In Connor Ullmann's action adventure Seedling, you come from... unusual beginnings when the wind itself breathes life into you. What follows is a quest for self discovery and shiny things as you soon discover you were created with purpose. Solve puzzles, journey across the land, delve deep into dungeons, battle huge bosses, and more in this homage to classic Zelda and other classic 2D adventure games.
Use the [arrow] keys to move, and tap [X] to interact, or to swing your sword when you get one. Double-tapping [X] quickly while you're moving will also cause you to 
sprint in that direction, which can be handy in avoiding certain enemies. Your health is represented by the green blocks in the upper-right corner of the screen, and they turn red as you take damage, but regenerates whenever you enter a room. If all the blocks turn red, the room you're in will reset and you'll be teleported back to its entrance. You won't have much when you start out, but as you search dungeons, you'll begin to find useful items befitting a true hero. Later on in the game, opening your inventory with [I] or [V] will let you choose which two weapons you want to lock to the [X] and [C] keys from your growing arsenal. Of course, you'll also find danger and puzzles as well, since no hero's journey is complete without a whole lot of peril.
Analysis: If you've been a gamer since classic NES or even just original Gameboy era, chances are Seedling is going to hit you right in the nostalgia without pulling its punch in the slightest. I'm not even necessarily talking about the obvious retro style, which looks and sounds great thanks to some classic tunes from Rekcahdam, but in the way it plays and feels. From the simple, easy to grasp gameplay to the designs and layouts of the dungeons and monsters inside them, Seedling is a love letter to the golden age of gaming. Of course, this means you can expect golden age annoyances to pop up as well. Figuring out exactly what you're looking at can sometimes be difficult, and even with the light treasure night cycles and some dungeons dim enough to be hard on the eyes for some players.
Trundling around the many different areas and dungeons as they become available to you as your inventory grows is definitely satisfying, especially given the way the difficulty scale on puzzles and the scope of your environments grow the further you progress. Combat can feel a little clunky in a distinctly old-fashioned way, mainly due to how simple the controls are, though for the most part you'll find patience and patterns are the key to victory. Games like Seedling tend to come under intense scrutiny for their nostalgic concepts and presentation just as much as some people embrace it for them, but even if you weren't more than a sparkle in your momma's eye when games like this ruled the plains, Seedling is still worth checking out. It's beautifully made and surprisingly engrossing, with a world you'll definitely want to know more about and an adventure well worth taking. You might see some of the plot twists coming, but Seedling succeeds more than it fails and might just make you feel like a kid again. You know... a magically constructed, destined-for-greatness-or-ruin kid like we all used to be once. Memories.
Walkthrough Guide
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Seedling Walkthrough
Full Walkthrough
Starting out
Start by going to the lower right, into the dungeon next to the well.
Head south into the room with all the water and carefully make your way to the right. If you fall in the water, you'll start the area again from the top.
Stand on the switch in the next room until the monster is dead. Push the block out of the way and go downstairs.
Stand on the button until all the monsters are dead, which will unlock the gold door at the bottom of the room. Head south to the next area.
Make your way past the monsters and the water. You can't touch the round yellow things either. While you can take a couple of hits from enemies, be careful they don't push you into the pool. Go upstairs when you get through the room.
Head right and go downstairs to a big room with a block and a couple of big pools of water.
Push the block onto the button to kill the first monster, then out of the way so the spikes stop falling and you can go past. Push the second block into the water, then stand on the button again to kill the other monster.
Head south, then left and north in the next room.
Sword Room
Collect the Sword. You can attack with X from now on.
Go upstairs and North for a treasure chest with a gold item inside. Keep going north.
You can break through mud blocks with the sword. Smash through the one in your path and keep going north until you're back at the well.
Head to where you started, left of the well, and smash the boulder in front of the house. Go inside and talk to the guy there.
South of the house are some stairs to a dungeon. Go there next!
