The Garden Path Review – Meditative Gardening For Peaceful Gaming

Few games capture the peace and joy of being in nature the way The Garden Path does. This tranquil game is the perfect wind-down after a long day and encourages players to appreciate the little things – even when life is hard.

The Garden Path takes players to their own secret garden. Running on real-time gameplay, gardeners can log in for an hour a day to tend their crops, learn about the ecosystem, and encounter quirky characters drawn to the activity in the garden.

Key Details

• Publisher: Mooncat Games
• Developer: Carrotcake
• Platforms: Nintendo Switch/PC via Steam
• Price: $19.99
• Review Copy Provided: Yes

Exploring the Wilds One Day at a Time

The gameplay loop in The Garden Path consists of planting and caring for seeds, interacting with the inhabitants and visitors of the garden, and learning about the plants that have sprouted throughout the area.

After setting up camp and starting a garden, players will log on daily to see who is visiting, complete quests from visitors and those who have permanently moved in, and grind foraged items for bartering.

Time spent in The Garden Path is quiet and peaceful. The painted backgrounds and soft lighting make this game a drowsy, thoughtful experience. Nothing is urgent, nothing is stressful, it’s a snapshot of nature’s beauty in digital form.

The Garden Path Makes You Think About Life

I took my time with this game in a way that I normally don’t when it comes to reviews. After three days of wandering the garden, I knew I wanted to absorb the moral of The Garden Path before writing about it. I am so glad I did this.

The Garden Path isn’t a game you can blast into and instantly wrap your head around. Its secrets are hidden in the slow, steady progression of daily gameplay. Every element of the story feels designed to make you contemplate the “why” behind life.

Using flowers and herbs, you can brew a cup of tea that will encourage your character to be thoughtful about something. Interactions with NPCs lead to conversations about the difficulties of living, or battling anxiety. Additionally, earning achievements takes players to the stars, where their progress is dog-eared by philosophical commentary that glitters permanently in the sky as constellations.

As I continued to build my space in this strange, painted world, I found myself thinking repeatedly that The Garden Path is beautiful. The art style, music, and gameplay are beautiful in a soul-deep way that so few games manage to capture. It’s a playable work of art – a video game built on actual poetry. Every time I pick it up, I am in awe of the craftsmanship and complexity of each element.

The Garden Path is Not For Everyone

While I am completely smitten with The Garden Path, this game won’t be for everyone. Fans of Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, or Story of Seasons won’t find a farm management sim in this title. Those who prefer fast-paced gameplay with the routine of simulation games will likely find themselves frustrated with the meandering pace.

Additionally, systems in The Garden Path are complex, and not well-explained via tutorial. It can take a while to learn how to find and use the tools, and even longer to understand the planting and decorating mechanics that make up the core elements of gameplay.

However, to me, the lack of tutorial was intentional. The Garden Path challenges players to explore and learn using their own curiosity – but it will be a hurdle for players used to more straightforward mechanics in cozy games.

Final Score: 8/10

The Garden Path is the manifestation of written poetry reimagined as gameplay. Fans of classic literature, meditative video games, and self-led adventures will fall in love with this title. It is a peaceful wonderland of reflective opportunities.

While The Garden Path won’t be for everyone thanks to complex systems and minimal tutorials, it is absolutely worth picking up and exploring. It is a game that exists outside of tropes and challenges the critical thinking skills of players while shedding light on the joy of the little things in life.

**A Nintendo Switch code was provided to Bonus Action for the purpose of this review.**

About the Author

Laura Gray

Administrator

Laura Gray, known as Ezra when not putting pen to paper, is a D&D enthusiast with a love of all things written. They are a collector of fantasy and sci-fi novels, a lover of cooking weird food, and a player of farming sims and Pokémon games. When not engrossed in a re-read of Anne McCaffrey or a deep dive into the Adventure Zone: Balance, they can be found sniffing the cats and napping in half-finished crochet projects.

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