One of the things that slowly forms as you play The Garden Path is the gentle routine you can set out for yourself. You don't need to worry about watering your crops or sleeping to regain your energy as you would in games like Stardew Valley, and you don't have to worry about missing a step if you haven't played in a while. The more laid-back approach to designing a cosy sim isn't unintentional, though, with developer Louis Durrant telling us he doesn't want players to feel punished for not "watering each and every herb, or logging in that particular day".
"One of the first things I wrote when building the design for the game was 'no watering cans!'" he tells us. "I want the world to reflect a long chain of choices that the player has made, rather than punish them for not feeling like watering each and every herb or logging in on that particular day.
"There's busy work you can make for yourself, but those are choices too. Plants might struggle because you planted them somewhere with the wrong soil levels, for instance, but that might be a deliberate choice to diversify an area."
RELATED LINKS: Games like Stardew Valley, Farming games, Relaxing gamesOriginal Article