The room they lead to has two sets of stairs, left and right. You can't get through the lock on the room on the right (that's the way out) so take the stairs on the left.
Kill or avoid all the enemies and take the stairs down again.
You can't get the treasure in this room yet, so we'll be back for it later. Push the movable block across, above the first boulder, then break the boulder and move the block up, next to the button. Smash the boulder above it, run round, and push the boulder onto the button to open the gold door. Take the stairs to the next room.
Kill the enemies if you like, but more importantly, smash the wooden thing on the top left to stop the rain of spikes. Then break the boulder and take the first set of stairs.
Kill the enemies and collect the treasure. Go back upstairs.
Go right, avoiding enemies and the hole in the ground. Falling in will drop you to another room with a few enemies to fight.
Use the block to push the button and open the gold door. Go upstairs.
Kill the two enemies in here to be allowed to progress to the ShieldSpire.
Boss: Shieldspire
Stand in front of him but don't attack. After a couple of seconds, he'll move his shield to the side, and you can safely hit him. Repeat a few times to kill him and get a red key. You can now open red doors.
Unlock the red door and head up the stairs.
Pick up the shield. It will keep you safe when running (enemies ahead of you will be pushed out of the way). You can also use it to open the shield door on the top right and push the button behind it. Exit on the left after doing so.
When you go back up to ground level, a meteor will hit the dungeon you were in originally. Seems a bit suspicious, but you can't get back inside for now, so that's that. There is a treasure chest in the house to the left, though. Collect a gold piece there.
Go right, and check in with the guy in the inn if you want to hear a bit about the bosses ahead. Follow the path across to the right to find some red locks—which you can unlock with the red key.
Go South and talk to the guy, then jump in the dungeon.
Rostef
Go South to start with.
The monsters will charge you if you're horizontal to them, so stand above them and dispose of them.
Head left for a treasure chest that you can't collect yet. The monsters will attack vertically this time; keep going left past them.
Killing the monsters in the next area will remove a block, allowing you to go right.
Be careful in the cave—a monster will stab up from the dirt to attack you. You can kill them by standing just outside its range and attacking.
Smash the wooden box on the top right to drop a boulder on the lower button.
Head north to collect the treasure chest—you've gone round in a loop now.
Follow the path around to the left again, but this time go south until you reach the water. A monster will attack when you stand on the path right—so kill it, then go right to the little cave in the trees.
With the boulder on the switch, the block is removed and you can go up to the raised part of the cave. There's another adventurer here, like you, but he's hostile, so dispose of him, then head to the top right.
There is a light here, just up from where you come on screen. Pick it up, and it will light your path wherever it is dark.
Smash the block to the south (on the left) and jump in the hole below it.
Follow the path to the top right and go up the stairs.
You can now collect the green key.
Go back down the stairs and unlock the green door partway along the path. Follow the new path and go up the stairs back to where you picked the light up. There's another green door to unlock here, and one you go up the stairs inside, the boss will attack.
Boss: The Times
The boss grabs a new weapon each time you deal a certain amount of damage to him. Your health regenerates at this point, so you can generally just spam the attack button without needing to dodge his own attacks.
After beating the boss, you receive Fire. Equip it as instructed—you have your sword on X and fire on C.
You can use fire to burn the big tree at the top of the screen. Exit north.
With the boss dispatched, open the other green door and head north until you reach the room with the beam of light in it you originally jumped into.
Head left and up the stairs, where there's a tree you can burn out of the way. Go out through the gap, unlock the green door, and you're back in the main overground area.
Go right and unlock the shield door if you'd like to chat with some people in another inn.
Head back to the hole you jumped in before. You'll need to go up and across and round to get there: it's in the lower right hand corner. Just to the right of it is a burnable tree. Remove it, then head south through the new tunnel.
Follow the steps left to a treasure chest. Still further left is another area, but it's still sealed for now, so go back out and head north instead.
