Tiny Garden | PC Review

I’m on a roll with these cozy games. Or am I? 

Yes, I am. After reviewing Urban Jungle a few days ago, I also picked up Tiny Garden for review. One similar theme exists since both games deal with plants, but that’s really where the similarity ends. Tiny Garden is a cozy game at heart, but you can also play it like a strategy game. For gamers who want something comfy and cozy, but appreciate some additional challenges, Tiny Garden might just be a game for you!

For record keeping, Tiny Garden was developed by Ao Norte and Published by Super Rare Originals.

There Is No Story Only Zool

(The section header was something I couldn’t pass up. Zool does not appear in Tiny Garden.)

Tiny Garden does not have a story. Your purpose is to grow your mini-farm (no animals, though), which is held within a little round keepsake reminiscent of Polly Pocket meets Tamagachi. By growing fruits, vegetables, and plants, you’re able to unlock new things to grow. By collecting the fruits and veggies that you’ve grown, you can also “buy” decorations or different color themes for your garden or house. 

Unlock the target fruits and vegetables in your set and you unlock the next set. This brings additional growing space, new plants, new tools, and new achievements. Just play to your heart’s content, even if you’ve unlocked everything. Sure, like most cozy games, it gets a tad repetitive. I didn’t mind that one bit. I was enjoying my time.

Didn’t You Say There Was Strategy?

Yes, I did. You can earn those new stages much faster if you don’t play the game in a cozy manner, like I did for the first hour. 

You need cacti to buy carrot seeds, carrots to buy turnip seeds, and turnips to buy cacti seeds. Then you can use a combo of carrots and cacti to buy hydrangea bush seeds. I could go on, but you get the idea. You plant the seeds and you turn the crank to make the plants grow. Some require one crank, some require two, and so on. Once you have the harvested plants, new plants become available for purchase. The currency is your plants.

It gets even more interesting. A cactus changes the ground to a different type. Other plants require different land types. Some need water, some need grass, some need a combo type. You buy tools and place them in specific locations to generate the land types. This is where the strategy comes in. I spent my first hour just having a good time and playing along. Then the strategies to progress the game became much clearer. So, I switched the way I played the game.

Some of the unlockable plants do not tell you how to grow them. For instance, the sunflower requires a specific land type. However, the sunflower itself requires three cranks to grow and the land type resets after the second crank. Therefore, you have to plant the sunflower, crank it once, and then replant the other plant that alters the land type right next to it. That’s not in the instructions. So, planning and a lot of trial and error are required. It keeps the game a lot more interesting than if you were simply given everything and left to mindlessly grow plants until you’re out of unlockables.

Mechanics, Graphics, and Sound

Controls are simple. The mouse does the majority of the work: Selecting the seeds, choosing the plot to plant them, giving it a crank or many, and picking up the grown fruits. The keyboard controls are minimal but allow you to change the view.

The graphics are absolutely perfect for a game of this type. It’s a perfect mix of realism and cartoon fun. The visuals are crisp and clean, making it easy to distinguish elements and avoid misclicks. It was visually pleasing and engaging.

The sound design and music are perfectly adequate. There’s nothing special about them, but they fit the game and I felt positively about them.

Tiny Garden Final Verdict

I miss Farmville, the old community farming game that millions played on Facebook in the early 2010s. Tiny Garden is exactly the game I’ve been wanting to play to fill that small gap. No pressure, lots of fun, and even a little challenge make this a game that I will return to on a regular basis. 

Tiny Garden is a perfect fit for children of all ages, people of all genders, and gamers looking for something relaxing to fill some time for the sake of progress. Highly recommended.

Full circle back to the other cozy plant game, Urban Jungle? If you want a game that is more story driven, then Urban Jungle is the pick. If you would like a game with a bit more strategy and achievements, then Tiny Garden is the way to go. 

To hear me talk more about Tiny Garden, be sure to listen to the April 4, 2025 episode of The Gaming Outsider podcast.

This review is based on a PC copy of Tiny Garden provided by Dead Good Media for coverage purposes. As of the time of this writing, it is exclusive to this platform.