The power to control the wind and create an ethereal flight of blowing flower petals is now possible with your iPhone or iPad.
An iOS version of Flower, a hit PlayStation game when it debuted in 2009, became available for purchase Thursday on the App Store.
The game won several awards and praise from gaming critics. It is also part of the permanent collection at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which has twice featured Flower in exhibits about media art.
A Flower player guides a single floating petal by tilting their device. The petal flies through various landscapes and can cause other flowers in the scenes to bloom or create vibrant colors as it travels through the various levels.
There are no enemies to kill or a score to keep. The game is often described as emotionally and spiritually engaging with a single, relaxing play-through lasting about an hour.
Photo: thatgamecompany
“The freedom of movement makes the game feel as relaxing as a gently wafting breeze, said critic Alice Liang of 1UP.com.
The game was developed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark and released for the Sony PlayStation platform by thatgamecompany in 2009 when it won several awards for Best Independent Game.
“After Flower launched, we certainly could see its influence to break new boundaries and perceptions of how video games could be designed and played,” Clark wrote in a blog post Thursday for the thatgamecompany website. “This is a special release for Flower because, for the first time, more and more audiences can get to experience the calmness, poetic beauty and romanticism of (the) game.”
Flower’s $4.99 download cost may be a small price to pay to relax in a dream for an hour.
