Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator

About

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is a single player casual simulation game. It was developed by stillalive studios and was released on February 22, 2024. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator" is a relaxing game where you can plant and nurture your dream garden using real-life techniques. Complete tasks from neighbors, unlock new tools and seeds, and discover the story behind an abandoned community garden. The game features different colorful plant varieties and allows you to enjoy your garden in full bloom throughout the changing seasons.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator screenshot

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76%

Audience ScoreBased on 809 reviews

story69 positive mentions

grinding43 negative mentions

Beautiful visuals and charming art style that create a cozy atmosphere.
Relaxing gameplay with no time constraints, allowing players to progress at their own pace.
Engaging storyline with lovable characters and a heartfelt narrative.

Frequent crashes and performance issues, making the game unplayable for some users.
Limited plant capacity in the garden, restricting creativity and garden design.
Inventory management is cumbersome, lacking sorting options and making it difficult to find specific items.

story
281 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
72%
3%
The game's story is described as heartfelt and charming, providing a cozy backdrop for gardening gameplay, though some players find it short and lacking depth. While many appreciate the engaging quests and character interactions, others feel the narrative can become tedious or repetitive, especially after completing the main storyline. Overall, the story adds a pleasant layer to the gameplay, but its brevity and simplicity may leave some players wanting more.
- “The story in the campaign is touching, charming, and heartwarming, as are the characters.”
- “The story is sweet, the design is beautiful and interesting, the gameplay is fun and rewarding.”
- “It's not the deepest story in the world, but the characters are warm and charming.”
- “The story is dumb and unnecessary, but other than that I really liked this game.”
- “There's just no real tasks to do other than daily orders once you finish the story quests.”
- “There is practically no story whatsoever, so at one point it just becomes tedious, 'harvest - make a bouquet - get money'.”
graphics
138 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
46%
51%
3%
The graphics of the game are widely praised for their stunning visuals and charming art style, often described as painterly and reminiscent of a storybook. Players appreciate the vibrant colors and unique designs of the plants, which contribute to a relaxing and aesthetically pleasing experience. However, some users report significant optimization issues, leading to crashes and performance problems even on high-end systems, which detracts from the overall enjoyment of the beautiful graphics.
- “The 'painterly' art style makes every flower look unique, and watching your garden transform from an overgrown mess into a vibrant paradise is incredibly satisfying.”
- “The graphics are beautiful, especially the flowers themselves – so colorful and cheery.”
- “The game captures the essence of gardening with stunning visuals, relaxing music, and endless possibilities for creativity.”
- “The game suffers from severe optimization problems, demanding an insanely high amount of CPU usage for such a relatively simple and non-graphically demanding game (this is regardless of the rig or specifications).”
- “While the procedural generation is pretty, this game gave my graphics card (Radeon RX 6800M) some headaches, first crashing on start because I didn’t have the latest AMD software installed, and after that it crashed every 10-20 minutes on the default 'high' graphic settings.”
- “The graphics make me motion sick, no matter how I tweak them, and some of the flowers look really flat (like literally flat) and sloppily finished, while this whole game is about gardening and selling flowers.”
gameplay
105 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
61%
9%
The gameplay of "Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator" is characterized by its relaxing and engaging mechanics, allowing players to enjoy gardening through a blend of guided story and freeform creative modes. While many players appreciate the charming visuals and intuitive controls, criticisms arise regarding repetitive gameplay, shallow mechanics, and technical issues such as crashes and save losses, which detract from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the game offers a soothing escape for gardening enthusiasts, though some may find the lack of depth and innovation limiting over time.
- “The gameplay in Garden Life is built around two main experiences: a guided story mode and a freeform creative mode.”
- “Even the often tedious tasks of weeding and pruning are surprisingly engaging, creating an addictive gameplay loop that keeps you wanting to play one more day.”
- “It's an easy-going game with a beautiful style and the mechanics are mostly straightforward.”
- “The gameplay loop gets repetitive fast.”
- “For all its beauty and charm, its mechanics sometimes struggle to maintain depth over long play sessions.”
