Video Game / Garden Story

Unify a broken community as the newly-appointed Guardian of The Grove.

Garden Story is a simulation action game developed by Picogram and published by Rose City Games. The game was released August 11, 2021 on Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Concord, the youngest grape in the Grove, is now a Guardian, and it’s their job to help restore the island. That’s a lot to shoulder for a grape barely off the vine... and more than a few inhabitants are skeptical they have what it takes. Fortunately, Concord has friends like Elderberry, Rana, and Fuji on their side!

The player plays as Concord and has to work to restore the Grove to its former glory, gathering the right resources and use them in just the right way to repair social ties that keep the fruits, vegetables, frogs, and fungi together. The more trust you earn from the community, the more help you can get in return.

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The following tropes are grown in this garden:

• A Dog Named "Dog": Most of characters are all named after what kind of fruit they are, or variants of them.
• Ambiguous Gender: Concord is not specifically stated to be male or female, justified in that they are a plant which are asexual. All of the other characters are also referred to with they/them pronouns, even the ones that aren't plants such as the frogs.
• Anti-Frustration Features:
  • There are several accessibility settings to make the game less stressful, including turning off the screen shaking and controller vibrating, adjusting the brightness and the visibility of the weather, and even disabling timed puzzles and dying.
  • If you die, or perish as the game calls it, you'll lose some of your money, however the requests you did that day will still be counted as completed, saving you from having to do them all over again.
  • There is no punishment for letting time pass to the end of the night without going to sleep; it will just stay as night until you do so, and Concord's health and stamina won't be affected by it.
  • When you have to look for Plum in the Mists, there won't be any enemies and all the doors will already be open, so you don't have to waste time fighting like you will on your future visits, especially since you can't save during this segment.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: It's implied that this is what became of most of the other Guardians, as you see their spirits in the Mists Temple. Mandy is the most notable, with their overgrown body being visible, and them saying they'll never return to it. This also happens to the Grove at the end, allowing the world to be changed.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The Silversword, which is required for opening new parts of the dungeons, is said to be very powerful, and certainly looks the part. However, using it has a few seconds of delay which is difficult when most enemies can attack you during that time, and also can't be used on Shelled Rots, Hay Rots, or Cornerstone.
• Book Ends: The game opens with Concord waking up in their home in the Kindergarden. After defeating the final boss and talking to the Grove before it dies, they wake up in the very same place.
• Broken Bridge: Found all over the game, including a few literal bridges. Most of these will either be repaired or cleared after certain events, or you'll have to use a Repair Box and some specific items to have them sorted out overnight.
• But Thou Must!: Sometimes the game will prevent you from leaving the area until you've done a certain action, especially during the first few days when you're going through the tutorials. You don't even get to save until the end of the second day!
• Call a Rabbit a "Smeerp": Your first tool is called a pick, but it looks more like a wooden sword. You later get what's called a dowsing rod, but it looks and functions more like a fishing rood. Possibly justified in the latter's case since you aren't using it to catch any actual fish.
• The Chosen Many: The Guardians were chosen by the Grove; even Plum choosing Concord to be a Guardian was because the Grove told them to. However, only Plum and Concord are left by the game's end, and most of them were gone at the beginning as well.
• Closed Circle: You're forced to spend some time completing requests and favors in each of the other villages after you first arrive in them. For example, you can't leave Spring Hamlet until you've found a way to grow more lily pads to reach Summer Bar with, and the elevator you take to Autumn Town breaks after you use it and you have to spend the next few days clearing an alternative path back (and the elevator will be working again after you've done that).
• Continuing is Painful: Perishing results in you losing a percentage of your money. On the other hand, you don't have to redo any requests you already completed beforehand.
• Early-Bird Boss: The Bookworm is the game's first boss, and quite difficult due to the oozes that it keeps on summoning, as well as the fact that the only tools you have at this point are the pick and the hammer, which can only be upgraded so far before they start requiring items you won't have access to until after you've defeated the boss and moved on to the next village.
• Empty Room Until the Trap: In Autumn Town's sewers, the boss room initially appears to be a small room with two very simple block puzzles and a pool of purple liquid in the middle. Rather than open the door to the next room, completing the puzzles will have the boss emerge from the pool as well as expanding the room.
• Farm Life Sim: Played with. While you can spend most of your time gathering items, completing requests, and growing plants (the results of which differ between areas), there is a main story to complete, and there are only four types of seeds and you can also only customise certain areas. However, you can continue to play the game even after finishing the story, so it's up to you whether you want to fully upgrade your tools and bottles and complete each library's books before or after the final boss.
• Fast-Forward Mechanic: Sitting on benches will help to advance the day ready for when you leave the room. For example, sitting on a bench in one area during the morning will move the time along to day, but it won't actually change to the day until you move to another area. It's useful for if you've completed all your requests and gathered as many items as you can but still have time to spare, or if you want to visit somewhere that isn't open yet, or if you have a request that can only be done at night.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • The days you spend don't always match up to the number of days that apparently pass in the story; some characters will say that certain things happened a few days ago when more than a week has actually passed in-game.
  • The bosses will respawn if you visit the dungeons again until you defeat them in the lower areas, and then they'll respawn there instead). While this could be justified as you not actually killing them, the Rotberg was said to have been causing the drought in Autumn Town, but once you've restored the fresh water, it will stay restored even though you can continue to fight said boss multiple times.
  • At the end, Plum gives you some Leafy Dew to use on the Kindergarden vine and it grows a Greenling for the first time in ages. This is despite the fact that you can get Leafy Dew quite early in the game and using it on the vine will do nothing. It could be justified as being made with the improved dew, though.
• Guide Dang It!:
