{Review} Orthodox Seed

"Orthodox Seed" by Etaercion

The title of this game confused me a bit. It sounded a bit like a secret operation concocted by the CIA, FSB or BND. "We have a green light, Orthodox Seed is growing." But while the orthodox part still baffles me, I kind of get the seed part and the game's connection to growth.
The game's site tells me to go to Wikipedia to find out about the concept, but biology and me have a truce. I don't bother it, it doesn't bother me. I intend to keep my side of the bargain...

Story
You are a cactus.
You like flowers.

Mechanics
Maybe I am doing the game a disservice and there is much more story than what I experienced. But to my mind, the fact that I could sum up my story experience in seven words does not matter too much. This is a puzzle game, and it knows where its focus is, in the puzzling. If the developer decided not to include a thirty minute cutscene where the cactus explains his infatuation with flowers, that is fine by me.
Movement feels instantly familiar. A and D make you move, W makes you jump, and the yawning abyss makes you die. You walk to the flower and presto, next level.
The real twist comes when you find a watering can. These handy things allow you to copy paste a small grid of the level. Red is for copying, purple is for pasting. While I wish there was an easier way to cancel a misclick in the copying phase and I thought that the can would remember my selection, you get used to the system very quickly. You feel moderately smart when placing new platforms.
When you realise you can just copy an empty area and paste it on walls to make them shrink away, you may even go up to "rather smart".
I found the "Orthodox Seed"'s terminology a bit confusing, when one level prompted me in no uncertain terms with subtle huge black letters to undo my changes. I couldn't see a better solution with the resources I (thought I) had. But being stuck anyway, I tried it and in a eureka-moment saw my copying rectangle reappear. A grin spread over my face. So the level changes are not permanent... My, my, isn't that interesting.
Another grinworthy moment is when you realise that you can change the level while jumping, disappearing the ceiling above your head, jumping and making the floor-formerly-known-as-ceiling reappear beneath your feet.
After that is when the game hits its stride. You feel a bit like Poison Ivy, bending the chlorophyll-filled levels to your will, making them shrink before you and regrow after you have majestically cactussed past.
There are also critters, probably cactuphagi, and blocks with big skull on them that are unaffected by your magical powers. Encounters with them yield... expected results.
One thing you should know is that "Orthodox Seed" doesn't seem to save your progress. When I came back into my game, it presented me with the first levels which my genius cactus (cactenius?) now felt far too smart for.
Cacti can be a bit arrogant. True story.
So keep that caveat in mind if a particular level makes you want to ragequit.

Presentation
If you look at the first picture on the game's site, the writing is probably the first thing that catches your eye. And while it does explain the mechanics rather succinctly, you might want to scroll a bit farther so there are no letters distracting you from the pleasant green dream that is the game's aesthetic.
It is instantly recognisable what is platform and what is background, no small matter in a platformer. One look at the screen give you all the information, thanks to excellent, simple design.
The soft music adds to the almost trance like feeling.

On the whole...
"Orthodox Seed" is a great example of design. It takes its central mechanic of copy pasting the level and sees how much juice it can get from it. Let me tell you, it's a lot. Your powers of level manipulation challenge you in two ways, since it is equally important to know which part to copy and where to put it. If I were better at puzzle games and platformers, I might love "Orthodox Seed". The way it is, I just really like this little game.
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Link: http://contest.gamedevfort.com/submission/632#.VdS7Z_ntlBc

Dev: Etaercion

Time Played: 25 minutes

Got My Vote? Yes, since it implements its central idea so very well and variedly.