Tiny Garden Review

Game: Tiny Garden
Genre: Farming Sim, Puzzle, Casual
System: Steam (Windows)
Developer|Publisher: AO Norte| Super Rare Originals
Controller Support: No
Steam Deck: Playable
Price: US $ 12.99 | UK £ 11.99 | EU € 12,99
Release Date: April 8th, 2025

A review code was provided, and many thanks to Dead Good Media.

Just why are miniatures so adorable? Like the little kitchen with appliances in a doll’s house. The grocery items in the set that your child plays ‘shop’ with. I don’t care particularly for the can of soup that I buy at my grocery store, but in miniature, it looks so cute! Add them to a little pocket bauble, and it’s something to keep forever. My daughter had Polly Pocket miniatures that have survived many attempts to clear out the storage. I tell myself I’m saving them for future grandchildren, but in reality, I can’t push myself to throw them out.

A full view of the orange-shaped house in Tiny Garden, showcasing both the furnished interior floors and the thriving garden at the bottom. The “Colors” menu is open, with a hand cursor pointing at a swatch. Published on: LadiesGamers — A toy bauble with an actual crank!

Combine such a miniature with my love for gardening games (all the fun without actually having to kneel on knees that don’t want to cooperate anymore), and you’ll see why Tiny Garden caught my attention. It lets you grow a pocket-sized garden inside a magical toy with a real crank!

Gardening in a Bauble

As is usual in a farming sim, you start out with simpler crops, like carrots and turnips, and your toy holds a few squares of turf to sow them in. Turning the crank makes the crops grow and ready for harvest. It looks magical, and the vegetables that you harvest are the currency to buy other seeds that you unlock.

A colorful garden area in Tiny Garden with tiled soil and planted vegetables, including carrots and sunflowers. Two water fountains spray streams onto the crops. A gnome character stands nearby, and a task board with an exclamation mark is on the right. Published on: LadiesGamers — My little garden, made to unlock new things.

The basic crops need soil that’s not too rich and not too dry, and after sowing a cactus that you buy with turnips, you will see that the soil turns into a very dry, arid patch, which is good for some crops but not so good for others. But by sowing hydrangea in Tiny Garden, the soil turns to lush green tiles, which welcomes other bush-like plants, like raspberries. You get the idea. Not all of those options are unlocked from the first; you start with just standard vegetables, upgrade to other kinds of plants, and eventually unlock more squares of soil.

A congratulatory screen in Tiny Garden for unlocking the Garden Collection. It shows new decoration options like furniture and wall art, along with new customization elements for stars, paint, and clouds. Published on: LadiesGamers — Unlocking a new collection of seeds.

You’ll also unlock ways to influence the soil, like a seedbox poster that gives out free seeds. Or fountains and a gnome who can turn soil into leafy ground, which in turn, you guessed it, welcomes certain plants.

Decorating the Top Half

Soon, you’ll find that there’s more to Tiny Garden than just the satisfaction of seeing things grow this way. There’s the top half of the toy to consider as well. When the upper part of it opens up, you get space to place furniture and decorations ( that you buy with your produce). You can also buy stickers this way to adorn the outside of the toy, new colours to make the little globe just how you want it and new colour variations for the background.

A cozy interior scene from Tiny Garden, showing two levels of a circular orange house. The top floor features a cactus on a round table, a lamp, desk, chair, and small chest. The lower level has a desk, potted plants atop barrels, and a framed nature picture on the wall. The decorations menu is open on the right. Published on: LadiesGamers — Miniature furniture, looking so cute!

The furniture miniatures are so small and cute, and they even incorporated that you can put wall decorations up, and can actually put something on the little tables.

And this isn’t just a toy; it’s a keepsake with a history. Letters unlock when you meet certain goals. Personal letters telling you the story of the people who owned this toy, making you want to unlock more of them to read what exactly is going on.

A heartfelt letter in Tiny Garden, displayed with an envelope and a “New clue!” card featuring two blue gemstones. The letter speaks of furnishing a little house and staying in touch during travels. A backpack at the bottom shows collected items: a turnip, carrot, and cactus. Published on: LadiesGamers — You unlock heartfelt letters, too.

Casual Gardening or Strategic Planning?

I guess there are two ways to play Tiny Garden: You can go into it and try to make the most beautiful garden with the items that unlock for you. This will give you many hours of laid-back gardening fun.

You can approach this game by planting your garden strategically, trying to unlock the next plant and find the new combination that adds new kinds of goals. I am firmly in the last category and truly love it.

The “Terrains” menu in Tiny Garden, displaying different soil types like Default, Arid, Bush, and Water, each with playful icons. A sidebar shows a list of collected plants and vegetables. A hand icon points to the bush terrain. Published on: LadiesGamers — The different sorts of soil to unlock in Tiny Garden.

It can be a bit hard to know what to do at first, as Tiny Garden doesn’t hold your hand. Eventually, you will find out about the graphic images that belong to certain kinds of soil. The tips that are given are helpful, like pointing to the needed combination to unlock a certain crop. The game even has a statistics page showing you which percentage you’ve already unlocked.

Steam Deck, Music and Graphics

The background music is not intrusive, it’s just there to accompany your relaxing gameplay. Tiny Garden looks good, everything is drawn in a cartoonish style, colourful and detailed. Call me silly, but I liked actually turning the crank.

The outside of the orange-shaped home in Tiny Garden, floating in a dreamy sky. Stickers of two characters are placed on the surface, and the "Atmospheres" customization menu is open on the right. Published on: LadiesGamers — You can even decorate the outside of the toy.

I played the game on my Steam Deck, and though it wasn’t perfect, I had no trouble playing Tiny Garden in handheld mode once I understood the button combinations.

Conclusion for Tiny Garden

Tiny Garden ticks all the boxes for me. Gardening in miniature surroundings, approaching it like a casual game with strategic planning to unlock all plant seeds, types of soil and decoration options. It’s very cute, the decorations are just like in a doll’s house, and the added letters tell a good story.

Though I like my Steam Deck, I’m always more at home with my Nintendo Switch for handheld gaming. So when I review a game on Steam Deck, I ask myself: would I double-dip if it were released on the Switch? The answer here is a firm yes, so for me, Tiny Garden gets our highest rating.

Final Verdict: Two Thumbs Up