The advent of downloadable games direct to your console via virtual marketplaces is ensuring that the gentle whisper of the most important independent games are not drowned out by the roar of triple A titles, exposing the demographic to a game they might never get to play. One of these important games, is Flower.

The man responsible for this unique and wonderful game is Jenova Chen, who also designed games like Flow and Cloud. Flower fits in warmly with this already established family of conceptual entertainment, so if you're familiar with these other games you'll feel right at home with this one.

Flower is about as unassuming as a game can get. From the outset the game relies almost entirely on human intuition to get you beyond the level select screen and into the gameplay, offering only a semi-transparent diagram of the Sixaxis controller rotating to imply its control scheme. This speaks to both the game's simplicity and the game's design.

You are the wind and your journey begins as you're carrying a single flower petal, one that floats delicately in the air amidst a mildly desaturated landscape of rolling hills dotted with flowers. There is no Heads Up Display, there is no score, there is no way-point indicator. Pressing any button on your PS3 controller pushes you forward while manoeuvring the Sixaxis changes direction. And you're off.

It's worth noting at this point that controlling the game using the Sixaxis motion sensing controller is quite frankly an absolute joy. I can't remember a game where the PS3's motion control capabilities added to the experience, rather such awkwardness felt tacked on and unnecessary. In Flower the controls are responsive, intuitive and fluid.

As you glide over the magnificent terrain you'll realise that blowing past other flowers collects a petal from each until a trail of rainbow coloured petals streams behind you. Flower is filled with moments where you can't help but pause and simply take in everything that's going on. The first time you double back on yourself in a spiral and create your own Skittle flavoured whirlwind is one of these moments. There's no time limit, so feel free to spend as much time as you like dancing around in the wind.

Brushing past each flower plays a note, so while there aren't any combo multipliers or high scores, you're still rewarded for efficiently collecting as many petals as you can. Once again intuition and human reflex play a large part in adding to game satisfaction.

Each of the levels in the game is the dream of a flower confined to the window sill of a modest inner-city apartment. The object of the game is not as difficult to describe as I've heard others state. You're task is to re-instate the lost beauty of the environment hidden under a desaturated, dull and sometimes dark surface. Once you've restored the dreamworld you move onto the next. There is no plot, but incredibly you come away with the same feeling and sense of theme that you would get from playing a game like Fable. Flower's story telling is most akin to a ballet where the narrative is subtle and gesture based, but you get the point in the end.

You can blast through Flower in a couple of hours. I did. But I can't stress enough that this is not an indication of the game's quality. Yes, there are Trophies to collect and the game is mindlessly enjoyable enough to warrant multiple plays through, regardless of whether you're a Trophy-nut or not. But that's not the point. Flower's aim is to illicit emotion, be enjoyable and satisfying, silently relate a story and innovate. And it does this well enough to deserve five stars.

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