Farming sims are sprouting everywhere these days, so you might be forgiven for mistaking The Garden Path as “yet another one.”
It first caught my eye with a beautifully hand-illustrated world. The Garden Path‘s picture-book art style sets it apart from the usual 3D or pixel approach to farming sims. But perhaps it is less of a traditional farming sim than a “slice-of-life” gardening sim. For comparison, it’s much closer to Animal Crossing than Harvest Moon.
Check out the trailer here:
A Wholesome Gardening Sim
Rather than build a cash-crop empire, you’re taking a breather from the bustle of productivity here. You’re having a quiet cup of tea by the windowsill. The Garden Path is a space for you to sit and watch the birds quietly, or stroll through nature’s beauty. It’s like hiking in a national park, only you’re also sowing carrot seeds by your tent.
What do you do in the game, exactly? Befriend and trade with neighbours, a unique cast of animal and vegetable creatures. Plant, fish, decorate your home, cultivate a wild garden. Or stargaze.
There’s a resemblance to Animal Crossing, one of the game’s inspirations, but this is far from a clone or copycat. It’s a more meditative experience. It’s also looking less materialistic than Tom Nook’s pursuit for more. The Garden Path looks like the kind of game you can dip into occasionally, instead of play intensively to see results.
Like in Animal Crossing, game time passes as real-time passes. But each season only lasts 7 real-time days. This means you’ll enjoy the change of seasons much sooner, along with new scenery, events, flora and fauna.
The demo offers a very brief look into the game’s early build, lasting only one day of game time.
Demo Impressions
Illustrator and solo developer Louis Durrant has nailed what he set out to do with The Garden Path‘s atmosphere. It’s calm and charming.
Before, I couldn’t relate when someone said, “After a tiring day of work, I turn on the game and just enjoy flying/walking/riding around, relaxing in the scenery.” That sounded boring, not having a quest or mission to focus on. But it makes sense now. Durrant’s garden (or park, judging by its size) is one that invites you simply to a carefree jaunt, and that is rewarding enough.
The characters are winsome too. I’ve met three so far: Augustus the scout cub; Old Thom who carries seeds and pots on his back; and a mysterious ox, huddled over a fishing pond… Speaking of fishing, it’s a pretty stress-free mechanic, unlike in some sim titles you may know.
Now, it was Thom who started me off on gardening. He gifted me with a garden trowel, my very own—a quiet but thrilling moment. “That’s what Mary must have felt,” I thought, transported to a chapter in The Secret Garden where Dickon gives Mary a set of gardening tools and seeds and says he’ll help with “wakenin’ up a garden”.
Content-wise, I think the game will satisfy expectations, but there are technical and UI/UX issues to iron out.
The biggest issue for me was speed. In particular, my character moved around at a sluggish pace, whether walking or running. While I do want a meditative experience, I also want to get around quickly sometimes. The ease of navigating menus (mainly while trading) could be improved a bit too. But I like that you can use a controller, which feels a lot easier than the keyboard.
Lastly, I’m a little concerned about nighttime visibility. Initially, I had trouble targeting/selecting objects on-screen. This happened partly because my keyboard controls didn’t match the game’s instructions and partly because it’s unclear, at first, what objects can be interacted with and aren’t simply background. This might be exacerbated at night when lighting is already so dim. Adding mouse control could help.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing The Garden Path grow and eventually polish its rough edges.
Still Kickstarting
Though it’s too early to say if this garden will bloom as hoped, I thought it was a project worth backing.
Bristol-based developer Louis Durrant is still fundraising for The Garden Path on Kickstarter, as of this writing. The downloadable PC demo is available until the Kickstarter deadline of August 20, 2021.
The Garden Path will be released on Steam and Itch.io. Other platforms will be considered if funding is sufficient. Kickstarter backers will receive a copy of the game around October 2021, with a public release at a later date. Do give it a look! The game’s lovely Discord community is also worth checking out.