Garden Buddies

finished the whole story mode which is essentially the whole game in 39 minutes. not worth the pick up if you're a cozy gamer but if you're an achievement hunter then go for it during a deep sale because these 8 achievements are easily obtained as they are story progression ones. but there is barely any gameplay to be applauded and the storyline feels like it was written for 5 year olds. what is shown on the store page, those barebones you see are EXACTLY JUST THAT. there is nothing more to it along with an odd idle mechanism to progress the game and some mini-games such as memorizing dance sequences, catching bugs, cleaning, rhythm, and stacking stones which is supposedly the selling point. though after finishing the story mode, there is nothing more for you to do in the other mode as decorating the garden serves no purpose and no reward is granted. works on steam deck but the zooming in and out is horrible plus it randomly follows a character which makes your whole screen go berserk. should've been a free or $1 game because honestly the full price is NOT JUSTIFIED.

I knew exactly what Garden Buddies was aiming to be before I bought it. After watching the trailer, looking through the screenshots and reading the store page, it was clear this wasn't trying to be a deep gardening simulator or a lengthy adventure. Instead, it's a cosy, wholesome experience designed for young children to enjoy alongside a parent, and I think it succeeds wonderfully at exactly that. The cast of characters is genuinely adorable. Whether it's Mutsy the young apple, Betty the bat, the wonderfully unusual married rock and ladybird, or the delightfully righteous acorn, every character has its own charm and personality. The game constantly encourages positive messages about kindness, helping others, staying calm, looking after yourself, drinking enough water and simply enjoying the little things. They're lovely themes that I'd happily see more games introducing to younger audiences. Across five short days you'll solve simple puzzles, meet new friends and gradually decorate your own little garden. There's also a sandbox mode if you simply want to build and decorate at your own pace. The decoration options aren't hugely extensive, but I never felt that was the point. This…

Unfortunately, I can't recommend this game because of the price. It maybe is 30 mins of story...it is cute, but lacks the quality of a $15 game. There are mispellings of furniture or words, some bugs (I had to restart a level because it never loaded the mini-game), and not much incentive for a player to relax and build a garden in story mode. It feels petty and silly for me to be focused on the inconsistent capitalization, as well, but I think that reflects the polish of the game - for furniture specifically. I think it has a wholesome vibe and it would be worth playing with a kiddo, but I would get it on sale for a dollar or two.

For $15, this game is sooooooo not worth it. I saw all the content in an hour. Also the description is kinda of misleading, its a game about loving yourself and going through a story. The mini-games are cute but more for kids than adults, there are maybe 20 items to use in the garden. I'd maybe get it for $2 but its very much a kids first "garden" game.

Although this game was cute and the principle of it was wholesome, it was a VERY SHORT game. The mini games were okay but it did in fact crash often where as i had to stop running it and restart to get out of the loading screen. If you want a cute and SIMPLE game this is an okay game, but the crashing part about it does not make it worth it to get.

Cute concept but gameplay was stunted by multiple game crashes after almost every minigame. Simplistic minigames, which I have no problem with, but for the price point I would not recommend.... Finished within an hour and a half (possibly less but hard to say with all the game crashes), and the limited options of items to put in the garden, I wouldn't say it's worth $15. If you can get it on a major sale, possibly, but again, the game crashes almost constantly throughout the playthrough and you may have to restart several times to finish the story.