Leave the screen to the very top right, and there's another burnable tree in your path. Burn it and go right.
Lacste
Go right and up, and there's a monument telling you you're arrived at Lacste.
Go north again and press the three buttons in order (one as you walk into the room, one at the top, then one on the right) to unseal the treasure chest to the north.
Continue north. Press the button on your left as you go, to unblock the path ahead.
Smash the wooden thing—which blocks your return—,then keep going north.
You can push the red glowing blocks with fire. Put the first one on the open left hand button to unlock the top button.
Use the upper block on the lower of the middle two buttons to unblock another button, as well as the moveable block on the left.
Move the first block to the innermost of the buttons on the right.
Move the block from the left to the innermost button of the left.
You should now be able to stand in the middle tile and hit all three blocks at once with the fire, to push them all one space away. Do that, and the locked doors above you open.
Collect the piece of the pillar (looks like a blanket), then head north and follow the long tunnel up to a large room with lots of small tunnels. There's another piece if you follow the tunnel left.
Go right as far as you can for a treasure chest, plus a burnable tree with a button behind it. Stand on the button, then follow the gold line.
MiniBoss: Monster in the Path
There's a big monster in front of you here, shooting all the possible paths. Use the pushable block to keep yourself safe as you approach it.
Kill the monster, then push its ribcage out of the way and move the block onto the switch. The ribcage needs to be taken through the tunnel opened on the right, to the switch at the end of it. You want to put the ribcage on the left switch, touch the right switch once, then get off it and go get the purple key.
This opens the way for you to get the key you likely saw as you moved the ribs around. This opens the door above where the monster was, to allow you to go north. Head right rather than going to the very top, however.
In this room is a big box that chases you if you're in the light it emits. Get it to chase you round the edge of the room and over the gap at the bottom.
This unlocks the pushable box, which you can move to the button.
The button unlocks the door, allowing you to collect the pillar piece.
Go back to the left, then north.
There are two of the light cubes in this room, and you need to lure them to the upper or lower tunnels so you can get the blanket piece behind them. Just get them to follow you round, then sneak past them.
Once you have the pillar piece, go all the way back and head left, then north.
There's a volcano in this room, throwing large rocks at you. Avoid it as best you can, press the two buttons, and grab the pillar piece from behind the volcano. Keep using dash to get around the room and you should have no problem.
Boss: Totem
Take the completed blanket pieces back to the start of the mazey room, and go down the stairs. At the top of this room is the wand and the boss.
This boss is quite frustrating to fight, because of the constant camera shifts and his earthquake ability, which leaves you facing the other direction.
Equip the wand and shoot when you get the opportunity. Stay out of the beams of light, and avoid the shots he fires on the left and right immediately after the beam, then hide in the bottom right corner and shoot at him as he gets closer. Repeat a few times to defeat him.
Shoot the door behind him with the wand to open it. The teleporter puts you back at the start of the Lacste.
Sardol Statue
Head left to the Sardol statue. Read the description and talk to the guy. You might start to question if you're on the right track: Go south anyway, and the guy standing there will tell you about the King of Fire. You can go south again to get back to the main area.
Take the wand to the witch, and she will give you a better sword which does more damage.
Continue back to the large inn and use the wand on the back door to open it to give yourself a handy shortcut theough the area.
A little way left of the witch's house is a cave in the trees. Go inside for a treasure chest.
Go back to the statue (or skip the detour entirely if you'd prefer) and go one screen right, then north to Trohn, the ice world.
Trohn
Cross the ice carefully, heading north and slightly left, to get into the main part of Trohn. There's a blizzard and a lot of ice here.
Keep going North until you find the cave in the ice.
Ice Cave
Dodge the swinging hammer and go up to the tunnel.
Inside is the conch, which allows you to swim. This would have been useful to have at the start!
Swim to the south, but avoid the whirlpools.
Climb out and go upstairs when you reach land.
