The UnderGarden

The Undergarden: A Serene Symphony of Bloom and Sound 🌷🎶

TLDR: The Undergarden is a tranquil and visually stunning underwater exploration game that offers a relaxing escape from the frenetic pace of everyday life. However, its overly simplistic puzzles and lack of challenge may leave some players wanting more substance. If you're seeking a calming and meditative experience, The Undergarden is worth exploring. But if you're looking for a game with deep gameplay or complex puzzles, you might want to look elsewhere. 🤷‍♂️

[hr]

🌷🌸 A Symphony of Bloom and Light 🌸🌷

The Undergarden immerses you in a mesmerizing underwater world teeming with vibrant flora and fauna. As a tiny, glowing creature, you traverse enchanting caverns, leaving trails of blooming flowers in your wake. 🌺 The game's primary objective is to awaken dormant plant life by collecting pollen and planting it in designated areas, transforming barren landscapes into vibrant gardens. 🌱

Exploration is at the heart of The Undergarden's experience. You'll navigate through winding tunnels, discover hidden alcoves, and encounter whimsical creatures that react to your presence and the music you create. 🎶 The game's physics-based puzzles are simple yet satisfying, requiring you to manipulate objects and interact with the environment to progress.

The Undergarden's standout feature is its emphasis on music and sound. 🎶 As you collect pollen, you attract musical creatures that follow you and contribute to a dynamic soundtrack that evolves as you explore. The game's ambient soundscape is both soothing and immersive, creating a truly relaxing atmosphere.

[hr]

🌿 The Tranquil Depths 🌿

The Undergarden's visuals are simply stunning. The underwater world is rendered in beautiful detail, with lush vegetation, shimmering light rays, and vibrant colors that pop off the screen. The game's art style is both whimsical and evocative, creating a sense of wonder and tranquility.

The sound design is equally impressive. The ambient music is both soothing and atmospheric, perfectly complementing the game's serene visuals. The sound effects are subtle yet effective, adding to the immersive nature of the experience.

The game's controls are simple and intuitive, allowing you to focus on exploration and puzzle-solving. The physics-based interactions are well-implemented, and the overall gameplay is smooth and responsive.

[hr]

💤 The Calm Before the Storm (Or Lack Thereof)

The Undergarden's biggest drawback is its lack of challenge. The puzzles are generally straightforward and rarely require much thought or effort to solve. While this may appeal to those seeking a relaxing experience, it may leave others wanting more substance.

The game's pacing is also quite slow. There's no sense of urgency or danger, and the leisurely pace can become tedious at times. While the game's atmosphere is undoubtedly relaxing, it can also feel aimless and lacking in direction.

The Undergarden's limited scope is another potential issue. The game is relatively short, and there's not much incentive to replay it once you've completed the main story. While the game's atmosphere is undeniably captivating, it may not be enough to keep players engaged for long.

[hr]

🤔 The Verdict

✅ Pros:

* Beautiful and immersive underwater world
* Soothing ambient music and sound effects
* Simple and intuitive controls
* Relaxing and meditative gameplay

❌ Cons:

* Overly simplistic puzzles
* Lack of challenge and pacing
* Limited scope and replayability


[hr]

Overall Thoughts

The Undergarden is a unique and visually stunning game that offers a peaceful respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Its tranquil atmosphere, enchanting visuals, and soothing soundtrack create a truly immersive and relaxing experience. However, its lack of challenge, slow pacing, and limited scope may not appeal to everyone.

Whether you'll enjoy The Undergarden ultimately depends on your expectations. If you're seeking a game that challenges your intellect or provides hours of intense gameplay, you'll likely be disappointed. But if you're looking for a calming, meditative experience that allows you to simply unwind and enjoy the beauty of the underwater world, The Undergarden is worth diving into. It's a game that prioritizes atmosphere and exploration over challenge and complexity, making it a unique and refreshing addition to the puzzle-platformer genre.

