Instead of gleefully taking in the natural beauty I had cultivated, I was often times trying to comprehend the jumbled mess before me.Įven though there were aspects of Cloud Gardens that were annoying (mainly due to the lack of proper explanation), I do have to give credit to its Creative Mode. Obscure details combined with the small scale of the dioramas themselves, frequently made it difficult to see and appreciate the finished product. Even some of the plant growing animations (especially the vines) looked stiff and blocky. This could very well be due to playing it on the Switch, but many of the details and textures looked hazy and muddied. Although, I did feel fairly underwhelmed by Cloud Gardens‘ art design. Seeing the foliage gradually takeover the urban decay was somewhat satisfying. A puzzle game is only fun if you know how all the pieces work and fit together. Once I fully understood how Cloud Gardens worked, it became much more enjoyable. Cloud Gardens covers all types, from vines, to cactus, and even bamboo. These are just the first few seed types you can unlock. You can only zoom in and out, and rotate the diorama, but doing so often moves the item you’re looking to place, making it tough to gauge if it will affect your plants or not. However, it’s often difficult to tell exactly how far the range extends because adjusting the camera is usually problematic. When you grab an item it will be surrounded by a circle, and this is the apparent area of effectiveness.
It took a few levels and plenty of frustration to discover that each object gives off a sort of radius of influence that will encourage foliage growth. The act of placing objects around each diorama, as well as their effectiveness, isn’t explained very well either. The original plants can potentially produce new seeds, but only after they’ve been plucked and encouraged to grow from discarded items being placed near them again. These seeds must then be collected (some are tough to spot, so moving the camera is often necessary) and then planted elsewhere within the diorama. What isn’t made clear is that each plant will only reach a specific size, at which point it will produce some seeds and will not continue to grow. This was a reoccurring point of frustration for me early on in the game.īehold, my greatest work of art! It’s what we call “avant-garde”. That’s fine and dandy, until you realize that the pile of empty bottles you’re stockpiling next to your sprout is no longer having any effect, regardless of how exemplary your stacking skills are. For example, from the beginning you’re told that placing trash/objects near a plant will help it grow. That was my biggest issue with Cloud Gardens, that the rules and mechanics aren’t explained very well. Cloud Gardens isn’t a difficult game… as long as you understand what it is you’re suppose to do. It sounds simple, and for the most part, it is. Once you’ve successfully grown enough flora and fauna to cover most of the diorama, you’ll be able to move onto the next level. Once a plant has grown big enough, it will eventually produce seeds of its own that you can collect and use to create new plants within the level. You’ll have to plant seeds within a dilapidated urban setting and place objects around the seedlings to encourage them to grow.
The overall gameplay in Cloud Gardens is incredibly simple. Rotating objects is easier said than done, thanks to an unreliable camera.
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