A seed planter for world seeds, full of untapped potential!
Aerial view of a Nature World at its first expansion
A World, in Grow: Song of the Evertree, is an environment created when the Apprentice plants a World Seed in a Seed Planter among the branches of the Evertree. Each World (except Worlds resulting from planting a Strange Seed) is unique due to its many features being dynamically-spawned based on the Essences used to create its Seed. Virtually every aspect of a World is determined randomly, even its name being a result of a place term such as " Haven" or "Realm of the " having been combined with a descriptive term such as "Cheerful" or "Luminous" or "Tasty" — the descriptive terms being selected based on an Essence in the World Seed recipe used to create that World.
Newly-planted Worlds are relatively small, consisting of a single Disc from which a Ramp typically leads to the planted World Seed. The planter dais on which the planted World Seed rests may be flush to this initial Disc, raised above it, or on a mini-Disc connected to the initial Disc. Each World will contain a variety of Terrain Features, Points of Interest, and Flora and Fauna, the appearance of which will also be based on the Essences used to create that World's Seed. Different Essences are associated with the six different Biomes in the game: Desert, Frozen, Fungi, Gross. Nature, and Princess; and both the shapes of a World's Terrain Features and attractions, plants and creatures, and the color palette used to tint those landscape elements and living things, are based on a Biome its World Seed recipe called forth — although the shapes of animate and inanimate elements of each World can be drawn from one Biome while the colors can be drawn from another. It is also possible for the shapes of Flora and Fauna to combine features of multiple Biomes.
Example of a Desert-Biome World
Example of a Frozen-Biome World
Example of a Fungi-Biome World
Example of a Gross-Biome World
Example of a Nature-Biome World
Example of a Princess-Biome World
Example of a hybrid World (Desert & Frozen)
Example of a hybrid World (Gross & Princess)
Tending a World
Blue groundcover Grass beginning to hide the green Ground on a Gross World with red Bedrock
Once planted, the new World needs to be tended by the Apprentice using their Alchemist's Tools and the Song of Myora. Initially this consists simply of clearing traces of The Withering (in the form of stone and/or wood detritus, Weeds, and Withering grass) and nurturing the World's Flora (in the form of Flowers, Shrubs and Trees). Doing so will cause groundcover Grass to grow automatically around the Flowers, Shrubs, and Trees once each one has been fully-tended and is full-grown. (The tall, scythable clump type of Grass which yields Fodder will spawn in some of the locations where the Apprentice cut down Withering grass.) Flowers require one day of tending to be fully grown, while Shrubs take two days and Trees three. More Flowers and Shrubs will spawn on the second and third days of tending a new World, but more Trees will not — until the World's first expansion.
Critters will often differ only by leg shape or the presence of horns, yet be distinct species.
Expansion is a mechanism by which a World which has been tended for some time develops a new Disc or Discs overnight. The new areas will have more traces of The Withering to be cleared and more plants to be nurtured, but Critters will also begin to appear on the World at this point; some may appear on the initial cared-for Disc and be ready for the Apprentice to begin taming, but any on the new Discs will be afflicted by The Withering and the Apprentice will need to cleanse its traces away over multiple days. Insects will also appear and be afflicted by The Withering, which can be removed from them by using the Apprentice's Mallet to stun the manifestation of The Withering encasing it so that the Insect can escape. Fish will appear as well, but seem unaffected by The Withering, and the Apprentice can use their Fishing Rod to begin catching Fish immediately if they have time to spare.
A Princess World's initial Disc and Seed Planter
A Princess World's first expansion; two Hammerhead Towers flank the new Discs
A Princess World's second expansion; a third Hammerhead Tower appears at lower right
Blooming a World
Myora Tree surmounting its World Seed
After the Apprentice has tended the World for at least six days, a second and final expansion will occur, following the same pattern as the first. When the Apprentice completes all tending tasks on a given World, Book will inform them that the World Seed is ready to bloom, and the Apprentice must return to the Seed on its dais on or near the first Disc in order to Sing to its World Seed. Doing so causes an ethereal, glowing turquoise Myora Tree to appear above the World Seed, its leaves and branches distinct but its trunk composed of shifting, aurora-like curtains of light reminiscent of the heart of the Evertree.
Worlds may be left in an all-but-complete yet un-bloomed state indefinitely; however, some Critters may not spawn on a World until the morning after its Seed is Sung to, potentially confounding completionist Apprentices. A fully-bloomed World can, at the Apprentice's discretion, be set free into the Cosmos to make way for a new World Seed to be placed in its Seed Planter. (Since the Care and Prosperity Update in January 2022, PC, PlayStation, and Xbox users have been able to release Worlds without first blooming them; this change is expected to come to Switch soon.)
Notes
Lykora passing by a WorldThe Apprentice may first become aware of Lykora, a vast, whale-like creature which circles through the sky around the Evertree, when they begin tending Worlds. Lykora can often be heard, vocalizing a wordless, soughing song, from Worlds in the Evertree's branches, and can often be spotted there as well. Lykora makes low passes over Alaria, also, so can sometimes be seen from ground level.
Particularly on larger Worlds, more overgrown Worlds, and Worlds on which the second expansion spawned off the farthest part of the first, it may be easier for the Apprentice to call their mount and get dropped off at the Seed Planter than to travel back there on foot once the World Seed is ready to bloom.
Weather on Worlds is partially determined by Biome — dust storms on Desert Worlds and snow on Frozen ones, for example; while weather events can occur on each World, that weather may not correspond with what is happening in Alaria or on any other World.
