Experiment with equipment: Utilize a variety of items to help gather resources, grow gardens, stave off Rot, solve puzzles, and indulge in the occasional musical interlude!

About This Game A chill game set in a cozy villageTraverse the four seasons in this wholesome world inhabited by quirky fruits and vegetables! As the newest guardian of the Grove, it is your duty to rebuild the village and uncover the story of its hidden past.No, they weren’t,” Grandma agreed. We decided they were Budgie’s violets. Already her little body, although it would never fly again, was helping to nourish the soil and grow new flowers. We both smiled. Explore a lush, living world: Immerse yourself in The Grove’s vibrant, organic ecosystem with four distinct (and adorable!) regions to enjoy. One day the next Spring, I arrived at Grandma’s and found her pacing off the rows for her new year’s vegetable garden. I settled down on the grass to watch—and saw a small patch of violets blooming right in front of Budgie’s pile of stones. It felt all wrong to me. This was the way it had to be, Grandma told me. Budgie would live now in our memories of her. I fashioned a pile of small stones under the pussy willow to mark Budgie’s resting place, feeling very unsettled. If Budgie lived only in my memory, then she could cease to be altogether—I forgot a lot of things! Sometimes I forgot to close the latch on my rabbit’s cage and had to chase her around the yard. Sometimes I forgot that I was supposed to brush my teeth before I went to bed. Sometimes I couldn’t even remember my parents’ phone number, despite the fact that my mother rehearsed it with me on a routine basis. My memory challenges did not bode well for Budgie’s chances of immortality. We’re delighted to see how well-received this piece was — we’ve a true soft-spot for these most delicately pretty of trees.

It is all rather nice. It’s the abiding, non-committal word that keeps buzzing in our head as we play Garden Story. Nice. It doesn’t stray into the negative aspects of the word by becoming twee, and we can feel the day’s worries wash off us as we play. I mentioned a twist earlier, and here it is: Garden Story gives the player the opportunity to live in - not just pass through - the four main villages. Temporary homes await Concord in each. You can rush through the story, but you can also get comfy. Lay your grape hat in your grape home, and start pitching in. Protecting, restoring, and helping the residents flourish. Even static screenshots of Garden Story practically bloom out of the screen, so it’s no surprise that the presentation is a treat throughout. Unique animations nestle hidden in surprising places. My favourite was the deadly serious face Concord makes while impaling rot slimes with a parasol, as if performing some terrible ritual execution. Concord’s stair-walking animation is life affirming. When I first saw it, I squeed loudly, nodded in stoic appreciation, then repeated it for six actual minutes. Take it slow, says Garden Story. Yes, peril approaches, but fences need fixing just as monsters need slaying. The four towns have seen better days. They’re in various states of ruin, and often share animosity with each other. There’s a civic feel to Garden Story, as you learn the benefits of helping each other and working together to a common goal. It’s a warm, cuddly message that does work, but it replaces any high-concept stories, plots or even particularly interesting characters (only a frog, Rana, really registered with us). While there is an easy-going comfort to interactions in Garden Story, they don’t really capture the heart or mind.Yesterday I was driving through an unfamiliar neighborhood, searching for a garage sale I’d read about, and my eyes spotted a small wooden cross, painted white, beneath a tree. I realized that someone’s beloved pet must be buried at that spot—and almost immediately remembered the day my grandmother buried her dead budgerigar, rolled up in a handkerchief, beneath the pussy willow in her garden.