CALENDULA

So close to being great. It's quite good, it could almost be formidable. It might have released a few years too early, or too late? An extension on Calendula is long overdue.

It was an innovative game and was fun at points, but the story is loosely cobbled together and has nothing to do with you. The only part of the story that really makes sense is the ending, the rest doesn't seem to have much of a connection other than the sections of the game where you hold w (you cannot do anything else but hold w) and walk through rooms that you realize at the end are a metaphor for something else. However, for a game that's directly addressing the player and is so meta it makes zero sense for them to just act like the player is not a character and the gameplay was not actually part of the story. The game is not hard in any way, most puzzles you can solve yourself pretty quickly because the solutions are kind of handed to you through text, and sometimes the solution doesn't even make sense, it's just what the hints tell you to do. For 7 dollars, this game is a waste of money, and kind of a waste of time. If the game was actually about the game not wanting you to play it and the gameplay meant something, yeah I'm sure this would be an incredibly innovative and interesting game. But there's none of that, so I would say it's not worth playing.

Amazing game

CALENDULA, developed and published by Blooming Buds Studio, is an experimental meta-horror experience that deliberately challenges the very concept of what it means to “play” a game. Rather than offering a conventional narrative structure or straightforward puzzle progression, it builds its identity around disruption, uncertainty, and psychological discomfort. From the moment it launches, the game makes it clear that it will not follow traditional design rules, transforming menus, settings, and interface elements into the primary battleground. The opening moments establish the tone immediately. Instead of presenting a functional “Start Game” option, the interface appears broken or hostile. Buttons refuse to work as expected, error messages interrupt progress, and seemingly normal settings like brightness or resolution adjustments become tools for advancement. What initially feels like technical malfunction gradually reveals itself as intentional design. The player’s confusion becomes part of the experience, forcing them to experiment with the interface itself in order to move forward. In doing so, CALENDULA blurs the boundary between player and system, making the act of navigating…

A fascinating metaphorical journey, albeit one that doesn't perhaps land with as much punch as it could do. Nevertheless, this one's intriguing.

А weird, surreal non-game that actively resists being played. Certainly not for everyone, but still an interesting experiment in interactive art.