[hr]

Dishonest Trailer

[FADE IN]

EXT. A DARK AND GLOOMY UNDERWORLD – DAY

A whimsical, yet slightly melancholic soundtrack plays as we see a tiny, glowing creature floating through a barren landscape.

NARRATOR (V.O): In a world where every game is a battle for dominance, where your thumbs are worn raw from button-mashing, and your sleep schedule is dictated by raid bosses...

The creature lands on a wilted flower, causing it to bloom instantly with vibrant colors.

NARRATOR (V.O): ...comes a game where the only thing you have to defeat is your own boredom.

INT. A CAVE FILLED WITH GLOWING PLANTS – DAY

The creature swims through a school of bioluminescent fish, illuminating the dark waters.

NARRATOR (V.O): Welcome to The Undergarden... where relaxation is the ultimate power-up.

EXT. A LUSH MEADOW WITH GIANT FLOWERS – NIGHT

The creature bounces on giant lily pads, causing a musical chime with each jump.

NARRATOR (V.O): Forget complicated combat and skill trees. Here, your only weapons are pollen and a knack for accidental gardening.

MONTAGE

The creature serenades a grumpy-looking plant with a flower petal, transforming its frown into a smile.
It rides a giant snail, leaving a trail of blooming flowers in its wake.
It dances with a group of friendly mushrooms, their caps bobbing to the music.

NARRATOR (V.O): Okay, so there's no epic boss battles... but trust us, you'll be too zen to care.

EXT. A MAGICAL GROTTO WITH WATERFALLS – DAY

The creature floats peacefully on a crystal-clear lake, surrounded by lush vegetation.

NARRATOR (V.O): Unwind in a world where time slows down, and stress melts away like a popsicle on a summer day.

INT. A COSY CAVE WITH A GLOWING FIRE – NIGHT

The creature snuggles up with a group of fireflies, their light casting a warm glow on its face.

NARRATOR (V.O): If you're looking for a challenge, well... you might find some hidden areas that are a bit tricky. But hey, no pressure.

EXT. A STARRY SKY ABOVE THE UNDERGARDEN – NIGHT

The camera pans up to reveal the entire Undergarden bathed in the light of a full moon.

NARRATOR (V.O): So, ditch the doomscrolling and dive into The Undergarden. It's the perfect game for procrastinating on your actual responsibilities.

ON-SCREEN TEXT: The Undergarden. Where the only thing you'll conquer is your own stress levels.

[FADE OUT]

[i] Ryan George style Pitch Meeting :

[SCENE START]

INT. STUDIO OFFICE - DAY

A SCREENWRITER (wearing an old, faded indie game T-shirt and sporting a dreamy expression) sits across from a PRODUCER.

PRODUCER: So, you have a... video game pitch for me?

SCREENWRITER: Yes, sir, I do! It's called "The Undergarden," and it's like a playable ASMR video.

PRODUCER: ASMR is tight!

SCREENWRITER: It's a chill-out game with no enemies or fighting. Just a cute glowing creature exploring a beautiful underground world, planting seeds, and making flowers bloom.

PRODUCER: Sounds kinda... boring.

SCREENWRITER: What?

PRODUCER: What?

SCREENWRITER: It's not boring! There are giant singing flowers, puzzles, a rideable giant fish...and the music is super chill. Perfect for stressed-out people who need to unwind.

PRODUCER: (Sits up, eyes sparkling) Get this thing into development! We're gonna sell a million copies to stressed-out people who need to chill!

[SCENE END]

I really love this game. Not only is it nostalgic for me (from maybe 2013/2014), but it's so very peaceful, adorable, gorgeous, cozy and all around pleasant to play in my opinion. The controls may sometimes be a little fidgety since it's very physics based (especially when carrying heavy or light fruit), but I think it's a nice game considering I loved it when I was 13/14 years old playing with friends and I still love it about ten years later.
It's simple enough to fit a child/ teenager (it's also not very violent, some plants explode but nothing harms you) and it's nice to play around with the musicians and customization.
I do however think it fits an adult as well considering that it is a little tricky to control at times and getting every collectible and finishing each level with 100% might take a while to do. It's also just so relaxing. I personally enjoy a break from all the hectic games which usually seem to be either too all over the place for me to chill with or just too complicated to even bother to understand.

