The Garden Path

The aesthetic of this game is so beautiful and SO cozy — it gives me such strong “Over the Garden Wall” vibes and I adore the art style of the world, particularly that of the characters. My favorite bit is definitely the fragmented story you’re putting together by collecting all the journal pages. There’s this… cryptic sense to your (and everyone else’s) presence in the Garden which is rather enticing. Overall, the atmosphere of the game makes me want to curl up on my couch, following and unraveling threads. That being said, as much as I adore the visuals and the foundation of the game, the core mechanics are so frustrating and off putting that turning it on to play has begun to feel more like a chore than a treat, and more days are starting to pass in between my play sessions. I never thought I would complain about a game not having enough of a tutorial but it took me DAYS to figure out some base aspects of gameplay because it either wasn’t clearly enough explained or just wasn’t even mentioned at all. There are some things that I still don’t know what to do or how to use. • Supposedly I can ‘combine most things I’ve harvested in my bag to make fertilizer’? No combination of anything I have seems to work, so I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong there. • I own a couple star maps that I don’t know how to use as ‘using’ doesn’t seem to work. • I could have sworn I had a quest about an Encyclopedia that either a) disappeared or b) didn’t actually exist and I’m crazy. But either way, I possess so many journal pages and wish tags that I don’t know what to do with, so they’re just filling up my Stash spots/my trunks. • It took me DAYS to realize there were diggable spots and even longer to realize that there were knockable trees — the dig spots are indicated by a faint golden sparkly circle on the ground and the trees have a single sparkle that slowly pulsates midway up the trunk. Both of these things blend into the scenery so well that you need to actively SCOUR the landscape as you’re walking lest you will miss them. So, you’re not exactly walking around the garden enjoying the scenery if you’re in hunting mode. • I don’t know what it is, whether it’s just perpetual bad luck on my part, but the critter drop rates are laughably low to the point where I’ve written off trying to buy most things that ask for a critter as part of payment. Dust flies net me nothing now. • I’m also not sure if I’m going to find quest items the same way I find journal pages — that’s how I’m assuming I’m supposed to find Page 123 and, now, rocks. There’s been no indication otherwise (but I did get the Page 123 quest Day One and have had no luck since). • I don’t know what exactly the purpose is of filling up the ‘record’ bar of the flora of the garden — there are little arrow checkpoints but I’m not sure what the checkpoints represent. • Sometimes I can’t record specific plants anymore but I can record others of the same kind. Not exactly sure why (I assumed I recorded that one particular plant too much?). • There’s also no plant log/journal for the plants I’ve seen/recorded — at least I don’t think there is. • There is a journal tab in the menu but 14 hours in that tab is still empty for me and I haven’t gotten any quests/indications on what it’s for (if it’s for plants or found journal pages). • The fishes have ‘songs’ to them, some of which include healing the surrounding flora — I don’t know what the purpose of healing is or how I’m supposed to know something needs to be healed. So far every time I’ve recorded a plant, it’s healthy. • I don’t know how to use planters/pots, if they’re for planting or just for cutting storage. The description says they’re for cuttings and I can put cuttings in them… but nothing grows. Which is strange if it’s not for growing… why would I put just cuttings in a pot? Especially since it’s like, one slot? • A few days ago I realized that items have ‘grades’ to them — I don’t know how to see these grades or how to raise grades, whether it’s attached to quality or to the item itself (e.g. bluebells are B grade, cinnamon is C grade, etc). • I wish ‘holidays’ were mentioned on the community board — if I hadn’t logged on for a bit, I would have missed the wish event because I had no idea it was coming. The other thing to mention, because there’s zero handholding in this game, I’m often left asking the ‘is this a feature or a bug’ question to myself a lot. Like, the things I mentioned above, are these intended behaviors or am I running into issues? I’m not sure, I have absolutely no indication game-wise of what I should be expecting, so I’m left to assume everything is working as it’s supposed to. It’s clear a lot of love went into this game. I picked it up on launch day, and I’ve seen a steady release of patches since, so the devs are clearly working on it. I hope they take player feedback into account as the lack of guidance seems to be a theme. My concern is that plenty of new players would need a wiki to fully understand how to play the game which is a little ridiculous when you think about it — this isn’t some hardcore strategy game, it’s a game about relaxing and garden-building. The basics should be pretty self-contained. Not only that, where it stands now, as a relatively new game, the wiki doesn’t have a lot of information on it to legitimately help you. So if you’re lost you’re just kind of… stuck. Scratching your head. Knocking on trees.

It pains me to give a not recommend because I can tell a lot of love went into this game and the art, vibes, dialogue, characters etc are so charming, and the fishing minigame is great. But as it stands, unless there is an update with MAJOR changes to how the game is explained and navigated it feels more frustrating than cozy. It is so hard to figure out how to do basically anything in this game and the UI is very unfriendly and nonintuitive (it may be better on PC compared to steam deck but there are just so many menus!! Even some of the most basic actions require navigating some kind of menu). There are tons of harvestables and collectible resources but it’s not very clear what anything is for so you end up with a backpack full of random stuff you don’t want to discard in case you figure out you want to do something with it, and the storage mechanics are PUNISHING (walk slower with a full backpack??? is this a survival game???). Anyways, holding out hope for a major quality of life update but I just don’t have enough time and energy in my life to play games that don’t feel intuitive and rewarding

I absolutely love the art style, the aesthetic, and the whole vibe of the game. That is what originally got me hooked. However, I just wish there was more guidance towards the purpose of the game. There is too much ambiguity in the game. Other than the tutorial, everything else I learned was practically from luck and pressing a random button. I honestly don't see the purpose of the game itself other than just, wandering around? Trust me, I love games with hidden secrets and puzzles. I am no stranger to this lack-of-info approach to games. However, I don't think it really fit the The Garden Path, and I so hope that there is a future update that provides more info to enjoy the game

I haven't played for long but that's because I can't figure out how to play. There really needs to be more of a fleshed out tutorial. I understand wanting a game that doesn't hold your hand but if that's the case then it should be more intuitive and/or simplified.

