Calling all plant lovers! In Leafy Corner, you can run a darling plant shop. So grab a pot, open a bag of potting soil and dig in!
I Didn’t Expect to Love Leafy Corner This Much!
When I saw the Steam page for a playtest of Leafy Corner, I thought I might like it. After all, I do enjoy gardening and have a lot of house plants. So I thought I’d give it a try. Well, I loved this game!! It reminds me of the Sims in all the best ways!! I started the game with an empty shop and slowly built up my inventory and reputation. I was able to choose what plants I wanted to sell and how I wanted to present them. I could redecorate the walls and floor of my shop in a variety of colors. It was a lot of fun!
The Gameplay of Leafy Corner
Leafy Corner began with the tutorial, which showed me how to select from an assortment of gardening pots and leafy plants. I was also taught how to water the plants so they would be nice and healthy. As I was selecting the pots and planting the plants, customers were wandering into my shop to see what was happening! I found that really funny. I had not figured out yet how to purchase shelves, and some customers even bought the plants that I had laid out on the floor! Cracked me up!
Soon I found where to purchase shelves, and my shop was off and running! I began the game with only 3 plant options to choose from, but as the demo progressed, I was able to purchase the ability to sell different varieties. The full game will have more than 60 plant varieties to choose from. Neato! The full game will also offer an expansion of the shop into that grassy area next to it.
I was able to pause Leafy Corner so that I could restock my inventory and rearrange my shop. I could also do those chores while the customers were still in the shop. My customers are so patient, they just wait for me to help them! But I felt I got more done with the game paused. Time stopped when the game was paused, so I could work as slowly as I wanted, choosing just the right pot and just the right plant to offer my customers.
There was a help button in Leafy Corner which contained a wealth of information, including but not limited to watering instructions, plant attributes and plant growth stages. This game presents as a small game because it all takes place within a small shop, but there’s a ton of super useful information in it. All to help me succeed with my new plant shop! Thanks!
In addition to the help menu, Leafy Corner had a compendium with even more information about each specific plant, pot and furniture item. The icons under the plant picture told me how long it takes to grow, its water requirements (some plants need more water than others), its final size, and whether it’s pet safe.
The Look and Feel of Leafy Corner
It was lovely in my little shop! It had sweet, low-poly furnishings which really appealed to me. There was a super peaceful soundtrack to the game. The whole experience of Leafy Corner was calm and serene, in fact. Some people wandered in, not knowing exactly what they were looking for. When a customer needed my help, they displayed a question mark above their head. When I clicked on them, they stated the criteria they had for purchasing a plant. Perhaps they wanted something safe for their pet, or they wanted a plant that needed high humidity. Using the information in my compendium, I could recommend a plant to my customer. So far, they have usually liked my suggestions and purchased the plant.
A wide variety of individuals come in to visit, people of all sizes and shapes, just like the real world. Some of them purchased plants, some just looked around. When a customer found the perfect plant on my display shelves, a heart would appear in front of them. That brought me joy!! Then they’d bring their plant to the cash register, pay for it and take it home. Just like in a real store. Leafy Corner is quietly addictive. I found myself trying to come up with ways to improve my shop. Maybe move a shelf to the other wall? Use yellow pots instead of black? It was all up to me!
The Development of Leafy Corner
Leafy Corner is a project that evolved from a real-life love of plants, and it shows. The developers are an indie studio composed of a husband and wife team. I think that’s awesome! She does the art and marketing, and he does programming and other technical tasks. They make a great team; it’s a really polished game already.
The main purpose of a playtest is to make sure all the systems are understandable to players, as well as to find bugs that need to be fixed. Those things are fixed before the game is released. To be honest, I didn’t find much in the game that needed improvement; it’s really good already. I did have a few questions about some mechanics, so I reached out to the devs on Discord. I received helpful replies very quickly, and based on my comments and those of other playtesters, some improvements will be made to the tutorial. I’m always impressed with game devs who are very responsive to players. To me, it indicates that they are committed to developing an excellent game and want to make sure the players have the best possible experience with it. So Bravo to Fireline Games, the devs for Leafy Corner.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed playing Leafy Corner. If you love the Sims and gardening, then this game is a slam dunk for you! I thought it was a lot of fun running my own shop without any of the actual real-life financial pressures involved. My customers in the game were fun to interact with, and the plants were interesting to learn about.
The full game is scheduled to be released in the fall of 2026, and a demo will be released before then. Yvonne had previously written a brief article about it in an issue of the Wholesome Gaming Roundup. I encourage you to try the demo and read our other article about Leafy Corner. It’s really a lovely game.
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