I also really like that this game feels so unique. You fly around, making plants grow beautifully and solve simple but rather time consuming puzzles. You can collect little musicians with different instruments to bring with you and they add on to play together the more of them you collect. There are different kinds of fruit you can use to solve the puzzles and there are a few environmental challenges as well.

All in all, a gorgeous and relaxing game to play if you ask me. I really like it. :)

This is much easier with a controller than a mouse imo, but it's just a really nice, cute, relaxing game. Great for unwinding

*Playing this on my Steam Deck*

Don't listen to the bad reviews on this! This game is incredible if you want a BEAUTIFUL and relaxing game to play in between the high paced games we all play regularly. This game is so amazing and I'm so glad I can play it on the go with my Deck as it plays super well on it.

This is one of my favorite games to chill with. All you need to do is float around, explore, and help things grow. There's no health, no time, no enemies, and only very mild obstacles and puzzles. This version of the game doesn't even have achievements, so you don't even have to worry about being perfect. Your character is customizable and always happy. I always enjoyed this game in the first place, but now with 2020 bringing the world to the brink of absolutely madness, I treasure this game even more. It's a nice way to just take a time out from all the chaos and just... be happy.

I was happy to find this on Steam. (I originally purchased this on Xbox 360 but when Xbox One came out Under Garden never made it to the conversion list, which I found very disappointing.) Now I can play once again. A plus is that it works with a gaming controller.

This is a charming, relaxing game. I always find the little critter I played so cute. The costumes I get progress through the game are an extra bonus to make my critter cuter.
I know this game didn't meet the expectations of some people by the comments posted. But I can say if you are looking for a fun, relaxing, clean family game this is it.

A cute, relaxing, but ultimately boring game. You just float around solving simple physics puzzles i.e. holding "grab" to collect various fruit, some of which might float to the top of the screen or others which drift to the bottom of the level to push a lever to open the way for you, or knocking a larger piece of fruit downward to press a see-saw type shape to let you progress underneath. The game's sounds and visuals are well-made for what they are, and seeing the flowers bloom / begin to glow as you fly near them while carrying other creatures who are playing various music instruments (a guitar, drums, etc..) is a cool, chill effect, however the game doesn't do much to surprise you from these initial gameplay loops and characters, and begins to get mundane quickly. If you're dying for a relaxing game with cutesy characters in a mostly pointless venture maybe give it a go but I think most people will find they grow bored of what this game offers relatively quickly, even if you find the overall characters and design enjoyable.

This was a fun game when I was able to play it. I have no idea what changed but it now crashes on startup. Was very hopeful that I could play this on the TV with Steam Link and Controller but a crashing game isn't a playable game. Many people have reported this issue but there is no fix and no patch will be released due to developer problems and politics. Should not be available for sale while it is broken. Can not recommend.
http://steamcommunity.com/app/9980/discussions/0/558750544094241991/?ctp=3

edit: I have been getting mixed success after setting compatibility options on the executable itself. Still sadly not recommended until this is (ever) patched.

I am on the fence about recommending this one.. I do, but not to a wide audience. There is no story or exciting gameplay, so don't look for that here. The UnderGarden is a very relaxed and calm experience. I would describe it as a zen puzzler. If you go into the game with that mindset, it is enjoyable.

Trippy and relaxing. That's it, really. Want pretty lights and colors but don't want to kill things? Play this.

Only downside is sometimes the music stops randomly, but it's been a while since I played it. Maybe that bug got fixed.

