Garden Joy: Design & Makeover 4+

I have been playing since the beginning. Have finally made it to Level 40 as a supposed “Garden Legend”. Haha, wish I was a “Legend” in my own backyard as even my houseplants are dying😢. I love this game. And, while I fully agree with many of the other reviews, I have gone into the actual “chat with us” under settings and wrote long complaints about the same issues. Mostly me spending lots of my own personal $$$ on diamonds (my choice) just to win the partner/co-op challenges. I agree, people take advantage of others they know will spend money to get them the prizes to win. I now will not accept a partner I know will not contribute and have my own list of “acceptable partners” and those that slack off. 😏I also complained about certain items only obtained with gems and not coins. However, with every complaint I have written, I have received a well thought out and detailed response by the GJ support/CS team. They are listening and are making changes as soon as is possible. I thank the support for caring enough to always respond with well thought out answers. It matters that you hear us.

My daughter and I have been experiencing freeloaders as partners in the special challenges. They sit there and do nothing or contribute very little like they are expecting other people to give them a free ride so they can get all the prizes. It's disgusting. They let us spend the money so they can reap the benefits. I wish there was a way to delete or substitute with a different partner when it's apparent after the first day these freeloaders don't want to help build the bouquets or the glass or whatever the challenge is. I write their designer number or name down to make sure I never get taken advantage of during the next challenge. It's a fun game, very time-consuming, and can run up your credit card in no time. The items are unrealistically priced even if it is fake money. I will be backing off come summer. Otherwise I would get nothing else done and be a literal couch potato.

Update: had another freeloader with the ice cream challenge. There should be a way to delete a partner who doesn't contribute. I wanted to report her but couldn't find her when I searched. I have no idea how she found me, but she invited me so you would think she would contribute. I won't be burned again. I'm done. Some of these people have obviously out their heads together to scam those of us who spend real money so they can benefit without spending anything or doing any of the design work. The game is a bank account drain anyway.

I actually really like the game. It’s very calming and unexpectedly engrossing. The details in the art are amazing- the lighting in a scene will actually change depending on what you place in it. The more you play, the more items you can win and the more fun you have. The downside to the game is that many of the areas to decorate are absurdly generic. There is literally just a backyard and a fence that could be anywhere in the world, instead of Tunisia. But I just avoid the very generic ones, so that’s not too bad since I wouldn’t have enough resources to decorate them all, anyways. What’s really bugging me now is this friendship thing they’re pushing when there is NO WAY in the game to add friends, other than to invite people you know in real life to join the game. So I have a mostly dead friend list that’s left over from when they had clubs, with no way to add anyone new. I have all these friend gifts, and no one to give them to. So if that friend thing is what’s getting you to join the game, think again. Also, not many things in the game match. It is almost impossible to find a sofa and chair that match, whether in color, style, design or size. It can be very frustrating. The tables are usually waaaay too large for the size of the chairs, but then some of the chairs are so tiny it’s like they’re for children. Hopefully the game designers will see this, since I really do like the concept and look of the game, but would like to see it done better.