A cute and chill little game about creating overgrown dioramas out of abandoned buildings.
<3
This has been my unwinding-at-day's-end game and it's a relaxing time. Some of the controls are a little weird, but it's not enough to bother me or hinder playing in any way. I also find the environments are all really pretty, especially once they're overgrown with plants.
Cool idea, I guess this is more about scene setting than how plants actually grow. But I found it a bit difficult to be precise with where I was placing my garbage (maybe a switch vs. PC issue?) So my tires would roll away or well intended cone stacks never to be. I played for about fifteen minutes before calling it good, but I might pick it back up some other time.
There is a weird paradox in trying to be a relaxing game and a puzzle game, and after a few levels it does not work as either.
It is not relaxing, because it gets difficult, and it does not work as puzzle, because there is a lack of clarity in its mechanics as to how the plants will grow with precision, so you end up getting frustrated not by your fault.
It is not relaxing, because it gets difficult, and it does not work as puzzle, because there is a lack of clarity in its mechanics as to how the plants will grow with precision, so you end up getting frustrated not by your fault.
very cute and relaxing
Hay una contradicción extraña entre el tono calmante y relajado de la obra y el carácter tenso y algo contradictorio que adquieren los niveles posteriores. Lo que empieza como un juego sencillo de plantar y dejar crecer acaba convirtiéndose en uno de esas obras que van de averiguar la combinación correcta de objetos para seguir avanzando, a lo Stephen Sausage Roll. El cambio de actitud puede suponer un problema porque te obliga a prestar atención, por una vez, a lo que estás plantando y cómo. Pero una vez aprendes eso, se vuelve un título entretenido, aunque algo malévolo a ratos.
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There's a strange contradiction between the calming and relaxed tone of this game and the tension that later puzzle leves acquire. What starts as a simple title about planting and letting plants grow becomes one of those "selec the correct combination of items to continue" type of game, a la Stephen Sausage Roll. This shift can be a problem because it forces you to pay attention to what you're doing. But once you get used to that, it winds up as an entertaining, if somewhat insidious, puzzle game.
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There's a strange contradiction between the calming and relaxed tone of this game and the tension that later puzzle leves acquire. What starts as a simple title about planting and letting plants grow becomes one of those "selec the correct combination of items to continue" type of game, a la Stephen Sausage Roll. This shift can be a problem because it forces you to pay attention to what you're doing. But once you get used to that, it winds up as an entertaining, if somewhat insidious, puzzle game.
i hit the credits and i was just like "wtf i dont have a go-to podcast game anymore!!"
anyways its a good go-to podcast game, the beginning of the game doesnt give you enough plant variety but its not much of a problem after a couple hours
anyways its a good go-to podcast game, the beginning of the game doesnt give you enough plant variety but its not much of a problem after a couple hours
Argh - I really wanted to see this through. The aesthetic is lovely, the concept is really neat, but I just found myself failing levels a lot and not knowing why or what the game was asking of me. Having to restart some of the bigger levels, or the ones where you would do a scene and then it'd expand into a second scene, just kind of wasn't fun and conflicted with the chill/relaxing vibe this game seems to aesthetically be going for
Nice, calm little puzzle game. Not a lot to it, but there doesn't really need to be. I just think it's neat
PRECIOSO realmente HERMOSO me da ganas de mirarlo y crear cosas infinitamente pero en la hora de hacer cosas es medio rary y no hay mucha sustancia
i wanted a relaxing game that wasn't totally thoughtless, and this game mostly filled that need.
but: i gotta say after finishing almost the entire thing, it's a little wacky in practice. i found it hard to read the seed in my hands (especially wheat vs ferns - both are kind of tan, i guess? - or pothos vs monster - both are green???). it's hard to tell when you start a stage the exact moves you need to make to clear it, especially since your upcoming items are hidden. and more than once i got to the end of a stage, ran out of items, sighed and busted out a water cloud for a few minutes to get to 100% because the clear conditions are just not easy to figure out. i'm almost done with the game and i'm still not super confident what it takes. also the music is wholly uninspiring, i was really hoping for chill beats to etc etc etc instead of generic synths.
on the one hand, i basically finished the game, all of this stuff is mostly optional because there's an "unlock everything" button, and there's a creative mode. i didn't suffer any penalties for restarting (besides some kind of drawn out animation times for transitions and seed recharges). i honestly did make some pretty landscapes and chilled out.