I tried this on a pc with windows 10 and it is the least intuitive game I have ever tried. Even after reading the help it was not obvious to me what I had to do or click - or what I could expect various objects to actually look like in the game (and I use this term lightly). Alternatively, maybe it was supposed to do something that doesn't work with windows 10. Don't know, don't care, waste of money. Sometimes it nice to float around BUT after about 10 minutes of trying to do anything at all after reading the help, it's bloody boring. Maybe they should provide a tutorial (or help) with visual examples of what various game objects look like and how you interact with them instead of half a page of text with a mouse diagram. I know what the left and right mouse button look like. Sorry this one is a thumbs down for me.

This game is really beautiful, with impressive light effects. But i don't know for which public it is. It's too childish for adults and the gameplay is too bad for children, even with a gamepad...

Don't buy this game !!! I can't even play this game, because it always crash after load Atari logo..... again and again... So you can't do anything. just only look at the crash message. I have window 8.1 64bits , try to change region (locale) and Nothing!!!! WANT TO REFUND!!!!

While I will not recommend anyone follow my review, I still feel like it would be important to share my experience with the game.

When I bought the game, I initially played it through the first level before setting it aside and going to a new game. This itself was not in a lack of interest, but to another video game that took said interest.


It was my girlfriend at the time who found interest in the game and began playing it. Now, I had been playing some games that stress my hardware, but this game was no where near the extent of the other games at the time.

Hence my surprise when my PSU exploded when she was playing this game. Typically, I would have excused this as a hardware issue on my part and would have not had any discomfort with the ownership of the game... Until it happened again. And again. Strike three was where I decided to make a sub category entitled, "Games of Shame," that includes games that are either unplayable or that I just don't typically like, and placed the game into said category.

From what I was able to play and/or witness, it is quite a beautiful game well suited for the casual/indie demographics. Quite family friendly, beautiful graphics, and appealing sound.

A strange, almost ambient game that evokes the Creatures titles of PC-yesteryear. You're a funny little sea-creature floating through dreamlike underwater caverns bringing the flora and fauna back to life, solving simple puzzles, collecting... collectable dealies, and sometimes trailing along other little sea creatures playing instruments. Your only objective is to get to the end of the level, and you can't be injured, so all the collectables feel rather arbitrary--but what game isn't? It's ambient and weird in ways that I don't think were necessarily intended, suggesting much, offering practically nothing. Think of it an adorable, feng shui Dark Souls.

Not a lot happens in this game and you can't get hurt or die, but it looks great, and that's good enough for me. There are some environmental type puzzles, although they're not all that challenging - but this game isn't trying to be that in any way. UnderGarden is more about relaxation, exploration, and having something nice to look at on the screen. UnderGarden hasn't crossed that line where it's more "art" than game; it is definitely still a game, but just don't expect tricky platforming or any enemies. I'm not even sure if you could call it platforming - you just float around making cool glowing stuff grow and weird dudes play music while nobody attacks you and even explosions don't hurt, and eventually you find your way to a portal and then go some place else and do more of the same and maybe you put on a hat. I like this game; 6 out of 10, would propagate.

Beautiful and relaxing little game, but seems like it was adapted from console. Doesn't seem to save my pregress and force me to start all over each time.

Great relaxing game but at the same time frustrating puzzles. good game to play in offline mode and just chill. the levels sometimes take around an hour each and there are many levels. saving the musicians are a pain but worth the thrill of the map.

Aquaria without combat or a story. Considering Aquaria was without question my favorite game of 2007, that makes this game still pretty awesome. Get it for your nephew or your step father if Aquaria is too hardcore for them.

Very Entertaining game to play. Its colorful, and full of light. The game play is enjoyable and puts a smile on your face. It has co-op were 2 people can play at the same time on the same computer but not over the net. It has cute characters and a fun enviorment to play in. It is a great game for kids to adults to play. If you get a chance to get this game on sale i wouldnt let that sale go by. A great game!

Zen gaming at it's best. Colorful, simple, and above all relaxing...except when you can't find the last flora in a level. That is infuriating. Still well worth the price.