Kill the monsters to open the door and go south.
Now that you can swim, you can explore outside better.
Swim south out of the blizzard (the exit is below the hammer), then go west into the small cave for a blue key.
Go east in the water to the blue door and unlock. Go north through it to the Tentacle Beast.
Boss: Tentacle Beast
A nice simple boss—just cut off its legs as they appear
Once every leg has been chopped up, the boss is defeated.
Climb in the beast's mouth to meet a guy who isn't too impressed with what you've done.
Use the teleporter, then go up and right for a chest.
Go north, on the left side of the screen, until you reach the Ice Cave. There's a chest inside you can swim to now.
Leave Tahlon and head back to the main map. On the left hand side, below the path back to the well and the Oracle, is another path left. Take that.
Follow it left, across the water, and up to Woshad.
Woshad
Go right and kill the enemies to unlock the gold door.
Avoid the hammer and keep going right. There are two buttons you can press here—go further right for one, and then come back up and inside from that screen to find the second.
Go north to find a guy moving house. He will give you the ghost spear. You can use this to hit through walls and to break some of the new obstacles.
Go back to the east, and head south: Now you can destroy the block in the way.
If the lights are off, hit them with the spear to switch them on again. Follow the path back to the entrance of Woshad.
Go West this time—you can now switch on the light (aim the spear at the center of the black circles) and move the block onto the button. You'll need to use the spear on it from across the gaps to move it correctly. Collect the gold key once you're past it.
Head all the way back to the right, past the hammers.
If you take the right hand path to the bottom exit on the right, there's block to move and a cave in a tree to investigate. Use your gold key on the lock in here to get an extra square of heath.
For the boss, go to the exit on the lower left of the screen. There's a block to destroy, and a cave locked with a gold lock, which you can now open. Go inside.
Boss: The Lights
Activate the pillar, and a bunch of monsters will swarm around you.
These are easy to beat—stay by the pillar, and attack outwards as they fly by you.
When there's only a few remaining, they'll move in a bit nearer you. A couple of steps and some quick attacks should see you safe though.
You will be teleported back to a cave in the forest after defeating the lights. Exit to find yourself back on the main screen.
Take the shortcut through the inn to the far right of the screen, then go south along the path left of the entrance to Rostof.
Follow the path to the locked door—you need a gold key and the wand to get through this, of which you have both.
Go into the cave to discover Basiniad.
Basiniad
Head north, where your path is blocked by two gold doors. You need to kill the fire monsters to open the first one—use the spear to stab through the wall at them.
Stand on the button to open the second door.
Go right and follow the path all the way round and back to the lower left for a chest. Some of the ground tiles vanish under your feet, so be careful. Head right to the next screen once you have the chest.
Travel right, along the path, then back left along the top. Avoid the fire chains as you go. If you have trouble with the enemies here, use the sword rather than the spear, because the attack radius is wider.
Make your way along the path before it collapses, and take the Dark Shield. Anything you run into with the shield will now take damage.
The path back to the south isn't complicated; it just requires careful timing. Follow it back to the main area of Basiniad, where you came in.
The dark shield unlocks the door on the bottom right, so go that way next.
The next pathway collapses under your feet, so don't stand still; just follow it through.
As you go south in the next room, there's a small monster that will eat you if you get too close. Use the spear through the wall to kill it.
Below, you'll see more of the adventurer-eating monsters. Use the spear on one and the wand to take out the other. There's only one way to go, so follow the path.
Get past all the enemies to get the Dark Suit. Not only does it damage anything in contact with you, it also allows you to swim in lava. Again, this would have been awesome to have earlier.
Since you can now, swim north through the lava. There's a hole in the ground further ahead that you can't cross—and if you get too close, a monster will eat you. But don't worry: with your new armor, you can bust right out of its stomach and carry on North. Pick up the chest on the way, then go further up to the cave, to fight the boss.
