Best Games That Let You Grow A Garden

Summary

Hokko Life offers a unique gameplay experience focused on crafting over similarities to Animal Crossing.
Hello Kitty Island Adventure provides a cozy, relaxing atmosphere with gardening, baking, and bug collecting activities.
Final Fantasy 14’s casual gameplay contributes to making the MMO feel like home, with gardening as a rewarding and engaging activity.

Whether it’s an open-world game, an RPG, or a life simulator, there is no doubt that having lots of side activities can add to the immersion and offer a much-needed change of pace. Some players might like the stealth and thrill of hunting, and others may prefer the less intense pastime of baking. While many of such activities reward players for their patience, few do more than gardening.

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There are plenty of games that allow players to cultivate their own life, be it flowers, vegetables, or some unknown alien flora. Usually, this also means that players get to reap the benefits of getting their hands dirty, harvesting their veg to eat, or picking flowers for decorations. These are some of the best games that let players grow a garden, perfect for green-thumbed adventurers.

This list focuses on gardens, rather than farms. Games where gardening is the main premise/core gameplay have not been included (e.g. Garden Life, Viva Piñata).

10

Hokko Life

Not Just An Animal Crossing Dupe

Because of its visuals, Hokko Life is often compared to Animal Crossing, but players willing to give it a try will find a distinct title with its own unique gameplay. While there are some similarities between the two as casual sims, Hokko Life focuses on crafting more-so than its counterpart.

Once players have a shovel and some seeds, they can plant flowers pretty much anywhere and any time, as they thrive in every season. Planting flowers is done to improve the town, but there’s nothing stopping the player from designing a garden outside their house.

9

Hello Kitty Island Adventure

Explore, Make Friends, And Complete Puzzles

Adventure

Life Simulation

Systems

Released: July 28, 2023
Developer(s): Sunblink
Publisher(s): Sunblink

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a life sim based on Sanrio’s iconic anthropomorphic cast of characters. With lots of places to explore, players can travel and solve puzzles, making friends along the way. They can also jump into multiplayer and enjoy some co-op adventuring.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure is a very cozy game, with a relaxing pastel aesthetic and plenty of chill activities to do. Players can bake, decorate, and collect bugs, as well as grow their own garden. The variety of flowers can even be bred to produce new colors and patterns.

Unlocking the greenhouse via the “Grand Garden Gathering” quest allows players to house region/event-specific plants.

8

Final Fantasy 14

One Of The Biggest Comebacks In MMO History

Systems

Final Fantasy 14 had a big turnaround when the reboot A Realm Reborn was released, overhauling the initial disaster into an essentially new game. FF14 isn’t just an action-packed, monster-slaying MMO; there’s also plenty of casual gameplay that helps make the server feel like home.

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Once players have acquired a property, they can get to work on their garden patch (purchased from Housing Merchants). Flower growth will depend on soil and fertilizer, and as in real-life, failing to tend to the patch will cause them to wither, but it’s satisfying to see the hard work bloom.

7

The Sims 4

Players Can Become Whoever They Want To Be

Released: September 2, 2014
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts

The Sims 4 is over a decade old now, and admittedly, it’s beginning to show its age — a concern given away when EA made the game free to play in 2022. That said, the game is still drawing in new and existing players with the amount of freedom it gives to pursue pretty much anything they want.

Character creation and house-building are two of the main appeals of The Sims 4, gardening being one hobby that can be leveled while also making the home’s exterior more aesthetic. Players have to water the plants, maybe even weed and bug spray them, but it pays off; veg can be eaten and flowers displayed.

6

No Man’s Sky

Plenty Of Strange And Surprising Planets To Explore

Adventure

Action

Survival

While No Man’s Sky was a relatively empty game when it was first released, there is no denying that it has since had a dramatic glow-up in terms of both content and gameplay. This space exploration-slash-survival game has something for fighters, explorers, and survivalists alike.