on the other hand, this stuff is part of the game, and the majority of what you actually do if you don't engage with it as a pure toybox. it intruded on my chill game vibes. my recommendation is not without its criticisms
but: i gotta say after finishing almost the entire thing, it's a little wacky in practice. i found it hard to read the seed in my hands (especially wheat vs ferns - both are kind of tan, i guess? - or pothos vs monster - both are green???). it's hard to tell when you start a stage the exact moves you need to make to clear it, especially since your upcoming items are hidden. and more than once i got to the end of a stage, ran out of items, sighed and busted out a water cloud for a few minutes to get to 100% because the clear conditions are just not easy to figure out. i'm almost done with the game and i'm still not super confident what it takes. also the music is wholly uninspiring, i was really hoping for chill beats to etc etc etc instead of generic synths.
on the one hand, i basically finished the game, all of this stuff is mostly optional because there's an "unlock everything" button, and there's a creative mode. i didn't suffer any penalties for restarting (besides some kind of drawn out animation times for transitions and seed recharges). i honestly did make some pretty landscapes and chilled out.
on the other hand, this stuff is part of the game, and the majority of what you actually do if you don't engage with it as a pure toybox. it intruded on my chill game vibes. my recommendation is not without its criticisms
One of the best zen games I've played. Creating overgrown dioramas is rewarding, especially if you're fond of the abandoned urban aesthetic. It's more of a sandbox than a puzzle game but does need a bit of thought.
This is a great relaxing game - plant greenery in variety of abandoned environments. I hesitate to call it a puzzle game, though I suppose it does have a slight element of that as well. There is plenty of levels and even a creative mode, absolutely perfect for the days with 0 energy and 0 brain power to give.
This is a rather nice short little game for those who like abandoned places mixed with plants.
give the gnome his beer.
a game where you can design your own aesthetically pleasant eco brutalism scenario!! the type of game for people who are into cluttering hehe
Could Garden is an incredibly relaxing game in which you place plants on various set pieces in order to grow them and beat the level. The game introduces various different plants to use, ranging from trees to mushrooms to vines, and since the puzzle aspect contains a load of leeway you are free to use whichever you like the most once you obtain them. The set pieces usually involve various city locations that have been run down, such as a junkyard or abandoned factories. It makes for a pretty poetic piece when you realize after mankind's creation is tired nature is there ready to take over again, and I think this is where the game's true beauty comes out. Overall, it's definitely something worth playing if you need something chill and aesthetic to play; the puzzle aspect isn't dominant enough to deter anyone from beating the game 100% so do not worry about that.
I keep coming back to Cloud Gardens. I'll probably be coming back to Cloud Gardens for years to come. If I'm so lucky, I hope to be returning to Cloud Gardens when I'm old and lonely and what can generously be described as my "best days" are long behind me.
In Cloud Garden, you are placed in various desolate landscapes. In each one it's obvious that any life that once roamed here has been long gone and the signs of civilisations past are crumbling. So you plant. You toss seeds on the destruction. You revive each and every one. When you're done, snaking vines grow over rusty cars. Palm trees hang over abandoned rail tracks. Purple flowers cover previously barren patches of soil. Empty high rises are clothed in a dozen shades of green.
There's something fundamentally hopefully in all that melancholy. It presents you a puzzle where the problem is lifelessness and the solution is, simply, life. It demands creativity and cunning, then rewards you with a gorgeous scene, previously grey and empty, now utterly exploding with colours. Each one feels like a phenomenal triumph.
In Cloud Garden, you are placed in various desolate landscapes. In each one it's obvious that any life that once roamed here has been long gone and the signs of civilisations past are crumbling. So you plant. You toss seeds on the destruction. You revive each and every one. When you're done, snaking vines grow over rusty cars. Palm trees hang over abandoned rail tracks. Purple flowers cover previously barren patches of soil. Empty high rises are clothed in a dozen shades of green.
There's something fundamentally hopefully in all that melancholy. It presents you a puzzle where the problem is lifelessness and the solution is, simply, life. It demands creativity and cunning, then rewards you with a gorgeous scene, previously grey and empty, now utterly exploding with colours. Each one feels like a phenomenal triumph.
Una idea muy original, visualmente preciosa y muy satisfactoria de jugar, pero quizá resulta demasiado confuso como juego de puzles. Muchas veces fallas niveles sin tener mucha idea de por qué o los superas en un suspiro haciendo esencialmente lo mismo.
Tener que reiniciar niveles grandes hace que un juego muy relajante se vuelva frustrante, pero afortunadamente en la grandísima mayoría de niveles no ocurre y puedes centrarte en ver cómo crece todo y decorar las escenas a tu gusto.
