Botanicula out "around" February 2012

Enchanting point and click game Botanicula will launch "around" February 2012, Czech Republic independent developer Amanita Design has said.

At a world premiere unveiling at the GameCity festival in Nottingham today, founder Jakub Dvorský said Botanicula will definitely release this winter.

Botanicula is more simple and accessible than Amanita Design's previous adventure games. It is based on humour, not complex puzzles, Dvorský said, and offers a relaxed experience. Exploration of a huge tree, spread across 150 screens, is the focus. You play five hero characters who attempt to fend off a parasitic evil.

Dvorský also unveiled the first teaser video of Samorost 3, coming (not very) soon. Samorost 3 is currently Amanita Design's main project. It takes place across seven planets, each with its own, unique, style. The art is a combination of real photos and computer painting. As with all Amanita games, music is key.

The developer intends to launch Samarost 3 for PC, Mac, tablets and consoles, although it is employing a wait and see approach with the latter, given the game's long development.

Meanwhile, Dvorský said the PlayStation 3 version of Machinarium will launch this winter.

"It's very difficult to port it from Flash to a new engine," he said. "Every piece has to be taken and put together again. It's a huge amount of work. But these big consoles are important for us because it's a different kind of experience, when you're sitting on your comfy couch and playing in your living room on a big screen. That's what we want as well.

"A lot of people have very good sound in their living rooms, but very poor sound by their computers. Also on tablets, I guess most people play without headphones, so the sound is crappy. Sound and music is very important for us, so we'd like to see our games also on bigger consoles.

"But I don't think it will happen with Botanicula. But we definitely want to bring to consoles Samorost 3. I don't know which one because the market is changing and it will take some time to finish it."