  • In the Summer Bar, you may get requests asking for driftwood, and find that you'll also need it for upgrades at certain levels. However, the only indication of how or where to find it is when it's mentioned that someone else went into the Waterlog to get some. However, thehollow stumps that you have to break in order to get it don't have a sparkling effect like most of the other items so they don't stand out very well. Not helped by the fact that you may not go through all the same rooms every time you explore the dungeon, and might end up facing the boss before you find any driftwood in the room after.
  • There are several stumps with orbs attached that require certain tools at certain levels to break them. However, there are also some that can't be broken by any tool at any level; instead you have to get one of the Rot to come near it and attack, but the game doesn't make it obvious.
• In-Universe Game Clock: Each day is split into the morning, day, evening, and night. Unusually, the transition between the times of day only happen when moving between rooms, so if you stay in one area during the evening until it reaches the end, it won't actually become night until you move to another area. Additionally, each part has a middle point where the time will pause unless you leave the room or sit on a bench.
• Infinity -1 Sword: Upgrading the pick to level 5 gives it the ability to steal health from enemies with charged attacks, making it more useful than the Silversword.
• Interface Spoiler: In several places. The number of empty item slots in your tool inventory spoils how many you will eventually get, as well as your bottles, the last of which you don't get until the postgame. You will also see seeds and refills to buy in the shops before you even get the seed pouch, and the libraries, repair boxes, and certain upgrades will often reveal items you haven't found yet (although in the library's case, they are silhouettes). Speaking of repair boxes, you see a few places where you can put them before you even get the ability to make them.
• Invulnerable Civilians: Some enemies show up in areas where some NPCs are, but even if they attack you nearby, those characters won't be hurt.
• Item Crafting: You can build different types of items from wood, stone, and bits of other resources you've gathered, and then place them in certain areas. Some of them have uses, such as request boards and boxes, while others are just for decorative purposes.
• Item Get!: Certain items that you get as rewards for favors or advancing further in the story will have a moment of focus as well as text that says "[item name] get!"
• Justified Tutorial: Concord has spent most of their life working in the Kindergarden until the events of the game, so the first few days have them exploring more of the Spring Hamlet and being taught mostly by other characters what they can do.
• Kaizo Trap: When you fight the bosses in the dungeon's lower levels, defeating them will have them keep attacking before they retreat. The final boss also does this for quite a while, although this time there's a visual indicator of how long you have to survive for.
• Luck-Based Mission: Mostly downplayed. Requests are given at random, and you may have days where you only get two requests and none of them are the level you need to progress to. It's also random how many of a specific item you'll get from breaking certain objects, however, there are ways to increase your chances of getting more.
• Luck Manipulation Mechanic: Equipping certain memories can increase your luck stat, making your chances of finding certain items more likely, such as getting glass lenses from breaking bottles.
• No Fair Cheating: Some requests involve having to move an item from one place to another. Most of the time, not only does using the warp system not work, but the item will end up back at its starting point, forcing you to go all the way back there to retrieve it. (It's unknown if there actually are exceptions, or if it's just because of a bug).
• Non-Malicious Monster: What the Rot are. They're involved in the natural life cycle of the Grove's plants, and are trying to help the Grove itself rest after being kept alive for too long, so that the world can change.
• NPC Scheduling: Certain NPCs are in different areas at different times of the day, and there are also places that are open or closed depending on the time as well.
• Parasol of Pain: One of the items you can fight with is a parasol. It's good for attacking quickly in different directions, but makes smaller enemies easier to miss.
• Plant People: Concord is a grape, and the majority of other characters are also fruits or vegetables. However, there are also mushrooms, sea creatures, and frogs.
• Puzzle Boss:
  • The Rotberg in the sewers, at least the first time you fight it, won't appear until you solve the two puzzles in the seemingly small room. After that, the rest of the room will be revealed, and there will be an additional two puzzles you'll have to solve to bring it back down once it's out of your reach.
  • The Grove's clutch can't be attacked normally until you've used the dowsing rod to bring out some oozes and let them damage it until it changes a certain colour to indicate when you can attack it.
• Respawning Enemies: Most of the enemies respawn if you leave the room and re-enter it, although there are some exceptions, which will usually respawn on the next day instead.
• Save-Game Limits: The game can only be saved when going to sleep, which can only be done in the evening or night. However, you can use benches to move the day along to those times.
• Spirit Advisor: Mandy acts as this in the Mists Temple, instructing Concord to take a leaf from their physical body, which becomes the Silversword, and telling them how they can help the Grove.
• Sprint Meter: Running and using a specific kind of tool will deplete your stamina meter and you'll have to wait a few seconds for it to fill back up. There are ways to increase your stamina or reduce how much gets used, though.
• Sword of Plot Advancement: Late in the game you get the Silversword, which you use to clear the doorways to new parts of the dungeons in order to collect three items needed to unlock the final boss.
• Take Your Time: You can spend as many days as you like before progressing the story, and the game doesn't seem to punish you for reaching a certain number of days without doing anything significant; even when a character from the Summer Bar has gone missing and you have to rescue them from the Waterlog, nothing bad will happen to them in the meantime and they'll just say they survived on the water in the room after the boss. When you have to look for another character in the Mists later, events still play out the same despite the sense of urgency, however you won't be able to save the game until after you've found them.
• Utility Weapon: Most of your tools have other uses besides fighting, and they can all be used to break various things into resources. The dowsing rod is the most notable one, as it can be used to pull items from the water, and is required for the final boss fight.
• Virtual Paper Doll: There are many different hats and backpacks that you can buy for Concord to wear. The backpack will even show up on the interface (it uses the default if they have no backpack on).
• Year Outside, Hour Inside: When Concord's spirit visits the Grove, it only lasts for a few minutes; however, when they wake up, it's implied that several days have passed. It was previously stated by Mandy and the Grove that time passes differently on that plane of existence.