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I have just played the first Samorost game by Amanita Design as it has been re-released a few days ago in a remastered version.

Samorost was a flash game originally made in 2003, and while it's safe to say that since 2003 many, many games have been made and many game ideas have been slowly turned into conventions and golden rules, Samorost still feels like a unique and fresh moment of play. Its visual presentation is otherworldly: a lovely misch-masch of photographs, drawings, small nature and cosmic objects, that resonate with each other to create a familiar yet strange place that radiates playfulness. Which is nice because the game itself is pretty playful in its design too, encouraging you to take your time, poke around, mess with the animals, tinker with weird mechanisms and observe the ecosystem your little gnome is wandering through to progress.

Playing Samorost feels a bit like poking at the glass of a terrarium to make its insect residents react, except you're allowed to poke (please be gentle with bugs in real life!) and the insects will dance in funny ways when you do. It's a short trip through space and under the rocks of your garden, one that fills you with joy and that you can't wait to forget the details of so you can take it again soon.