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Scheduled to release sometime this year, The Garden Path is an upcoming hand-drawn life simulator where the player cultivates their own garden in real time while exploring the wilderness, uncovering secrets, and meeting unique characters. This game is only one of the many interesting gardening sims that are currently being developed, which include titles like the idle game Garden Galaxy, the Stardew Valley-like Garden Witch Life, and the sandbox experience Garden In!.
Gardening sims are games that primarily focus on growing and maintaining a garden. Despite being a niche genre, many gardening sims, such as Strange Horticulture, provide worthwhile experiences that all players should experience.
Soil and Rubble (2015)
Before Daniel Mullins would develop the meta-horror games Pony Island and Inscryption, he created a short free gardening sim titled Soil and Rubble for The Indie Game Making Contest 2015. After a nuclear bomb is dropped on a city, the unnamed protagonist and a bag of plum seeds have miraculously survived the blast.
To survive in this new radioactive wasteland, the player must plant and water the plum seeds so that they’ll grow into plum plants, which the player can then eat. At random moments, however, the radiation can mutate the plums, and the player will have to utilize the positive mutations and avoid the negative mutations so that the protagonist doesn’t starve or die from radiation poisoning.
A Hero and a Garden (2022)
Created by indie developer npckc, who also developed the deceptively cute horror game A Pet Shop After Dark, A Hero and a Garden is a 2022 LGBTQ+ visual novel clicker game about a hero who is forced to tend to a garden. When the hero, named Cyrus, tries to rescue a princess with a beautiful singing voice from a supposedly evil witch, the witch defeats Cyrus, and he also discovers that the princess chose to live in the monster village.
To pay back his debt for all the damage he caused to the local monsters and their town, Cyrus has to manage a berry garden. As he completes requests by turning in various types and amounts of berries, the player unlocks new parts of the story. Over time, he befriends a couple of locals and grows into a better person.
Astra’s Garden (2022)
Developed by NomnomNami, who also made the trope subverting RPG Maker game KAIMA, Astra’s Garden is a 2022 visual novel clicker game about a witch named Astragalus or “Astra” who has just opened an apothecary. Using her plant-focused magic abilities and her medical education, Astra raises various plants in order to make different medications to sell to customers.
As Astra manages this plant-based pharmacy, she encounters several characters, which includes her older brother, Cassava, a depressed customer named Periwinkle, and a chronically ill customer named Vinegar. Through their stories, Astra struggles through the loss of a loved one, gains a new friend, and learns how to truly help people.
The Tale of the Greenhouse (2021)
Winner of the 2021 Swedish Game Awards and created as a student project, The Tale of the Greenhouse is a gorgeous management sim where the protagonist’s sister is dying from an illness. When a legendary knife that can cure all diseases mysteriously appears in their late parent’s greenhouse, the protagonist immediately begins working on infusing the knife with enough mana that it can save her.
To do this, the player will need to plant magical Sandrap flowers, which catch large amounts of mana from the air, in the greenhouse. By planting Unella plants, which are used for an expensive tea, the player must gather enough money to develop their greenhouse and accomplish their goal. Besides taking care of plants, the player can also pet the protagonist’s cat.
A Good Gardener (2015)
Released in 2015, A Good Gardener is a gardening sim where the nation is in the middle of a war and the player is a mute deserter who is forced to take care of a small garden. Imprisoned within the ruins of a bombed house and managed by a military supervisor, the player raises these plants as part of the country’s war effort.
Though the player may initially assume that the plants would be used for food, clothes, medicine, or other related items, these plants actually grow into weapons such as bombs, maces, and spears. As the supervisor reveals more news about the war and the bloodshed inches closer and closer to the protagonist’s doorstep, the player is reminded that even the seemingly peaceful act of gardening can’t escape the corruption of war.
Plant Tycoon (2007)
Released in 2007, Plant Tycoon is a real-time biological sim where the player travels to the island of Isola to crossbreed plants until they uncover the six magic plants. After planting seeds in the greenhouse, the player must water those plants and, if they don’t have growth hormones, they have to wait for them to grow in real-time, which they will do even when the game is closed. Also, the plants must be trimmed and checked for infestations.
These plants can be sold in the nursery, and the money can be used for both gardening supplies and decorative items that can spice up the virtual garden. With over 500 plants to discover, an interesting cross-pollination system, and an optional bug-collecting side game, this classic will keep players returning each day to see their garden grow.
Garden Simulator (2022)
Likely inspired by popular simulation franchises such as the Farming Simulator series, Garden Simulator is a management game that has just released on Sept. 8 of this year. During the past half-year, the in-game protagonist has been working from home, which is in the big city. To take a break from this stifling lifestyle, the protagonist moves into the abandoned family estate in the woods, which was owned by their late great-aunt Ellie.
Seeing the garden’s abysmal state, the protagonist decides to clean up the trash, mow the lawn, and create their own garden. As the player plants seeds, tends to the plants, harvests produce, and pets their orange cat, they will slowly be able to expand and decorate the garden.
Cloud Gardens (2021)
One of the most unique and visually satisfying gardening sims is the 2021 sandbox puzzle game Cloud Gardens. During each level, the player encounters a small abandoned island within the mist-filled abyss that contains decaying man-made objects such as cars, street signs, and crumbled concrete.
To progress to the next level, the player must plant various types of seeds until enough of the rusted and forgotten landscape is reclaimed by nature, which sometimes means also adding in more man-made objects for the plants to spread to. Outside the main levels, the game has a creative mode where players can design their own little islands.
Strange Horticulture (2022)
Released in 2022, Strange Horticulture is a relaxing detective game where the player runs a plant shop called “Strange Horticulture” within the fictional Victorian-era British town of Undermere. Despite running a store, the player doesn’t have to worry about managing profits. Instead, the gameplay centers around finding and delivering the correct plants to various customers.
Along with petting Hellebore, the shop’s black cat, the player must use the clues within the shop’s book to properly identify the plants in the shop, and they can also use the map to travel outside the shop to find new plants. With an intriguing story and eight different endings, this game provides a perfect experience for both green-thumbs and mystery-lovers.
Viva Piñata (2006)
Developed by Rare, who is best known for beloved titles like Donkey Kong Country, Golden Eye 007, and Sea of Thieves, Viva Piñata is a 2006 life simulation game where players create their own virtual garden. After receiving an abandoned plot of land on Piñata Island, the player must clear the debris, plant seeds, create ponds, and construct buildings.
Besides having a beautiful garden, the garden’s attributes will also attract wild piñatas, who can become residents if certain requirements are met. Then, players will need to defend these animals from predators, and the animals can perform a “romance” dance to create more piñatas.
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