I am constantly looking for the next puzzle game to play that will spark my imagination and get my mind thinking in new ways. I find it difficult to find the balance between ridiculously easy and unbearably hard (I'm looking at you The Witness). This game found that middle ground. It is challenging, but not impossible. You just have to think of the way you can manipulate the space around you in ways that are not obvious. This game encourages you to think entirely outside the box and I loved it.

I loved the concept of unraveling memories. I really liked the going backwards and forwards in time because it never felt old. The devs ingeniously found different ways to use this mechanic so it never felt overused. They always introduced it very slightly in the first few steps of the game, and then ramped it up. This game was created with such attention to detail. It was also very relaxing - I never felt frustrated, just curious. The ambient music made it almost meditative.

The ending I was not prepared for. Just tugged right on my heart strings. You never think it's actually telling a story until the very very end.

Memories are a powerful thing. They bring us back to the past and reinvoke our feelings from old experiences. They help inform our relationships in the present and our reactions to events that are yet to happen.

The Gardens Between is a new puzzle game from developer The Voxel Agents and it deals expressly with remembering one’s memories of the past. It is a game reminiscing on friendship with two protagonists that are children revisiting their experiences they shared growing up. It is all very relatable and quite touching. It doesn’t hurt that the game has a nice art style to it, accentuating the whimsical nature of our childhood memories.

The game is presented as a series of rocky islands littered with physical touchstones of the two characters memories. For example, one of the levels features a television with a VCR and a NES style console that signifies times the two played games together. But the aesthetic of the environment is only one aspect of the game because each island also represents a puzzle that must be solved to progress.

These puzzles always have the same end goal, climb to the top of the island and light a light fixture up with a lamp. And as one would expect there will be obstacles in the way to prevent progress. Sometimes this will require a character to stand on one object to open a gateway or ramp to let the other progress on a different path for a moment. That all sounds pretty standard but The Gardens Between throws a wrench into the mix by not giving the player control over either of the characters directly. Instead the player can only interact with the timeline and have the characters interact with certain items along the way.

By moving the timeline forward or backwards and interacting with certain objects different paths open up and obstacles are cleared. It is a novel approach and while a bit disorienting at first, easy to catch on to and fun to play. The environmental puzzles get more and more complex as the game progresses but it almost always stays fair and logical provided you search the environment thoroughly. There was one or two that left me scratching my head for more than a few minutes and one towards the end was downright infuriating because it seemingly was playing by a new set of rules. But these are the exceptions and not the rule.

The Gardens Between isn’t a particularly long game and once you understand the puzzle solutions, I don’t think it offers a lot of replay value other than being able to explore the beautiful environments. Some may take that as a knock against it but they’ll be missing out. The game actually reminds me a lot of Monument Valley on mobile, where the joy is in the journey and figuring out the puzzles the first time around providing a memorable experience that sticks with you well after the game is over. If that is something you are looking for, then The Gardens Between is an easy recommend.

tl;dr An extremely interesting puzzle game about moving through time anyone should check out if you like puzzles (includes some flashes in final chapter so fair warning to people who have epilepsy symptoms)

Story - The gardens between is a story of 2 kids, you might find out more about the story then I did as you play through, however I didn't really find any noticable storyline until the very end. Since there is no words throughout it could be argured there isn't one to begin with, but because of the ending I'm giving story as a whole is 8/10

Difficulty - The game is definitely challenging, while some levels come naturally, others require stopping time, or new mechanics that are not specifically stated. I only googled 1-2 out of around 20, so not too too hard, just requires some outside of the box thinking. 7/10

Controls - There's only 2 things, Movement (forward/backward) and Interaction, which makes controls really easy, however since you aren't actually moving the characters you're moving time itself, sometimes you might get confused and try to go up or left moving the character, instead of going right to move time forward. Interaction is very straightforward, but the girl can only do lanterns, and the boy can only do levers, which makes it a little annoying, but still very straightforward. However since the mechanics aren't really taught overall 7/10

Sound - The background noise paired with the music makes excellent combo, sound is overall just amazing throughout. This is definitely an ost that I would listen to outside of the game, especially the credits song, but it can only be played in game, as it is not released anywhere, which is kinda annoying as it is definitely amazing and brings the whole thing together. Simply because you can't find the credit song on many platforms, sound is getting 9/10, when it is easily 10/10.

