Cloud Garden developed by Thomas van den Berg is now available in Steam Early Access.
Cloud Garden is an experiment that lets you grow your own gardens in an urban decaying world. I like to think of it as I’m creating my version of an apocalyptic landscape. The objective of the campaign is to cover as much ground with many different styled plants as possible with added scenery items boosting growth. Cloud Gardens is a puzzle game and usually I dislike puzzle games a lot but this one was one of the most relaxing games I’ve played and for 2020 it feels much needed, it takes time, you need to focus and get it right to pass the level and I think Cloud Gardens couldn’t be released at a better time. The game is on a 40% off sale right now (September 11th 2020) for £3.47.
The game-play is pretty simple, you’re given different plants and objects to create your dream scenes. These scenes can range from broken signs on a motorway, an abandoned car park, old dilapidated buildings and many more beautiful settings. As you progress you’ll unlock different plants and scenery items for sandbox mode in which you can freely create as much as you want. I have to say this game is beyond beautiful, while it isn’t the most realistic looking game in the world, it’s style fits it absolutely perfectly. When building these levels or making the landscape more The Last Of Us, as mentioned earlier it’s very relaxing but it keeps pushing you forward to do more and think of other ways you could increase the plant growth and I like that, it encourages you to move forward. The architecture in the buildings, the feeling of the world being live due to the plants is wonderful to watch, not only that but the sounds of it all are very ambient and satisfying to listen to. The game almost has this pixelated look about it that just works so well, the plants reminded me a bit of Minecrafts vegetation and I just couldn’t get enough of watching it all come together.
Verdict
Cloud Gardens is a game I’ll keep on playing and coming back to due to it’s relaxing nature and encouraging puzzle gameplay. I’m not a puzzle fan at all but it’s everything about this game that rolls together into something really unique and interesting. I also recommend this to anyone who needs a distraction because it has the ability to really pull you in.
Nerdy Bird Games 