Growing up, I was more of a Mighty Max fan, but when my partner heard there was a Polly Pocket-styled gardening game she demanded I play it. I agreed on the condition she’d play it with me — and with the terms of the deal set, we set out on our micro-gardening adventure.
Tiny Garden is far from a demanding title, players are able to move through the game at their own pace without worrying about timers or scores — it made for a cruisy experience. It features a simple yet cutesy art style; it gave me Planetile vibes with an extra dosage of cosiness (and fewer catastrophic events).
Gloves On
Tiny Garden, developed by Ao Norte, is more of a garden puzzler than a micro doll’s house. I went into it expecting to having more of a Polly Pocket-like experience, but that part of the game is essentially sidelined as you play.
Sure, you can unlock various pieces of furniture and decorations for your little pop-up home, but none of it really grabbed me — or my partner for that matter. There’s also a light story that flows through as you play, arriving in the form of handwritten letters. I appreciate the little pen-pal styled letters as they arrived, but again, the story was neither here nor there.
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Planting The Seed
You plant various seed combos to unlock more seeds and grow your tiny garden. Each new seed as requirements, such as soil type and number of turns of the crank. The more you unlock, the more challenges you’ll face — it’s a familiar puzzling experience.
At first, it’s a little overwhelming with the amount of seeds you can unlock, but it’s not long before it starts to slow down and the gameplay loop begins. You also use environmental additions — like a water fountain to make the dirt wet — to change tile types, therefor allowing you to plant different seeds. I enjoyed this puzzle aspect over anything else in this game.
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Should I Buy Tiny Garden?
I could see Tiny Garden being a great Switch or mobile title, or if you’ve got a Steam Deck, it’s probably more attuned for pocket play (though I haven’t tested that).
If you’re interested in a simple puzzler with a cute and cosy artstyle, Tiny Garden will tick the box. If you’re looking for more of a Polly Pocket nostalgia trip, look elsewhere.
Tiny Garden is out now on PC via Steam, there’s also a couple of little DLCs available, including a collaboration with indie game Sticky Business. For under $20, it’s a solid little cultivation crusade.
Quest Daily was supplied with a review code for Tiny Garden.
