Recently I’ve been playing “Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator”. Not for review purposes. Not for guides. Actually, it’s not for work at all. However, I am now aware of the irony that I am writing this piece for work. I can’t remember the last game I played because I felt like it. There’s no other game in particular that’s as laid-back as this one. There are no high-stakes gambles with Garden Life. I’m not saving the world, defeating incredibly difficult boss monsters, or toiling for hours to get the best equipment. I just walk around the garden and enjoy the peace.
At Garden Life, you take on the responsibility of caring for your local community garden. The last gardener has sadly passed away and it is in a sorry state, but by removing weeds and stones, tidying up and restoring the new You can breathe life into it.
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You’ll spend your days planting, pruning, weeding, and tending your garden, unlocking new seeds (and seed variations) as you progress, and eventually allowing you to cultivate new areas of your garden. To get a little cozy atmosphere, you can decorate your garden with a variety of things, from benches to garden gnomes. There are also requests that can be completed for local villagers, such as delivering flowers or bouquets, or having to build new furniture for the community grounds. There’s also a to-do list left by the last gardener to give you a sense of purpose.
You can unlock new features such as stalls selling homemade products in your local town, and it’s easy to lose track of time coming up with new color variations for your plants. There’s quite a lot to do every day, but it never feels like a chore. There is no real penalty for not participating in the A-grade gardener game. Things can easily wait until tomorrow, or until the day you want to push through. Take your time, plant the seeds, and go pet your cat if you need to.
This is a great game to pick up and play, whether you have a little limited time or want to play all night. I’ve grown quite fond of watching plants grow and pruning them back with Garden Life’s unique procedural generation (get it?). The perfect little garden. I’ve never gardened in real life. Too much mud and bugs for my taste. However, it can handle digital mud and bugs just fine. Garden Life gave me a relaxing break from the usual drama-filled, high-maintenance games.
Playing Garden Life reminded me that I need to pause periodically during the downpour of triple-A game launches, wildly viral indie games, and blockbuster games that everyone is talking about. Ta. It’s important to take a step back and make time for games that you can play and enjoy without any constraints or expectations. I think we need to make more time to enjoy relaxing games like this. The gaming equivalent of easy listening, it’s laid back and fun, and acts as a palette cleanser between big games when you need it most.
So while there are a lot of big, great games that have just been released or are about to be released, treat yourself to a break from the usual and check out something unexpected. Even if relaxing sim games aren’t your thing, try something new that you wouldn’t normally do. It’s easy to get caught up in the popular game launches that come out every month, but it’s even easier to overlook some of the great smaller games that get drowned out by the wave of big launches.
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