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A very unique idea, visually gorgeous and very satisfying to play, but maybe a bit too confusing as a puzzle game. You can fail levels often without really knowing why or beat them in the blink of an eye doing pretty much the same thing.
Having to restart big levels makes a very relaxing game frustrating sometimes, but fortunately most levels aren't like that and you can focus on watching everything grow and decorate the scenes however you want.
Tener que reiniciar niveles grandes hace que un juego muy relajante se vuelva frustrante, pero afortunadamente en la grandísima mayoría de niveles no ocurre y puedes centrarte en ver cómo crece todo y decorar las escenas a tu gusto.
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A very unique idea, visually gorgeous and very satisfying to play, but maybe a bit too confusing as a puzzle game. You can fail levels often without really knowing why or beat them in the blink of an eye doing pretty much the same thing.
Having to restart big levels makes a very relaxing game frustrating sometimes, but fortunately most levels aren't like that and you can focus on watching everything grow and decorate the scenes however you want.
game engineered to appeal to little gay people
La flora solo tomará el terreno que le pertenece cuando no estemos. Ergo la humanidad es el peor enemigo del mundo en el que habita. De acuerdo, pero esta idea subyace a casi toda obra postapocalíptica sin convertir sus escenarios en pilas de objetos que un humano jamás amontonaría con tal desorden. El juego funciona como metáfora y brilla por lo radical que es su propuesta, pero el cómo invita a la gestión espacial de plantas y trastos me hacen pensar en él como algo fallido.
For much of this year I found playing most video games nearly impossible without getting a truly unpleasant anxious rush, and Cloud Gardens was the best medicine for that feeling that I could have been prescribed.
Lots of games are meditative, but not nearly as many are 'meditations' - by which I mean in the transitive sense, allowing one to reflect or focus thoughts onto a repetitive action.
Cloud Gardens gave me pause on several occasions when I considered the implications it was laying out: that human trash and inorganic detritus could, under certain solitary conditions, give rise to it's own life. It almost felt radical in it's simplicity, placing these objects and allowing their aura to emanate and their essence to grow plants through their inherent existence. It made me think about my place in the world, the energy I emit unconsciously, the energy I take in from inanimate objects around me or on my person, the way that reverberates around a room or a house or a yard or a street or a suburb or a city.
It's a simple game, but a beautiful one. For many puzzle games of this variety I find myself reaching for podcasts or documentaries to listen to in the background as I play. With this game, I never felt the need.
Lots of games are meditative, but not nearly as many are 'meditations' - by which I mean in the transitive sense, allowing one to reflect or focus thoughts onto a repetitive action.
Cloud Gardens gave me pause on several occasions when I considered the implications it was laying out: that human trash and inorganic detritus could, under certain solitary conditions, give rise to it's own life. It almost felt radical in it's simplicity, placing these objects and allowing their aura to emanate and their essence to grow plants through their inherent existence. It made me think about my place in the world, the energy I emit unconsciously, the energy I take in from inanimate objects around me or on my person, the way that reverberates around a room or a house or a yard or a street or a suburb or a city.
It's a simple game, but a beautiful one. For many puzzle games of this variety I find myself reaching for podcasts or documentaries to listen to in the background as I play. With this game, I never felt the need.
It's hardly a game in the traditional sense - the developers will tell you that much. However, it's exactly the type of thing I'm looking for when I want a super casual experience.
Sure, you're really only placing seeds and trash, but the limited space available means that you really have to think about how you're placing these objects (lest you crush a plant). By forcing you to place these objects deliberately, you're not only thinking about where there is physical space for these objects, but also where they'd make sense if you stumbled upon such a scene in the wild. You're creating these pretty, overgrown dioramas, sure, but you're also creating these scenes that feel haunted by the people that once lived there despite it all falling into place mere seconds ago.
It's a gorgeous game and a borderline meditative practice at times. Please check it out, it deserves the attention.
Sure, you're really only placing seeds and trash, but the limited space available means that you really have to think about how you're placing these objects (lest you crush a plant). By forcing you to place these objects deliberately, you're not only thinking about where there is physical space for these objects, but also where they'd make sense if you stumbled upon such a scene in the wild. You're creating these pretty, overgrown dioramas, sure, but you're also creating these scenes that feel haunted by the people that once lived there despite it all falling into place mere seconds ago.
It's a gorgeous game and a borderline meditative practice at times. Please check it out, it deserves the attention.