Tiny Garden - PC Review

Official key art for Tiny Garden. Colourful cartoon-style garden scene featuring various vegetables, mushrooms, and playful decorations, with the title "Tiny Garden" prominently displayed.

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Back in February I got the chance to play a little preview of the Tiny Garden Steam Next Fest Demo. This cosy game is releasing very soon (8th April) and once again developer Ao Norte and publisher Super Rare Originals have trusted me to take a look ahead of launch. At the moment the game is Steam exclusive, so obviously I’ll be playing on PC!

Watch me crank it, watch me roll

I really enjoyed the demo of this game and the full release is no different. Well, it is, let’s find out how together.

A press box sent to advertise Tiny Garden. A vibrant, open cardboard box filled with tiny garden pin badge and stickers along with gardening-themed items including a pink scoop, crocheted sunflower, seeds and a pot atop green grass. — Very cute Tiny Garden press gift, check it out in full on our TikTok

Gameplay

Ok, so the gameplay is no different. The core loop is still very much:

Grab a seed and bury it in the soil
Turn the crank
Collect plants
Trade plants for other seed types, accessories or backgrounds

But the gameplay core loop being what it is, isn’t a bad thing. I like the simplicity of it, it’s what makes this such a great cosy game. It’s accessible to a wide range of players. From the casuals to the completionists. Tiny Garden is a cosy game for everyone.

Screenshot from Tiny Garden game. A colourful, cartoonish game interface showing a garden puzzle with tiles, fountains, and plants inside a rounded container. — So many soil types, not enough seeds

That isn’t to say everything is easy though. There are some puzzles to solve to unlock letters which are a key to the wider world building. You also need to navigate having certain soil types for certain plants in such a small space. Not to mention that you often need a certain plant to buy a certain seed, but to get that certain plant’s seed you need a different seed. It can be quite a juggle to work out what you need and how to get it.

Screenshot from Tiny Garden Game. A congratulatory screen showcasing the "Wild Collection" featuring new decoration themes and customisation elements in a game interface. — Gotta collect them all: gardening Polly Pocket edition

I love the customisation options too. Being able to customise the capsule toy, not just with bits of furniture or stickers, but the colour of the toy itself and the background is joyful. It’s such a nice little touch that expands the world of the game that little bit more. You can set the colour schemes to the plants too. Which makes for some very interesting carrots I’ll tell you that!

Graphics and Audio

Tiny Garden still oozes 90s nostalgia through it’s pocket sized capsule toy setting. Of course I’ll always opt for pastels given the choice, but the UI colours are wonderfully vibrant. The cute cartoon icons are still fun, especially the stickers. I’m slowly working my way through growing my virtual collection. Afterall, we all know us 90s kids love a collectible sticker set! Speaking of which, I loved that the collectible stickers had nods to other Super Rare Originals games. This was an adorable little Easter Egg to stumble upon.

Screenshot from Tiny Garden game. Colourful game menu showcasing various customisation options, including adorable character stickers, with some items marked as sold out. — Great, now I have the fear of wasting stickers in a game too.

Onto the audio. This was the one thing I felt disappointed with in the preview. For those who have not read that (how very dare you) I found the audio in the demo just that bit too quiet. I’m sad to say this hasn’t changed. It is still too quiet. In fact I turned my speakers up to 60% before I felt the audio was even slightly a baseline volume. And I have really good big Edifier speakers. I also had the same issue when wearing my fancy Razer headset too.

I get not everyone wants a loud soundtrack when playing a cosy game but no one wants near silence either. That being said the percussion laden soundtrack is exactly what you want. It definitely helps with the immersion and cosy vibes. Not to mention the sound effects and sparkle noise when finishing a task are a nice little dopamine hit.

Longevity

As with all cosy games, the longevity really depends on the player. You could play the loop with the aim of getting your hands on all the plant types. Or you could play to simply unlock all the furniture items. Or both. It’s one of the beauties of cosy games like this, it really is up to you.

Screenshot from Tiny Garden game. A whimsical letter with cartoon illustrations, a pink envelope, and an orange bag containing colourful vegetables and a clue.Text reads: Hello, little one. We have disembarked in a city where the sky is infinite and blue and the clouds look fake. I think you would like it. This time I'm sending you a little toy I've made, I hope it arrives safe and sound, not like the hi-fi. I have been collecting materials in different ports. and cities, and with a little bit of skill and the tools from the ship's workshop, I have built it just for you. I know how much you like to play with the vegetables when we go to the country, so you can keep doing it even when we're not there. — The letter that starts it all…

There is replayability in that there are a lot of collectibles to, well, collect. The story told through letters (of which there are 20 to collect) is a nice side addition, but really you don’t have to pay attention to it to progress. Meaning you can play it as much or as little as and when you want!

For achievement hunters, there are currently 62 Steam achievements to unlock too. Which is quite a lot for a cosy game! Including a few for hundred precenting various things like plant collections, home accessories etc.

Final Thoughts

I’ll be honest the more I played Tiny Garden, the more it won me over. I’ve got lost in trying to collect all the seeds and plant types. Deciding between prioritising buying new seed types or more customisation options. Puzzling together how to get the right soil type in the right place in order to maximise my space. It’s been like a cosy puzzler but without the stress. Ao Norte and Super Rare Originals are currently offering the game at an introductory price of £9.59, and honestly you should be snapping it up. Even for it’s full price of £11.99 this is a cosy game that packs a lot in a compact environment.

I said it in my preview, but I’m saying it again louder. If you ever wished your Polly Pocket/Mighty Max toys were real, Tiny Garden is the game for you.

I award Tiny Garden the Thumb Culture Platinum Award, and I’m off to buy the DLC now too!