Stars by the Numbers
With the exception of the Big Dipper, I struggle with finding constellations in the night sky. To me, the stars all seem too scattered to trace the forms of ancient heroes and creatures. I get caught up in the grandeur above, missing out on the trees for the forest. The same could be said about The Gardens Between.
Time and Again
Award-winning developer The Voxel Agents’ new puzzle game, The Gardens Between begins on a rainy night, in a lot sandwiched between neighboring houses. A lone tree holds a treehouse built by the game’s two protagonists, Frendt and Arina. The mopey pair are huddled together under the wooden roof. After a clap of thunder, they notice time freezes momentarily before rewinding. An orb of light appears between them, and after Arina touches it, the two are transported to the shores of an island, marooned in a dreamy oceanic world.
After waking, the two explore the island littered with massive moving boxes and giant versions of Arina’s possessions. This initial island serves as a tutorial. Gameplay is simple—the player must scroll forwards and backwards to manipulate time and tap to activate items on the map. Arina leads the duo, and must capture light within her lantern, while Frendt uses switches and chords to influence time, moving objects around the island and causing buds to bloom or close. There are also areas of purple fog that serve as barriers and form bridges for crossing terrain. Garden Friends, which are cube-shaped creatures, also hop about the map.
There are eight levels total, seven of which are represented with memory-containing constellations. Each constellation level consists of an archipelago of two to three island sub-levels. Each island sub-level holds a key aspect of the larger constellational memory and is littered with objects pertaining to each memory. The goal is to reach the island’s gateway at the end of each map, and place a star-filled lantern on the pedestal of the gateway. After activating each island’s gateway, the treehouse floats to the next island in the archipelago.
Plain and Simple
The Gardens Between is an overall meditative experience due to its smooth gameplay and ambient soundtrack. Most of the game’s puzzles were fairly easy, which allowed me to immerse myself in the act of solving, rather than being fueled by frustration. This calming flow is thanks to the well-controlled progression and straightforwardness of the maps. After solving their way through the first step of a puzzle, the player’s progression is locked. This means that the player can’t revisit the previous steps of the puzzle. This piecemeal approach, coupled with how few frills there are to the levels, sped up my progression through the game. In total, I clocked in around two hours.
Even though the overall layout of the islands are simple, the developers were creative with the overall design. I was often eager to see what new objects would comprise the next island, and rarely was I disappointed. Most objects are necessary for solving the puzzles, which lends to the no-frills approach I described earlier. I loved being able to interact with giant dinosaur bones and typewriters. These larger-than-life surroundings added to the dream-like atmosphere of the game, and kept me interested.
The Point of it All
When starting a new level, I initially rushed through the terrain. I surveyed the landscape and moving components, searching for clues before retracing my steps to solve the puzzles. However, as I progressed through the game and the puzzles got slightly less obvious, I found myself having to stop as the environment held no clear solutions.
Contemplation is central to The Gardens Between. Not only is it the key to progression, but it’s central to the story. Arina and Frendt are retreading the highlights of their friendship, unlocking specific moments be they mischievous, light-hearted or touching. I appreciate and commend this overarching message. However, because so much of the gameplay and cutscenes are brief and forgettable, I didn’t know enough about Arina and Frendt’s relationship by the end of the game to really care. The game itself was fun and creative but suffered for lacking the spark that harder challenges would’ve brought. Regardless, I was touched by the game’s ending, which I won’t spoil, for its heartbreaking scenario and musical score.
What makes The Gardens Between a worthy journey is the clever overarching message—friendships are like the night sky. They are composed of shining moments suspended in the past. If we take the time to examine the skeletal tissue between these moments, we can more fully appreciate their luminance in our lives. Sometimes, we should all take a moment to honor the constellations in the sky, the trees in the forest, and the moments that make our friendships.
A Bittersweet Journey
While the game moves a little too fast due to the creative, yet simple design of many of the puzzles, and the ease at which they can be solved, The Gardens Between is worth the bittersweet journey. The game urges us to slow down, dissect and appreciate the moments that comprise our relationships, for they are like the stars in the sky—numerous and fleeting.
