The good gardener - a review

It isn't often that we get good stories in games. Sure, there is a narrative to some shooter games, but none of their stories really speak out. Today I will talk about a game that I think nails the story and it's gameplay - The good gardener, by Turnfollow.

Gameplay

The good gardener's gameplay is very simple, similar to stardew valley's, but it is excellently executed. You lay down seeds, water them, and sleep as you let them grow. But unlike stardew valley, the game introduces this interesting idea where you have to throw your seeds at spots of your land to grow, and you have to make them hit the fertile soil. This is actually a really fun gameplay idea, making the garden harder and harder as you get more and more seeds.You can end up making some interesting designs with the different plants, making it all the more painful when your plants are harvested.

Story

You play an imprisoned gardener who has to grow crops for the nation's war effort. Overtime, you and your supervisor get to slightly know each other, but he is your only way to know about what's going on around you. The war progresses, his opinion of you progresses, and your garden progresses to. It is a simple story, but the ending is well put together and very thoughtful, something you don't find in most mainstream video games.

Graphics & Audio

Graphics is another area where the game shines. The art style is a simple but clean low-poly style, which they keep throughout all their games, but I enjoy this style a lot. Most of the assets are 2d but there is some 3d models(like furniture). The plants show very well and the color grading of the game is appropriate for the game. The audio is a very simple soundtrack of 4 or 5 tracks, but each track fits the mood, whether it be rainy, sunny, or cloudy. I find that the music enhances the game, but I don't think I will be listening to it on it's own. It functions perfectly as a score.

For fans of:

This game will definitely have an audience out there, so I recommend this game to people who enjoyed:

1. House Party. This is Turnfollow's other game, and it has a lot of similarities. It has the same type of art style, and the same pacing of gameplay. 

2. Stardew Valley. The good gardener has farming gameplay very similar to stardew valley, making this game perfect for people who enjoyed the farming of stardew valley.

3. Firewatch. Like firewatch, the good gardener has a linear story which has a large presence in the game.

Verdict:

The good gardener is a very good gardening game which has a very good story, making it perfect for a weekend afternoon. It runs at around 1 hour, but is well worth the 2 dollars you will end up spending. I strongly recommend this game for anyone who is fans of games with linear stories or farming games. My one complaint is that the mouse sensitivity on the y-axis is different then the mouse sensitivity on the x-axis, but that is a simple fix and something that doesn't subtract from the gameplay.

(You can get the good gardener for 2 dollars at https://turnfollow.itch.io/a-good-gardener)