Game: Garden Buddies
Genre: Simulation, Indie, Casual
System: Steam (Windows) (Also available on Nintendo Switch)
Developer | Publisher: JamPics | RedDeer.Games
Controller Support: No
Price: US $14.99 | UK €12.79 | EU £ 14,79
Release Date: October 20th, 2023
Review code used with many thanks to RedDeer.Games.
These days, there’s so much more awareness and resources for mental health than ever before. It’s so good to see even video games developing tools for mindfully fighting stress. Garden Buddies exists to help its players relax. Let’s explore how it might make you feel.
Basic Roots of Garden Buddies
Garden Buddies’ overall story premise is simple. You meet with a small apple character, whom you team up with to create a pleasant space where friends can have dance parties. He’s really into this idea of dancing as the ultimate fun bonding experience. He starts picking flowers, which are your currency, to purchase assorted decorations and structures. Customizing your landscape is the supposed bread and butter of Garden Buddies, but in Story Mode, you’re often taking a break from that to help out a new character.
Mini-Games
As you meet an interesting assortment of friends, you help them with their problems. Each character brings a mini-game for you to enjoy. They’re very cute and very simple, simple diversions, no challenge involved. You can even skip your current level at any time.
I had to take advantage of that feature a few times simply because my laptop couldn’t run the game smoothly. That wasn’t very soothing to discover! I don’t think it should be a problem for most machines, but I don’t have a problem with most games, and I did with this one, and that’s a point worth mentioning.
Besides the very short story mode, the main menu allows you to enjoy the garden management portion or any of the mini-games on their own. It’s great to be able to spend your time exactly how you want, and that is where the main value is for Garden Buddies. It is best enjoyed in short sessions. Honestly, the whole thing feels more like an app for your phone than something you’d expect on a console or PC. This is not inherently a bad thing, but I ended up actually wishing it was on my phone.
Pick of the Bunch
There’s a good diversity of activities. It could be fun to build a little habit of spending time customizing your garden each day, playing a few rounds of the memory game, or forgetting your problems stacking some pebbles. It’s nice to see easy versions of all of these in one place. If you have a little one who gets easily frustrated with most games, Garden Buddies might give you a way to introduce some fun without the aggravation.
Sweet Friendship
The best thing about Garden Buddies is the characters. They’re absolutely adorable! With silly things to say and evident heartfelt backstories, I was excited with each new face that appeared. It’s all very wholesome and visually appealing as well. This is the kind of game that makes me imagine a variety of merchandise, like darling plushies of the characters!
Conclusion for Garden Buddies
Though the format of Garden Buddies feels far more suited to a mobile app than a game for PC, that makes it stand out on Steam, and Nintendo Switch doesn’t have many tiny games marketed purely as mindfulness aids. I respect it for giving us a solid option. If your child does get a phone or tablet, this is easy to recommend to have as something calm and brief. I appreciate that Garden Buddies has some direct instructions for fighting stress, as well as a variety of games to choose from to release that tension.
Final Verdict: I Like it
Garden Buddies is here on Steam, and can be found in the Nintendo eShop as well.