My Little Garden review

If you’re looking for an iPhone game that’s absorbing, but not frustrating, take a look at the My Little Garden app from Polish developer QubicGames. It’s a fun & casual gardening sim that’s easy to learn and utterly charming.

Gameplay in My Little Garden is straightforward: you plant and grow vegetables, flowers, and other plants. Each plant requires water, light, and fertilizer to grow, and you have two helpers–a fairy and a lightning bug–to provide them. It doesn’t take long before these two helpers have their hands full, so you need to keep a close eye on all of your plants. You can either harvest and sell full-grown plants or keep them indefinitely; happy plants periodically earn money, giving you an incentive to cultivate a large garden. Some plants help you with your gardening duties, giving water or light to their neighbors. If you arrange your plants carefully, you can grow and tend numerous plants with a minimum of effort.

My Little Garden allows you to set your own pace; your garden can be as little as you want it. Even though you’re encouraged to buy additional gardens, there’s no minimum size you need to maintain. You can accept various tasks for additional rewards, but the tasks aren’t time-bound, so you can go as slowly as you like. The difficulty increases with the number of plants simultaneously growing, but you always have the option to cut back. Gamers who demand constant challenge may lose patience with My Little Garden, but if you like games that get you in a happy little groove, you’ll find that here.

The app is well-made, with cute graphics and pleasant sound effects. There’s not much animation, but what’s there is done well. I’ve been playing My Little Garden for hours, and I haven’t yet encountered any glitches or crashes.

At its heart, My Little Garden is a cute, uncomplicated iPhone game that’s easy to get into. I recommend it for anyone in search of something lighthearted and casual.