There needs to be a name for games that provide the fantasy of being very good in a chill retail job. Coffee Talk did it for baristas, VA-11 Hall-A did it for bartenders, and Strange Horticulture does it for florists - in a vaguely lovecraftian Victorian rural hellscape.

It never, ever stops raining. There are witches in the woods, who are mostly chill, but there's also a cult hanging around, who are mostly not very chill. Meanwhile, you collect plants and sell them.

Above all, Strange Horticulture is a puzzle game about deduction. Customers come in and ask for plants matching a certain description or with specific qualities, and you go rooting through your ever-growing collection and your big, dusty botany book to find the right specimen. You will also stumble across clues for where to find more plants, or other interesting characters whose motivations grow clearer over time. It's all very dreary and foreboding but in a way that's immensely calming. There are no time limits whatsoever, so you can literally explore the map even though someone is waiting at the counter for their flora.

I will admit that I made good use of the game's hint system because it does tend to get obtuse at times. I wasn't after proving how smart I am for figuring out the solutions with the least amount of information, or memorising every plant and their properties. No, I liked carefully labelling each of them individually. Flicking through my books to compare the descriptions with my collection. The serotonin rush of finally finding exactly the right spot on the map based on nearly impenetrable hints.

You have a black cat that purrs when you pet them, so that's a GOTY right there.