1 
0 Pick up your watering can and get ready for the totally normal gardening game Grunn. Released today on Steam, Grunn is the latest addition to the Sokpop Collective catalogue – also developed by Tom van den Boogaart. Cut grass, dig out molehills and water the plants in your new boss’ garden. Just make sure you don’t go into the house – that is strictly off limits.
Warning, there may be some slight spoilers ahead!
I love when gardening sim games are just gardening sims…
Gameplay
Grunn throws you straight into the game without much explanation. You arrive at a small town on a bus after being hired by a local to do some maintenance on their garden. The small town nearby is perfect for a little adventure. There’s also a park and a church for you to explore. Not everything is as it seems, though. When you find the shed that will be your home for the next week, most of your tools are missing, replaced by an ominous letter saying that the owner of the garden might be in touch.
At its core, Grunn is a gardening simulator game which quickly unfolds into a mystery game with horror elements. Strange figures lurk around corners and there’s no shaking the feeling of being watched by the strangers living in the town. It is up to the player to uncover what really lurks in the town and who really owns the garden.
There are polaroid collectibles that appear randomly throughout the game which give you hints to the next step and how to further the plot. Sometimes they make things really obvious but there’s a good mix on clues that are a bit more difficult. You’ll really have to explore to get everything. You can also talk to some of the NPCs you stumble across. If they’re not important to the main ‘story’ then the game says that you cannot understand them which is a good indicator that they’re not important to you at the moment.
Remembering little things about each cycle is key to getting further in the game to uncover the real story. This game is perfect for anyone that likes to do a little digging when they play, as the story isn’t presented to you in black and white.
Graphics & Audio
The graphics used in Grunn may put some people off but the art style is one of its strongest elements. Everything feels a little bit off, as if some graphics are just wrong, and it works perfectly with the game’s theme. NPCs have odd designs which are amplified when you solve different clues. Creatures like the magpie appear normal but then change depending on your actions. Everything fits really well.
It is a similar story with the audio. The music and sound effects fit perfectly within the games aesthetic. Everything works really well together and takes the game from strength to strength to make an all-round really fun experience.
Some of the more repetitve sounds like cutting the grass can get annoying. That being said, as you play more rounds you spend less time with the actual maintenance of the garden in favour of finding all the pieces to get the next ending.
Longevity
There are plenty of endings to explore and polaroids that you need to solve to be able to perfect everything in Grunn. As always with time-loop games, when you finish one run you start with nothing all over again. I still can’t figure out what triggers some endings so even when I was on track for a perfect run, the game switched up and I had to start again. Surprisingly, I didn’t actually find this annoying because it was another ending to tick off from the list.
The more you play the easier it gets to collect everything. My fifth run went by quickly because I already knew how to get to around the map. This made finding the other endings a little easier. It also made it super easy to lose time when playing!
Final Thoughts
Grunn is a wonderful mystery-horror game hiding under the cover of a simulation game. There are genuine jumpscares and moments that are so tense you’re waiting for something bad to happen. The art style, audio and the way you have to uncover the story have made it a really memorable game. I’m still playing through it and I cannot wait to be able to say that I’ve unlocked all the endings.
Dan has done a really good job at creating a fun little experience that makes you want to play more. Given how much time I’ve sank into this game, it would be unfair to give Grunn anything other than the Thumb Culture Platinum Award
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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