Nobody likes an unkempt garden, do they? I’m talking about the one outside by the way. With the weather nice in the UK for once in 2023, I have spent all week sorting out the neglected exterior of my property and it has been grueling work. Some people absolutely adore gardening and class it as a hobby, for me, not so much. When it comes to virtual gardening on the big screen, however, it becomes an addictive yet relaxing time with Garden Simulator from developer PRODUKTIVKELLER Studios and publisher SunDust. Grab your watering can, spade and essential tools, you’re going to need them.

Introduction

I like to think of myself as the simulator king here at Complete Xbox. If the word simulator features in the game then I am usually all over it. There seems to be a game for everything these days whether it’s power washing or showering with your dad, it’s there to be tried and tested. I was keen to see how Garden Simulator played out in comparison to something like Lawn Mowing Simulator since they both sing from the same hymn sheet so to speak. There are aspects of looking after your lawn here, but you’ll be focusing on sorting out a shit state of a garden and transforming it into something special and to your taste. Some elements are a bit of a grind-fest but I loved how there are so many different features of gardening to focus on and work through.

Gameplay

When you commence your time outside, you’ll immediately notice your garden is a right mess. Before you get your hands dirty, you’ll need to tidy up the amount of crap laying around your overgrown lawns. Bags of rubbish, planks of wood, weeds and more will need to be picked up by hand and disposed of in the bin. Whilst this sounds like a mundane task, you’ll be given experience and currency for even conducting the most tedious of tasks. There isn’t really a tutorial here, but everything appeared to be easy enough to figure out alone and I quite liked finding my feet by myself.

Keep Plugging Away

Starting off you’ll only have access to part of your garden and will unlock sections of it by progressing further through the game. This allows you to focus on each segment for a period of time before moving on to the next. It’s a smart move and probably how I’d tackle real-life gardening when I can actually be arsed. In the early part of the game, you’ll be buying seeds for plants, flowers and veg. Dig, plant and water these and wait for them to grow and then turn them for a profit. By using your earnings you can steadily invest in unlocking gear like a bigger watering can, a mower for your garden and even decorative items for your expanse of land.

As you level up you can also assign skill points which will allow quicker harvesting, more experience return and more. Each portion of the skill tree can be levelled up around ten times, giving you the incentive to keep bringing in that vital XP. With achievements also popping through every once in a while as I ticked off certain objectives, everything feels rewarding.

Call It A Day

Luckily you don’t have to stand there and watch your plants grow in real-time. You can choose to call it a day at any stage in order to rest and proceed to the next day. You’ll likely find that your plants have grown and either need more watering or require harvesting. You can then go through the process of replanting seeds and getting the next cycle of growing started. What I think the game could have done is some seasonal or weather changes to make the game feel a little more realistic. For example, if it was raining outside for a period of hours or days then you could get away without watering anything outside until the days become dry again. There is none of that here sadly and I spend the majority of my time with the game with a watering can in hand constantly refilling it.

The End Game

Whilst I had hours of fun here, once I had purchased everything and maxed all skill points out and tended to my garden exactly how it suited me, I hit a wall of nothing else to do. Unfortunately, the replayability and longevity finish once you have achieved everything the game has to throw at you. That said though, I ended up ploughing in more time than I thought I would do in Garden Simulator. It would be great in future if they could add additional gardens for some variety if they introduced DLC or created a sequel.

Graphics & Audio

Visually Garden Simulator is one of the better-looking games in the genre but then it is only limited to one garden. Animations are generally pretty decent across the board with digging, planting and watering being the main features you’ll use consistently. I quite liked that the quest layout in the UI is easy to follow and the way the store is presented on the laptop is easy to understand and follow.

The personal touch of placing a cat in the garden is welcoming, it kind of makes you feel like you’re not alone and the sadistic part of me tried to find ways of messing around with it. I poured a watering can over its head, and chucked a ball at its face but I honestly didn’t attempt to run a mower over it. Personally, I have six cats in my household IRL and one is 21 years old, so I am not cruel I promise. Sound is minimal since it is just a peaceful casual time, but it gets the basics right.

In Conclusion

I wasn’t expecting to get immediately consumed by Garden Simulator, but I was hooked from the start. When I started my review I was planning on having an hour to test the waters and then dip off to return to flesh out my whole article. That one hour turned into six and a half for my first session and I had a blast. My partner sat in the background shaking her head that I was gardening on a video game yet hadn’t sorted out our real garden since last summer. It is super satisfying to work your way around the entirety of the land and make everything neat and tidy whilst using currency to make everything nice. There is enough to keep you going here gameplay-wise for a good 20+ hours if you’re taking your time, which is a good return on the reasonable price point.