I have to agree with some of the other negative reviews, while this game is just SO PRETTY and I love the art and sound design, I think the way the game is designed is currently making it hard to recommend. It's just really bad at offering direction, and a lot of the games menus and mechanics make it feel a bit... annoying to play? It's hard to put my finger exactly on what's so off putting, but I feel like games in its genre that I'm such a huge fan of, like Animal Crossing and Cozy Grove, are so intuitive in their design by comparison. I'll keep an eye on the game, maybe something to come back to one day, but for now this ain't it for me.

First of all, my stats on Steam are pretty deceiving! I've played The Garden Path 145+ hours on Nintendo Switch. Add to this my play through on Mac, which might be around 12+ hours, and you have days upon days filled with strolling through my garden. Meeting wanderers, brewing teas, trading, decorating, making friends. So here I am, telling you how much I love this game. How much I'm captivated by the ambience, music, sounds, themes, etc. This review is only possible, because I got a Steam key included in my purchase for Mac on Itch, because I wanted to indulge even more. That's why I bought this game twice, for multiple platforms. Finally I want to share my appreciation for the dev, Louis, who has been working hard on fixing bugs and releasing new content since release. He has listened to the community and is so helpful. The only thing this game might benefit from is a dedicated wiki for starters, or more guides in one particular place, so more people will set foot into this beautifully made game. ✨

Game has a great vibe to it , but doesn't really offer much of a farming experience. Its very different in its own way ,but dont expect a stardew valley type of experience. Game-play is very vague & makes the game difficult to play. Not much character customization & day night cycle is also a weird mechanic. If your a busy person & want to relax at the end of the day then this game isn't built in your favor. 30 minute game-plays here and there dont really satisfy the itch of a farming experience. Art style is good not great & overall mechanics are very buggy.

This game is gorgeous and I enjoyed the first couple of hours, but then I hit a wall where nothing was obvious and/or it wasn't working as it was supposed to be. I followed the Wiki guide that's linked to within the start menu, and things just aren't happening the way the guide says they should. I've achieved certain things and placed objects certain places, but nothing happens. It's hard to say what's a bug or what's just misleading directions because the game is overly convoluted with far too many vague screens that are not well explained in either the wiki or the tutorial.

A very, very charming and relaxing game. A true little gem. You [b]WILL[/b] want to check the wiki, especially the "getting started guide". There's a link right from the main menu of the game, and from the "read the manual" button on the Steam store page in the right sidebar. I understand why people can get frustrated by the game, because the hand-holding is minimal, and the game is very different from what you might expect from a farming game. You want to be OK with exploring, figuring things out yourself, and sometimes getting lost; this seems to be, at least at first, the intended experience. I personally find it very relaxing.

I was mislead, I bought this 2 minutes before the sale ended so wasn't paying close attention, the foggy artstyle and reviews talking about esoteric and confusing mechanics made me think this was going to be something twisty and strange. It's animal crossing without the crushing financial debt. It's real time, night irl means night in the game, stuff takes a few days to grow, the seasons change as they do where you live etc. It's not the same game as AC by any means, but it's the same bones, if you explained animal crossing to someone this is one of the things they might imagine. You forage for plants and tools, talk with weird fellas, explore, get tools, slowly fill out a few progression things, and it's made to be played in shorter sessions each day, rather then binged in huge chunks. Nothing seems esoteric or hard to understand, it all feels really intuitive actually. I very quickly understood the gameplay mechanics, and they feel really nice, the menu's are easy to navigate and make sense, nothing seems poorly conveyed, not knowing everything is the point of *exploring* I planted a seed and poked it, saw it asking for a plant I know and one I didn't, so now I want to try growing the one I know near it and explore till I find the one i don't... cause it's an exploring game. I'm not sure how in depth plants cohabiting will be but I am honestly eager to see how that progresses. If you wanted animal crossing to be a short break from stress to wander around collecting stuff and decorating things, doin a few activities and then stopping for a bit, seeing your island grow as you come back each day and chip away bit by bit, and got sick of the ever increasing debt, fruit farming, event fomo, and sudden stop of the gameplay each day, you'll probably really like this, ESPECIALLY if you are interesting in plants at all, cause I'm getting the impression this was made by light botany nerds who were excited to share their nerdy interest with us plant plebians. If you don't know what to do, there is an achievement progression thing (think nook miles) to guide you towards small goals, and I assume each day new travellers will be hanging around to talk to, with quests and trades. The local co-op is a nice touch btw I was just hoping I'd be able to play with my partner, appreciate ya devs <3