I'm trying to identify a PC game I played as a demo from a magazine CD sometime around 2014.
I tried to use ChatGPT to look for it. This is what i got after asking it to make a prompt from what i have told it about the game.
What I remember with high confidence:
Platform: PC
Distribution: Demo version from a magazine cover CD (likely a Polish magazine).
Language: Fully dubbed in Polish.
Graphics: Flat 2D cartoon-style graphics.
Characters were always visible and animated; the protagonist physically walked around when clicking on the floor.
The game was aimed at teenagers rather than very young children.
Story:
You play as a teenage boy with bright red hair.
At the beginning of the game, you visit your scientist uncle's high-tech laboratory. He activates a machine at night when you sleep, something goes wrong, and he disappears.
The main objective is to gather glowing colored crystals and eventually repair the machine to bring him back.
The protagonist is assisted by his blonde female "cousin", who lives at the laboratory. She is not playable but helps the player throughout the game. I vaguely remember she may have communicated through a computer terminal at some points.
Gameplay:
Point-and-click style exploration.
The protagonist walks around the environments.
The laboratory acts as a hub area.
Some rooms or areas are initially locked.
Progression is based on collecting crystals.
Crystals were:
hidden in rooms,
rewards from minigames,
different colors (possibly just to make them harder to spot).
Memorable Minigame
I remember:
A full-screen gardening/farming minigame viewed from above.
Grid-based.
Played in real time.
You planted vegetables.
I specifically remember cabbages.
Weeds would invade the garden.
Bugs/insect pests would appear and eat crops.
You had to remove weeds and deal with bugs while managing the garden.
Demo Ending:
Because it was a demo, some content was inaccessible.
After finishing the available content, the game showed a promotional screen advertising locations available in the full version.
I distinctly remember:
The promotional/end screen had a lot of orange in its design.
One advertised area was a prehistoric dinosaur jungle world.
There were multiple other worlds shown, but I don't remember them.
The dinosaur area was not playable in the demo.
Additional Details
The laboratory felt metallic and futuristic rather than colorful or fantasy-themed.
The crystals looked more like glowing energy crystals than ordinary gemstones.
The cousin helped the player but was never controllable.
The dinosaur world was shown separately in a promo screen rather than being accessible in the demo.
Key Elements
If this helps, the game's most distinctive combination of features is:
Red-haired teenage protagonist
Blonde cousin
Scientist uncle disappears in laboratory accident
Collect colored energy crystals
Unlock more of a futuristic laboratory
Real-time cabbage-growing minigame with weeds and bugs
Fully voiced Polish dub
Demo from a magazine CD
Dinosaur jungle world advertised in the full version