As an avid gamer with some several decades of quality (mostly...) gaming experience under my belt, I'm well aware that many "games" that are being released to the market that are aimed for kids are at best badly designed, badly narrated and probably better at training the children to be attention deprived addicts of a Skinner box contraption.
So, I'm always on the lookout for some really great games that I can show my own children, to try and get them to appreciate the genre as a real narrative genre that can evoke emotion whilst challenging the brain, mind and hand-eye skills. At the moment, most of the games that I have for my oldest child are more of the puzzle type, mostly it is due to the lack of experience with a Mouse/Keyboard control interface... I guess it is going to be a lost cause as she seems to be taking to a controller much better than the interface that is preferred by her father!
NOTE: Apologies for the "screenshots", they were taken from a phone at the screen.... my kids wouldn't let me hit the keyboard screenshot button whilst they were playing!
The Game
The Gardens Between is a time tweaking puzzle game published in 2018 by the Australian game studio, The Voxel Agents. It is the story of a pair of neighbour friends (Arina and Frendt), and the game opens on a rainy dark day... something is happening that definitely isn't a happy event.
During the storm, the Arina and Frednt run out to take cover in their treehouse... and there they are transported into a dream world by an orb of light. From here, we are in the dream world which forms the basis for the puzzle gaming.
The Mechanics
Each "level" is a self contained island in a "chapter-chain" of islands. The objective in each island level is to get the orb from the beginning through to the end gate, after which the friends are transported off the island. The player interacts with the puzzle only by fast-forwarding or rewinding time, during which any actions taken by the friends will stick fast in the time loop.
This permanence of changes in time is the key to solving the puzzles, as there are a number of dark forces that will steal the light orb from the friends... and paths that are blocked unless a past event can open the way.
The levels start off pretty easily and slowly gain in difficulty. For an adult, the game is on the easy side of things... but it is the perfect pitching of difficulty for a mid to late primary schooler. Despite the lack of huge development in the game mechanics, it is something that has enough depth to last a few hours of gameplay time.
The story is incredibly touching and it is more than enough to keep one's interest in the game... it is revealed in a short animation on the completion of each island level chain, without written or spoken words. It is just music and the animation, and is more than enough to convey the emotion and meaning of the developing friendship. In fact, it is really quite a powerful way of telling the story...
Visuals, Sound and Performance
The Gardens Between has a really beautiful art style, cartoonish and possibly hand drawn? The dreamworld is really quite a beautiful place to discover... it is like the trip through the shared memories of the friends, things stand out of proportion depending on their importance to the memory.
As I had mentioned before, the story animations are just heart-breakingly beautiful. The power of storytelling without words, just actions and a soundscape is something that can be just so much more moving than a literal description or a narration.
The soundscape is something that needs to be also highlighted. It is hard to describe without actually experiencing it, but this is a game that really deserves to be played with good headphones, or a stereo system. The music is just a perfect complement to the relaxed nature of the puzzling... yet ramps up when required for the emotional hits and darker moments.
Performance for this game shouldn't be an issue for most machines (that said... I have more decent machines than the average person...). That said, this game has been ported to iOS as well as the Nintendo Switch... so, pretty much any modern PC should be able to handle this without breaking a sweat!
Conclusion
As a discerning gamer... I am loath to give games to my kids that I consider to be low quality trash. Things that I would be horrified to play for myself... so, I am always on the look out for good quality games that are beautifully narrated and created. The Gardens Between fits this bill, relaxed and involved puzzling mechanic that involves a bit of thinking about how time flows, combined with an amazing visual style and soundscape that just hits all the right points.
Of course, a beautiful game with an interesting mechanic isn't enough to make a game... the story and narrative is the key that binds all these ingredients into a meaningful package. The Gardens Between has a touching and emotional story, told without words... I was incredibly impressed (and also had a little tear...)!
Review Hardware
Played at 1080p on:
Intel BX80662I76700 Core i7-6700 Processor (3,4GHz)
6GB EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC GAMING
GIGABYTE Z170N-WIFI
Ballistix Sport LT 16GB DDR4
Samsung 960 EVO M.2 512GB
S4 Mini Case (NFC Systems)
