Cloud Gardens

Cloud Gardens is a dystopian sandbox puzzle-slash-sim from Noio where you make the most of the apocalypse by making plants grow. It’s an ultra-Zen title that forces you to slow down, think about life, and do a little gardening - which is a totally welcome experience for when you need a breath of fresh air in today’s suffocating world.

Cloud Gardens is a competent, unique puzzle game and a contemplative, relaxing dreamscape, all rolled into one small package.

Cloud Gardens is a gentle-looking, gentle-sounding toy in the “chill” genre. It has a pretty good game hung on top, participation in which is largely optional. Noio’s stated aim “to fill you with satisfaction without the frustration” is a motto that’s been observed. Your mileage will vary based on what you find satisfying and what you find frustrating, but the gameplay, the themes, the music, the sound, and the graphics are all of a piece, admirably on-message, and contribute to a unique, bittersweet atmosphere.

Each individual scene is on a Mario-esque level map which labels each in the world-level format (i.e. World 1-6, World 3-2) which helped remind me that despite its dreamlike nature Cloud Gardens is a game with progression. Each collection of levels is named simply, like Junkyard and Factory, and delivers on its concept. Delightful to the discerning lore-lovers and place-imaginers among us is seeing how the straight line of the Railroad levels passes through the enclosed worlds’ sections on the overmap. It is the world we always return to, with a level representing another train station croppin...

While I can't fault Cloud Gardens for its cool visuals or interesting themes, those things are ultimately lost to fiddley controls and a somewhat obtuse gameplay loop. Many players will likely enjoy the creative side of this game, but others will be left wondering why they are trashing up perfectly nice scenes.