If players choose to set up base on a planet, they can build with a degree of freedom (provided they have the resources). This includes the ability to create a garden. Cosmetic flora can be purchased from quicksilver merchants, while a wide variety of crops can be planted and harvested, even if it’s merely for aesthetic purposes.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition Tag Page Cover Art

Released: October 28, 2016
Developer(s): Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher(s): Bethesda Softworks
OpenCritic Rating: Strong

Part of why Skyrim remains a popular RPG is its combination of possible playthroughs and nostalgic (if clunky) mechanics. Whether players decide to pursue a career as the Dragonborn or settle down with a family on their own personal homestead, Skyrim has something for everyone.

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If players decide to build a house with the Hearthfire DLC (included in Special Edition), they can add a garden onto their property to grow ingredients. Likewise, they can build a greenhouse that grows both food and ingredients; particularly useful for making valuable potions without needing to venture out for the components.

4

Subnautica

An Underwater Survival Horror Full Of Dangers

Survival

Horror

Open-World

Science Fiction

Released: January 23, 2018
Publisher(s): Gearbox Publishing
OpenCritic Rating: Mighty

Subnautica is a staple underwater open-world game that blends story, survival, and horror almost seamlessly. Stranded on an alien planet, the player must figure out why they crashed and find a way to escape before the aquatic terrors get their way. Between the mysteries, though, there is plenty of scavenging and crafting to be done to make the ocean feel a little less hostile.

Players can use interior or exterior grow beds to plant seeds (the required grow bed depending on the species). Some of the flora are weird and beautiful, making for some aesthetic additions to players’ bases. As an added bonus, most can be harvested for food or crafting ingredients.

3

Stardew Valley

Create The Farmstead Of Dreams

Released: February 26, 2016
Developer(s): ConcernedApe
Multiplayer: Local Multiplayer, Online Multiplayer
Publisher(s): ConcernedApe
OpenCritic Rating: Mighty

Stardew Valley is the epitome of farm life sims, loved for its cozy vibes with both chill and grindy gamers enjoying what it has to offer. The game is primarily known for its focus on farming, but that’s not to say that players can’t carve out a bit of time to focus on making their farmhouse a bit more homely.

Flowers in Stardew Valley have a number of purposes; they can be used for crafting, cooking, as gifts, and to encourage bees to make honey. While they do have a seasonal life, keeping a flower garden is both an aesthetic and fruitful, adding a bit of extra color to players’ land.

2

Minecraft

Build And Survive In An Endless Sandbox World

Platform(s): 3DS, Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii U, PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PS Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360
Released: November 18, 2011
Multiplayer: Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
OpenCritic Rating: Mighty

Minecraft is one of the best-selling video games of all time, and a franchise complete with books, spin-offs, and as of recently, a film. There’s no confusion as to why it’s still so popular, with its blocky sandbox worlds offering players the opportunity to build almost anything, from cottages to castles.

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There are a range of diverse biomes in Minecraft, each with their own flora and fauna to harvest. So long as there’s a dirt block, players can simply place hand-picked flowers in their garden, or throw down bonemeal for random plant growth. They can also plant various seeds for a veg patch, providing the dirt is tilled and has a water supply.

1

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Systems

Released: March 20, 2020
Developer(s): Nintendo EPD
Multiplayer: Online Multiplayer, Local Multiplayer
Publisher(s): Nintendo
OpenCritic Rating: Mighty

Starting with a humble tent, Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets players establish themselves as part of the community on a desert island at whatever pace they like. Players are pretty much free to do as they please, be it upgrading their house, restoring the island, or collecting wildlife.

One of the many cozy activities in the game is creating a garden. Flowers can be dug up and re-planted or grown from seeds, and they can be crossbred to create new colors. Picked flowers can be used to decorate and craft with or wear, making it not just a cozy and pretty pastime but a useful one. One of the unique elements of the game is its real-time seasonal gameplay; flower seed availability at Nook’s Cranny will depend on the month and hemisphere.

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