Garden Life is exactly what it advertises itself to be; a cozy simulator. The title has a story to set players on the journey to become a professional botanist, and a wide variety of customization options and plants allowing players to curate their ideal garden. While gameplay can be a bit repetitive it didn’t deter my creativity from growing throughout my garden.
Didn’t Miss A Beet.
There are two different ways gamers can begin playing – Sandbox Mode and Story Mode. Sandbox allows for easy access to creative freedom but the story provides exposition and serves as a guide. In the story, players are thrown into the landscape taking care of the previous caretakers garden as they have passed away. To help their spirt complete their “unfinished business”, its now the player’s job to restore the garden and fill it with new life and flair. In the early stages new faces will be met which in turn unlocks different shops and challenges.
Gameplay its straight and to the point. Requests from individuals for certain plant clippings and flowers fill player’s inboxes. Purchase them from the shop, watch them grow and fulfil the requests to progress the story and for profit. While the formula can be considered simple and mundane after hours of playtime, its the different features and mechanics that allow Garden Life to blossom. Different breeds of flowers can be grown simply by playing the game, and different gardening equipment can be purchased to have a much more efficient garden. The one downside to having access to a wide selection of plants and flowers is the base garden does have a rather small limit to how many seeds can be planted. With the game’s whole premise being based solely on gardening it was a bit disappointing to encounter. Especially when old plants had to be dug up to make space. Even while plants are growing there’s still work to be done, whether its decorating the garden with pathways, furniture or other garden based decoration.
Find Your Zen And Inner Peas
The atmosphere along with Garden Life’s art style really is the secret ingredient to the title’s coziness. Seeing your dream garden filled with plants and furniture while getting lost in the cell-shaded style gives off a vivid and unique flair. This can be seen much more easier within the Sandbox mode of the game where gamers don’t have to grind for items.
Conclusion
Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator provides a calming experience for garden enthusiasts. Thanks to Stillalive Studios and Nacon, aspiring gardeners now have a new comfort game to enjoy. While performing tasks can be rather tedious there’s much more that the game can offer both visually and creatively.
This game was reviewed based on Xbox One review code, using an Xbox Series S|X console. All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version. Game provided by publisher.
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