Boss: King of Fire
Stand directly in front of the King of Fire, just a step or two back. Yup, in the lava.
Equip the sword: the radius is useful here.
Kill the two bats he throws, then deflects a fireball back at him
While he's flickering, run forward and attack him directly.
Repeat a few times to win.
Head north, climb the stairs, and you're back on the main screen of the game.
Make your way back to the statue of Sardol, then go up and left and into the cave.
Follow the cave round to the end, and stay on the left on the waterfalls to get the feather. This allows you to swim up waterfalls.
There is a cave to the right, with a chest inside.
Ghethis
Go back to Sardol (the statue) again, and go up to the top right of the screen, where a tunnel leads to Ghethis.
To get inside, you'll need to smash a block with the spear, swim across lava, and climb a waterfall.
Kill all the enemies, including the big guy at the top (use the spear through the walls to hit him) to unlock the stairs, and go up. Collect the chest on the right hand side first.
Dodge the fire chain and climb up again.
In the waterfall room, kill the enemies, then follow the dirt path to the teleporter.
Go left, avoiding the hammer, and stay on the left for more stairs. Keep going left.
Follow the path around—your biggest problem here is staying on it! Dodge the lasers and hammers go left past the Watcher.
Follow the paths through the next couple of rooms. Avoid the obstacles along the way.
In the room at the end of the path is the Ghost Sword, a spear with the radius of a sword. Teleport out of there and head north, and you'll find it can open new blocks as well. Climb the stairs and go right.
It's race time! Stay ahead of the block and reach the button at the end, then go left again.
Allow the monsters to eat you to get across the gaps in the next area, then collect the Fire Wand, a wand that also uses the pushing force of fire. Teleport back again.
Go left—you've been here before, but this time follow the hammer around and go up to the X blocks. Use your fire wand on them, then teleport away. Jump in the tunnel to fall into the Meteor Crater.
Meteor Crater
You can go left though the block to see a big ice creature. Check the sign to find out what it is.
To the upper left of the creature behind the ice is a passageway leading to the Owl boss.
Boss: The Owl
You can only hit the owl when its moving around.
It leaves its hiding place and moves in an anti clockwise direction, after the rocks stop falling.
Stay one step ahead so you can attack as it comes out, and it only takes a few hits.
Go north again and left to meet The Watcher
You now have two choices
Either kill the Watcher
or
Collect the remaining treasure chests.
There's one in Gundernaud, near the start of the game, which you can swim to now.
And one in Woshad, on the far right of everything, with lava in front of it.
If you're missing any others, refer to the list of treasure chests below.
Good Ending
Take all your chests back to the completed display in the room before you meet the Watcher.
Activate the display
Go North and pick up the seed
That's it!
Full Treasure Location Guide
Note: the location the treasures display in your collection is randomized.
In the cave with Adnan where you get teleported to outside of the sixth dungeon.
In a cave above from where you get the Penguin's Feather.
The house in the village.
On the southern-most ledges of the forest area, near the lava dungeon opening.
First dungeon, after the sword.
Shieldspire's dungeon (pre-conch)—fall through the hole in the floor.
On the return to Shieldspire's dungeon (with the conch), go across the water to the chest.
The Times dungeon, above the area with the drills.
On the inside of Tentacle Beast's dungeon; in a little ice part surrounded by water.
Around the outside of Tentacle Beast's dungeon; right above the part where you are teleported out of the boss area.
In the entry of Totem's dungeon
Further along within Totem's dungeon, in front of the burnable tree for a switch.
In the King of Fire's dungeon (pre-dark suit), in the first big room, near the entrance to the boss area.
In the King of Fire's dungeon (with the dark suit), in the area where you are first pulled across a gap by an enemy.
Inside the Lights' dungeon (with the dark suit), across some lava, and above where you can get the health.
In the entry to Ghethis, to the upper-right of the first area in the tower.
Posted by: Ben
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July 13, 2012 5:12 PM