Pinball wouldn’t be the obvious genre of game to tackle death and the legacy you leave behind but that’s exactly what From Eva With Green is about. It takes a casual approach to pinball and gardening by weaving some interesting narratives and ideas together for a genuinely unique experience.
Eva has died. She was a teacher and a lover of gardens and plants. Each level in this game walks us through single screen minimalist pinball levels that are framed like garden wall trellises for your pinball to roll and bounce off of. The goal of each level is to plant green leaves along the trellis frames of the levels until the green meter is full up. To do this you will use the pinball flippers to flip the pinball to hit a windchime that scatters plant seeds around the level. You’ll then flip the ball to collect the seeds and then press and hold the mouse button where you want to place your plants.
The first thing to notice is that you can’t really lose in From Eva With Green. Between your flippers is a bounce pad to catch the ball and whilst you will need some skill to hit the windchime and lay down enough green leaves to clear the level, its a very low skill requirement. Many of the early levels are curved in such a way that you’ll be able to roll the ball around most of the frame with ease. Whilst the pinball physics are quite basic, they are usually consistent.
Whilst the core goal never changes, the level designs too. Some include bonus ways to spread seeds and plant leaves too. Examples include firing the pinball into a bakers mixing bowl to splodge his dough out and blossom leaves. Another has a sprinkler system to fire leaves out, whereas others use things like Chinese lanterns to create dynamic levels that require more timing to make better moves. Most levels also have multiple flippers placed around the level too. This allows you to work your way around different sections of a level to then plant the seeds, which is crucial for increasing the green meter. The green meter only increases if you increase the flower and leaf coverage so you can’t keep planting in the same spot over and over. Each level is beautifully artistic and as they come in mini-story themes, they’ll have unique instrumentation that matches the story too.
From Eva With Green has a wholesome and thoughtful narrative despite the sad setting. The game explores how the legacy of your life impacts the people around you after you’ve passed away. Eva’s students, her family, friends, neighbours and colleagues. The game bundles these ideas into 3-5 level stories that create themes for the level design and some additional short text outros for the levels. As someone dealing with loss at the moment, I thought this was an excellent and unique way to turn the idea of social impact and legacy into something visual, interactive and tangible.
There are a couple of niggles with the experience. Firstly, From Eva With Green can be completed in 40 minutes, although the game is only £2.49. There is some replayability here as you can theoretically decorate your leaves differently every time you tackle a level, but you can’t save screenshots or view your creations. A gallery of sorts would have been a lovely addition to have. I’d also argue that the game is incorrectly marketed as relaxing. It isn’t relaxing at all – pinball doesn’t give you time to contemplate and consider things. Just because you can’t lose a game, it doesn’t make it relaxing.
Anyone looking for unique esoteric gaming experiences should take a look at From Eva With Green. Pinball, garden plants and death is not an obvious mash up but this game is delightfully put together. Who thought emotional pinball would work so well?
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