Garden Story Arrives on Nintendo Switch Today in New Action-RPG Adventure

Written by Brandon Hofer on August 11, 2021

News: You can check out this new adventure where you need to help your community from Rot and other things threatening the Grove’s peace.

Garden Story, the adorable action-RPG where a young grape protects and rebuilds a whimsical community from developer Picogram and published by Rose City Games, blooms today on Nintendo Switch, Steam and Epic Store for Windows PC as well as MacOS with no prior release date announcement, as revealed today at Nintendo Indie World Showcase.

In a small, hidden land resides The Grove, a massive tree full of mana. Four settlements surround the great tree: Spring Hamlet, Autumn Town, Winter Glade, and Summer Bar. Denizens of these towns include Greenlings — precious fruit, fungi, and vegetables — Seafolks, and Frogs. Each region appointed honorable citizens as Guardians, leading to safe, happy communities. But now the villages have fallen into disrepair, and the age of Guardians seems to be nearing its end.

This mantle now falls to Concord, the youngest Greenling around. As the newly-appointed Guardian of Spring Hamlet, they’ve got plenty of work ahead of them to prove they’re worthy of such a prestigious title. Help the community by checking the daily request board for tasks, including gathering resources to help local shopkeepers, repairing bridges to ensure safe passage for citizens, battling the invasive entities collectively known as Rot, and much more.

Prepare for the challenges ahead by mastering Tools useful for both combat and harvesting. Slash bothersome roots with a Sickle or use it to chop hay free from Rot. Pluck shells from the sea or the armor off of enemies with the Dowsing Rod. Upgrade each tool with precious resources, then explore the deepest corners of dungeons and battle bosses threatening The Grove’s peace.

Help your fellow neighbors in need to earn more than 60 memories with the denizens of the towns. Each memory empowers the young Guardian to carry on their mission by providing useful perks like improved Stamina, Run Speed, or Health or other unique abilities. Collect schematics throughout the world, then use the handy Toolbox to create Benches, Request Boards, Town Storage Containers, or more decorative items like Umbrellas.

Settle into a new role on the coziest island around, with warm acoustic instrumentation and catchy synth beats composed by Grahm Nesbitt (Floppy Knights, Goodbye Doggy) accompanying Concord’s adventures. Dress up with fashionable hats like the Sparkle Cone or Golden Sun Snapback to make Concord shine. Enjoy a wholesome pixel-art world while living and evolving as a Guardian ready to cultivate love and confidence wherever they go.

“Garden Story is inspired by generations of different migrant peoples whose love & courage place me where I am today,” said Picogram, creator of Garden Story. “It's dedicated to them and the wonderful stories they will never have the chance to tell."

Garden Story is available for Nintendo Switch, Steam for Windows PC and macOS and Epic Game Store for $19.99 USD. It features English-language support. Check out the trailer below and tell us what you think. Will you be picking it up?