- “It's an empty shell of a gardening sim game where it looks the part and the beginning feels interesting because you have a garden to clean up and fill... but when you play, you quickly realize how little there is to do and how much of the 'gameplay' is just grind.”
grinding
46 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
2%
5%
93%
The grinding aspect of the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding it tedious and repetitive, often revolving around similar tasks like harvesting and fulfilling quests. While some appreciate the cozy and cute aesthetic, they note that the lack of variety and the need for extensive micromanagement can make the gameplay feel overly grindy, especially when trying to collect all flower varieties or complete achievements. Overall, the game offers a slow start that can quickly become monotonous, requiring significant time investment for completion.
- “Not too long, fun to do and collect everything, not too grindy either.”
- “There is practically no story whatsoever, so at one point it just becomes tedious: 'harvest - make a bouquet - get money'.”
- “It's very repetitive, with grinding and repeating very similar requests.”
- “The game is grindy, lacks helpful shortcuts and generally any innovation, and anything to make your gameplay fun.”
optimization
36 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
11%
53%
36%
Overall, the game's optimization has received significant criticism, with many players reporting poor performance, clunky controls, and limited graphical options. While some users experienced smooth gameplay, the majority highlighted issues such as low frame rates, crashes, and a lack of quality-of-life improvements, indicating that the game is not well-optimized for a broad range of systems. Developers are urged to address these performance issues to enhance the overall experience.
- “I have read in a few other reviews that they had problems with the optimization, but it ran smoothly for me.”
- “Despite some room for growth in garden expansiveness and optimization, its blend of charming artistry and detailed gardening garners a solid 4 out of 5 blooming flowers.”
- “I'm sure they do this for optimization or to save computers that sweat at the sight of the ultra graphics button.”
- “Its very limited in what you can do, and it is not optimized at all.”
- “The performance of the game is pretty bad, especially because this game shouldn't be this demanding.”
- “You need to provide more graphics options in settings and fix the awful optimization.”
music
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
47%
43%
10%
The music in the game is widely praised for its soothing and relaxing qualities, perfectly complementing the tranquil gameplay and visuals. Players appreciate the gentle, ambient soundtrack that enhances immersion without being intrusive, making it enjoyable even after extended play sessions. Overall, the music contributes significantly to the game's cozy atmosphere, with many describing it as beautiful and calming.
- “There’s no combat or high-stress timers—just you, your plants, and a very soothing soundtrack.”
- “The game captures the essence of gardening with stunning visuals, relaxing music, and endless possibilities for creativity.”
- “The soundtrack isn't too intrusive, which is always a plus in cozy genre games.”
- “The music is decent, but not inspiring to listen to.”
- “Runs poorly, music is meh, progression is rng.”
- “The soundtrack isn't too intrusive which is always a plus in cozy genre games.”
stability
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
4%
96%
The game's stability is a significant concern, with frequent crashes and freezes reported by many users, often occurring every few minutes and leading to lost progress. While some players note minor technical issues like clipping and frame drops, the overall experience is marred by these stability problems, making it frustrating and at times unplayable. Despite its charming concept and aesthetics, the persistent bugs and crashes detract from the enjoyment, prompting many to recommend avoiding the game until these issues are resolved.
- “I thought I was just getting one of each piece, so I went crazy and took stacks... yes, I placed 100 balloons in the greenhouse! Kudos on a perfect game with no glitches, and lastly, I appreciate that all the achievements were joyfully obtainable without a guide.”
- “Wanted to really like this game and it has great potential, but it's so poorly optimized and crashes at least every 2-5 minutes. You have to manually save all the time or your data gets lost when it freezes. Unfortunately, until this is fixed, I'd avoid it completely.”
- “Overall, I love the concept and the atmosphere of the game, but I’m writing this because this is one of the worst gaming experiences I've had in a long time due to crashes, freezes, and many quality-of-life features not existing within the game.”
- “It constantly freezes and there is a huge delay that makes it unplayable.”
emotional
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The emotional aspect of the game is widely praised for its heartfelt storyline and charming characters, which create a cozy and engaging experience. Players appreciate the touching themes of loss and community, as well as the game's ability to evoke feelings of warmth and nostalgia while tending to the garden. Despite some critiques regarding gameplay pacing and art execution, the overall sentiment is that the game successfully delivers a wholesome and soothing emotional journey.
