As much as I hate to admit it, Mascot Horror games are here to stay as many of these kinds of games are popping up on Mobile and spread like wildfire. One of these growing in popularity is Garten of Banban, a Masscot Horror by Euphoric Brothers who are known for their surreal indi games that tend to lean more towards the macabre. EB must be doing well as they caught the attention of Feardemic Games who are now bringing Garten of Banban to consols and were awesome enough to send over the first 4 episodes of Garten of Banban for me to check out.
Garten of Banban is about a kindergarten facility that was shut down because all the children attending it (along with the staff) vanished. Now a lone parent is exploring the facility to find their child and uncovers disturbing secrets below…
Now, onto the game itself! The controls for Garten of Banban are quite simple and limited thanks to being a mobile game before, so you won’t have to worry about difficult handling. The art of the game is done quite well surprisingly for a mobile indie even if the mascots of the fictitious kindergarten look a bit odd.
I should warn you that Garten of Banban comes in episodes and the first one is very short so you may want to wait and get the game in bundles unless 1-4 is already a bundle, then forget what I just said.
The gameplay is fun for the most part, you have to control a drone to hit buttons that are out of reach and collect security cards to unlock doors to advance through the facility, along with completing puzzles and at times platforming. Depending on the level, there are some decent jump scares, so don’t let the childish look of the game fool you.
Overall, Garten of Banban is a unique play, the game’s series is growing, at the time of writing this there are seven games but I’ve only played the first 4 (obviously). The story may not be that unique if you’re familiar with Masscot horror games, but it is a fun experience if this is the kind of thing you like, it’s not necessarily my cup of tea but I know a lot of folks love it.
On my scale of 1-10, Garten of Banban is an 8.5/10