Skip to content
criticmeterBETA
Log in
Cloud Gardens

Cloud Gardens

Noio·Released Sep 1, 2021·Single player

Platforms
Xbox Series XPCXbox OneSwitch
Genres
PuzzleSimulationStrategyIndie
Critic70/100
Across 1 review
AgreementData pendingNo votes yet
About

A chill game about using plants to overgrow abandoned wasteland dioramas. In Cloud Gardens players must harness the power of nature to overgrow lo-fi scenes of urban decay and manufactured landscapes. By planting seeds in the right places, they’re able to create small overgrown dioramas of brutalism and beauty, salvaging and repurposing hundreds of discarded objects to create unique structures for nature to reclaim. Players can dive into a relaxing sandbox mode with no goals, where they are simply left to delight in their own creativity and create beautiful scenes, or take on a “campaign” of six chapters, where the task is to strike a balance between nature and the manufactured by covering each scene with salvaged objects and lush vegetation. This is a chill game where the player is allowed to delight in their own creativity. The player's task is to completely cover the scene in plants. As you overgrow the objects, a meter fills to show your progress. You are given objects to expand the scene. These objects contribute energy to the growing of plants, but you will also have to cover them in foliage to complete the stage, striking a balance between nature and the manufactured. With generative soundscapes by Amos Roddy, composer of the Kingdom Series.

Reviews

1 review
Nintendo Life logo
Critic70/100
Agreement

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.

Read full review at Nintendo Life
No vote recorded.