- “The story in the campaign is touching, charming, and heartwarming, as are the characters.”
- “I loved building up the garden while helping out villagers, and the memories of Robin that you get are so heartfelt and sweet.”
- “It's all very sweet and this game really surprised me with how it made me feel so seen and cozy.”
atmosphere
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
43%
43%
14%
The atmosphere of the game is consistently described as peaceful, cozy, and relaxing, allowing players to immerse themselves in gardening and decorating without pressure. The visually appealing graphics enhance this tranquil environment, making it easy for players to lose track of time while enjoying the calming sounds and whimsical design elements. Overall, the game's atmosphere is a significant draw, inspiring creativity and a sense of accomplishment in players.
- “Visually it’s really nice, and the calm atmosphere makes it easy to zone out and just enjoy planting and decorating. It’s cozy, with no time limits, no pressure, just chill gardening.”
- “It’s the kind of atmosphere that makes you lose track of time, where every small accomplishment—a new bloom, a neatly arranged planter—feels quietly meaningful.”
- “The atmosphere is so relaxing, and I feel inspired to tend to my garden in real life.”
- “Overall, I love the concept and the atmosphere of the game, but I’m writing this because this is one of the worst gaming experiences I've had in a long time due to crashes, freezes, and many quality-of-life features not existing within the game.”
- “They are very pretty and add to the atmosphere, but my computer struggled with it and I just wish I had the option to turn it off.”
- “You grow/take care of plants while trying to make the garden as pretty as possible, a lot of things to customize alongside a very warm atmosphere.”
character development
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
50%
Character development in the game is praised for its whimsical and gorgeous designs, contributing to a cozy atmosphere. The illustrations are noted as perfect, reflecting the design team's creativity and effort in crafting both characters and the environment. Overall, players appreciate the aesthetic appeal and attention to detail in character design.
- “The whimsical character design and discoverability of additional plant variations add to the cozy atmosphere.”
- “The character designs are gorgeous, the illustrations are perfect, and I have had little to no issues with running this game.”
- “It was going okay until the character design.”
- “The game is beautiful, and I can tell the design team had a good time coming up with the decorations, character design, and environmental look.”
replayability
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Players find significant replayability in the game due to its open-ended creativity, allowing them to continually redesign and recreate their gardens even after completing the main story.
- “Even if you complete the story quickly, there is a lot of replay value in the open creativity it offers to continually recreate your garden.”
- “The game encourages multiple playthroughs with its diverse character choices and branching storylines, making each experience feel fresh and unique.”
- “With various challenges and unlockable content, I find myself coming back to explore new strategies and approaches every time I play.”
- “The game lacks meaningful choices, making replaying it feel like a chore rather than an adventure.”
- “Once you've experienced the main storyline, there's little incentive to go back and play again.”
- “The limited variety in gameplay mechanics means that replaying the game feels repetitive and uninspired.”
humor
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Reviews on the humor aspect of the game are mixed; while some players find certain elements, like decor descriptions, to be amusing and a nice touch, others feel that the overall humor falls flat and can even be embarrassing.
- “The decor and their description can be pretty funny, a nice little addition to a calmer game.”
monetization
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Many users express frustration with the monetization model, particularly highlighting that microtransactions detract from their overall enjoyment of the game.

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11h Median play time

19h Average play time

5-36h Spent by most gamers

*Based on 18 analyzed playthroughs

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Frequently Asked Questions

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is a casual simulation game.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is available on Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 19 hours playing Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator was released on February 22, 2024.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator was developed by stillalive studios.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator is a single player game.

Similar games include Grow: Song of the Evertree, Bear & Breakfast, Staxel, Garden Paws, Town to City and others.

Garden Life: A Cozy Simulator

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