Overall - I finished the game in a little over 3 hours, across 3 days, doing basically an hour a day, going very much at my own pace, and it was worth the whole thing and more. I would gladly spend more time on this or enjoy a longer version. There is around 8 worlds with 2-3 levels per, you can save and quit after any level, making it very easy to play on a time crunch, as each level is only about 5-15 minutes long. If you are adapt with puzzles this game will likely only take an hour or two, but it could easily stretch to 3-5 or maybe even more. But get your tissues as you might cry at the ending. Final score 8/10 or 4 stars.

The Gardens Between

Finished 2022-07-09

The Gardens Between is an indie puzzle game about memory and friendship developed by The Voxel Agents, released 2018.

I bought it on the Steam sale, regular price is €16.66.

I beat it in 3.4 hours. I did not go for 100%, (yet?).

Premise

It starts off with two neighbor kids that sit in a treehouse talking about something (there is no speech, just body language). All of a sudden time stops and a ball spawns in front of them. The girl touches it and gets sucked into a world with memories from their friendship.

Gameplay

The mechanics are very simple. When you move forward time goes forward and when you move backwards time goes backwards. And you can interact with certain objects.

It’s really similar to how the game Braid works. Braid had more varied mechanics later on though.

You control both kids at the same time. The girls can interact with light balls and a lantern. And the boy can interact with “bells” that can change the state of the world in some way. Both are needed to clear the puzzles.

What I liked

I really liked the puzzles, I got stuck a few times but figured them out eventually. The game has really good sound effects, really meaty/bassy sounds, like thunder, rain, water, etc.

The characters are not speaking and just using body language, I think it’s meant for you to see yourself in the characters.

The story is really good, and you realize why they relive their memories together by the end. The ending is melancholic.

What I didn’t like

The game would benefit from a little more varied puzzles and mechanics. More than just forward/backward and interaction. But the game was supposed to be a short casual experience I think.

Score 👍

The Gardens Between is like watching family videos of a family you don't know. You get glimpses into their world and the joy you view can be imparted onto you. But you know you are viewing something incomplete and any narrative is on you to create. Not that there isn't any fun in creating a bit of your own narrative, but you know it isn't true.

The puzzle format is fun and simple. It reveals the possible complexities a bit too late into the game as the challenge only just arrives before the party is over. I had a dream the other night about a possible puzzle within The Gardens Between's rewound islands. It was a cool idea. I came up with it only one day after finishing the game and two days after starting the game...

I'm sure puzzle ideas were left on the cutting room floor, and I'm guessing it wasn't for pacing or narrative reasons. I get it. This is the game they were able to make with the budget and time they had. My score reflects the game they were able to make with that budget and with that time. If they make a sequel, honest or spiritual, I could see scoring the game a bit higher with puzzles unshackled from their previous limitations.

This is a very simple game, but it is extremely well done and very beautiful.

Whether or not you enjoy the puzzles depends on whether spacial awareness requirements frustrate you. If you've done 3D puzzles and enjoyed them (as I have) then you might like this as well! The mechanic is to move time forwards and backwards in a way that will allow you to proceed. The map is affected as you do this, so you need to be aware of what is affected, how things interact with each other, and how the characters are interacting with the world. I found it to be very rewarding whenever I solved a puzzle to completion, because it forced me to think a little differently, and perhaps more creatively too.

The story itself is extremely simple, but it's what gives the world its beauty. Simply two very close young friends who find themselves navigating a world of their memories together. By solving the puzzles you see key moments of their friendship together. While there is no dialogue or voice acting, their personalities are inferred through their movements through the map and the bits of their memories that we see. I wouldn't say there is anything exciting or intriguing about the story. It's just very sweet and heart warming.

I felt the game was a little short, but maybe that's because I was enjoying it. I don't think it feels like the game goes on forever: it's a good length given that there wasn't too much story to it.

Overall if you've enjoyed puzzle games I think it's definitely worth giving this one a try!