JOHNNY KUZMANOVSKI

The Gardens Between Narrative:

Arina and Frendt have snuck out to their tree-house on a stormy night to spend time together. TGB displays the area that they live at and how they are next door neighbours shows that they are close friends as this is a story of friendship. A magic light orb appears and casts the friends into a dream like state where they relive their past friendship memories. The player controls the timing of the memory to see how their friendship was forged through the lens of the past.

 

The player will need to solve the memory through a series of puzzles in order to recall them correctly. The rewinding and forwarding of the completed memory states adds to the depth of the character personalities and their story of friendship. The memory where Arina is throwing popcorn at Frendt is a moment that adds character to TGB as it creates a memorable link to the player and showcases the allegory of how one looks back at childhood memories as they become older.

 

The final level in TGB is a combination of the their current time as the narrative takes an unexpected turn; where this is not only a story of friendship but a sad ending as Frendt is moving away. Arina and Frendt spend their last night together as friends. TGB creates a very unexpected turn which adds to the engagement and investment into the narrative.

The Gardens Between Mechanics:

TGB begins with the player learning time manipulation mechanics and Arina using the lantern and light. Introduced later on is Frendt and his ability to use the chimes and control the flow of time of specific objects, “friend” boxes that leap around the level as they travel to areas that Arina and Frendt cannot, the purple cloud of haze and specific environmental puzzles depending on the level. The introduction of these mechanics is produced at an excellent pace as each level introduces a new mechanic which allows the player to use said mechanic to progress through the story.

 

Arina and Frendt’s mechanics resemble their personalities of outgoing and intellectual pursuits respectively. The added characters that explore different pathways of a level add to the expansion of thinking and depth to the puzzles that the player will have to solve to relive the memory.

 

Would these few mechanics allow for intricate puzzle design? The addition of unique themes and environments for each level adds to the creativity of the puzzle design and investment in the narrative.

 

TGB puzzles consist of mainly trial and error as they push the player to explore the memory in order to recall it correctly. This implores the player to be heavily invested and engaged in TGB’s puzzles, level design and narrative. However, the final level’s purpose was to underwhelm the player before the impacting and unexpected plot twist of happy memories to sudden sadness when the player uncovers that Frendt’s family is moving away.

 

While the final level works well for the narrative perspective, it would have impacted more in the puzzle perspective if it had been more intricate, creative and harder than all the other puzzles previously. Abstract and lateral thinking is aimed for as it keeps the player engaged and promotes creative thinking but at the same time it could cause confusion and frustration for some players. Puzzle games all depend on the player as TGB have a good amount of balance to keep the player engaged, invested and curious.

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The Gardens Between Aesthetics:
TGB aesthetic blend and mesh together to create unique memory pockets and unique puzzle levels that offer a wide range of puzzle solving through the use of mechanics and the level environment. TGB has a simple indie aesthetic that portrays all the necessary information to the player with ease as each level is consistent and has a coherent art style. The cleanness of the screen and the user interface allows for a smooth gameplay as the player can focus on puzzles rather than being confused by a cluttered system. TGB uses paint and light to guide the player in selected puzzles while other puzzles seem to have little direction as the player is encouraged to explore the whole memory to fully experience the wonderful narrative behind TGB puzzles.

Overall:
The Gardens Between is a game that provides thought provoking puzzles with a heartfelt and meaningful narrative. TGB showcases a parable of how individuals look at childhood memories of friendship when we become older. The sheer depth and creativeness of the puzzles will keep players challenged for a few hours as a single playthrough could be completed within an hour if one knows the solution. The Gardens Between is a hauntingly beautiful puzzle game about the significance of friendship.