The Gardens Between 4+

The gardens between is a gorgeous and inventive puzzle game with clever time bending mechanics. Only ten or so levels in and even though it hasn’t become very difficult yet every time a puzzle comes together I get the biggest smile and find myself repeating each time “okay this game is really cool.” Just realizing the solution then watching the pieces fall into place is so satisfying and that satisfaction is only bolstered by the lovely animations and an incredibly strong art direction (seriously in love with this art style!) Very thoughtful level design; beautiful, winding mountains covered with household objects that tower over you as you ascend the summit, manipulating time to position falling objects or jumping boxes, orchestrating a “right place right time” flow of events. All of it services a very satisfying gameplay loop and a clear sense of place; stooped in nostalgia and our relationships with the passage of time. Besides some minor hitching on level start-up and that it makes my iPad (6th gen) really hot pretty quickly, the game runs well and the touch controls are good and simple; not a bunch of different inputs and not finicky in any way. I could go on about how great the sound design and music are (which they really really are superb) and how much I like the subtle, wordless storytelling/atmosphere building, but I’ll stop here and heavily implore you buy this game and experience it for yourself.

An immersive experience first, and a puzzle game second.
Amazing and worth it.

Art: 10 / 10
Puzzles: 8 / 10
Music: 9 / 10
Controls: 10 / 10

Overall: 5 Stars

Full Review

I never review games, but this one was just too great to stay quiet about! I played this on my iPad Pro 11” (with comfortable headphones) and could not be happier with the overall gameplay experience. TGB’s colorful art style, paired with its atmospheric sound design and minimal touch controls, creates an immersive experience that’s perfect for the mobile platform. Everything looks, feels, and sounds just right on the iPad.

The game’s puzzles and level-design are also quite good. While I can’t say that any of the puzzles completely blew my mind, TGB certainly offers its fair share of twists and challenges in about 20 levels. If you’re an extreme puzzle-gamer, you probably won’t find yourself getting stuck very often, but chances are you’ll still have a great time discovering the game’s progressively complex mechanics.

All in all, if you love art, puzzles, and immersive experiences, this is the game for you. The Gardens Between isn’t an impossible puzzle game that you would play to push your brain muscles to their breaking point, but it is a stimulating and imaginative experience that’s great for winding down at the end of a long day. For $5, it’s an absolute steal.

Buy this game.