Bibliographic Information:
Title: Bloomtown: A Different Story
Developer: Lazy Bear Games, Different Sense Games
Publisher: Twin Sails Interactive
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and Series S.
Copyright Date: 2024
Genre / Format of the Title: Role-playing, Adventure, Indie / Video Game
Awards or Honors: None as of the publication of this post.
Interest Level: Teen+ (ESRB)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 1960’s in a small American town, Emily and Chester are sent to their grandfather, Mr. Cooper, to live with for the Summer. What starts as a simple boring summer quickly turns into a deal with Lucifer to save the community of Bloomtown. As other children go missing mysteriously, Emily learns that there are darker forces at work in Bloomtown than she originally realized. Now she must tame monsters, defeat demons, and still get home by her 10pm curfew. Gathering allies and making enemies, this is definitely not your average summer vacation. A simple game for players of all capabilities, the storytelling and plot will keep everyone invested and intrigued for hours upon hours of play time.
Creator Background:
Different Sense Games are an incredibly small game developer company out of Lithuania - there is practically no information about them that is made available other than their location! Their Instagram account only has 919 followers, and it seems that someone from the company posted to the subreddit /IndieDev while they were originally developing Bloomtown back in 2021.
Lazy Bear Games also has very little information provided about them, and they even have their own website! Unfortunately their “about us” page only has two sentences, one of which mentions that they are also from Lithuania, and the other saying that they develop games for PC, Playstation, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox. Other than that, Wikipedia mentions that they were founded in 2012, but again, otherwise there is very little information provided. That makes this game so incredibly indie!
Critical Evaluation:
I started playing this game when the demo was released prior to the game actually being released: I completed the demo within three hours and was so angry that the game was not yet available to completely play. I fully got lost in the story, and waiting to continue to play felt like torture. The controls were easy enough to learn on the PC that I did not struggle, and once I learned how the battles went down it became incredibly enjoyable. I will say, the math aspects of the game completely caught me off guard - I do not usually do math in my free time for fun!
Bloomtown is a single player game, which I am unfortunately noticing is a common theme in many of the adventure games that I have been playing lately. I do think it would be easy to add a multiplayer function to the game so at least two people could play (one as Emily, another as her brother) but alas, that does not seem to be plausible. Otherwise, Bloomtown was an enjoyable experience and I plan on replaying the game again when I have more time!
Creative Use for a Library Program:
The demons in Bloomtown all have their own look and are not based on historical perceptions of demons - so it’s time to draw your own! Paper and colored pencils will be provided, but young adults need to bring their own imagination to this shindig. Fostering creativity is a great aspect of librarians, and this is a way to physically create something after enjoying the game virtually.
Speed-Round Recommendation:
Fight demons, tame monsters, and get your little brother up to do his chores in Bloomtown! Summer vacation at your grandfather’s house is going to be far from what you originally expected, especially after you make a deal with the Devil so that you can fight other demons to save the town. Gather and follow the clues to find the missing children, and try not to go missing yourself!
Potential Challenge Issues and Defense Preparation:
I’ll say even I was shocked when Emily was forced to make a deal with the Devil, Lucifer himself. Yes, you read that right. On top of that there is some minor cursing (using the words “damn” and “hell”), but regardless, I think the deal part is the main aspect of this game that will get the biggest pushback from parents who do not want their young adult children making deals with anyone, including Lucifer in a video game. There are also minor battles between Emily and some monsters and demons, which although they do not get incredibly violent, they do allude to something slightly more graphic. Overall, it is a pixelated game that uses a fantasy world and fantasy situations to make an interesting plot: censoring words or circumstances go against library policies as per the American Librarian Association, and so Bloomtown should definitely stay within the collection.
Reason for Inclusion:
This pixelated game packs hours upon hours of fun into a simple to follow storyline and controls that anyone can master. A mystery adventure game with magic will tickle the imagination of any young adult looking for an easy going experience without having to do too much strategy. Including it in the collection makes sense because Bloomtown is entertaining, easy to play, and great for any skill level of gamer (plus, there’s math!).
References:
(2023, June 12). Different Sense Games. Gematsu. https://www.gematsu.com/companies/different-sense-games
(n.d.). Lazy Bear Games: About Us. http://lazybeargames.com/about-us/
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