The Gardens Between

2018 has been an all right year for gaming, but I'm not going to lie, there haven't been a lot of games that have truly made me feel something. I'm talking about experiences that leave me gutted and emotionally drained. The Gardens Between does just that, and not because it's a sad and depressing journey, but rather because of the memories of my own childhood friends it pulled out of me with each puzzle. The Gardens Between is one of those special games that you're not going to soon forget.

This is a time-bending puzzle game about two friends who grew up living next to each other. It's a game about the shared moments and the things that bond us. In this case, we get to experience the many years of their friendship through a surreal adventure that is every bit as imaginative as it is sweet. We get to know so much about both the young boy and girl without either of them saying a single word, and I'm not sure I would want it any other way.

To set things up, the boy and girl are doing what they always do -- hang out in the tree house located between their two homes. But this is not any other day, as the pair discovers when time quite literally stops and a glowing orb mysteriously shows up in their wooden sanctuary. This is just the start of what turns out to be a brief, but emotionally satisfying adventure through the friendship's greatest hits.

The hook here is that you can play with time. That is to say, moving forward will advance time, while moving backwards will rewind everything that has happened. This is a simple concept that is made incredibly tricky when you realize that you can interact with things in time and make subtle adjustments to solve the puzzles. If that doesn't get you excited for the possibilities, then you and I like different kinds of puzzle games.

A lot of the tasks revolve around using the girl's lantern to collect light from the islands to create bridges, eliminate fog and ultimately complete the stage. You'll quickly see how this can become complicated when you encounter light-sucking black holes and fog you won't want to get rid of. And that's before you start having to use the kid's old technology, like 8-bit consoles and ancient computers, to solve the puzzles. This is one of those games that starts with a simple concept and then keeps layering one new idea after another.

What's nice is that the time stuff is fairly easy to wrap your head around. You aren't really controlling the two characters directly, but rather pushing right to advance time and left to rewind. The girl can interact with the light and put down her lantern, while the boy is able to ring bells and make a path for the girl. One of the things he'll play around with is a machine that will allow you to advance time for only one object while everything else stays frozen. But don't worry about any of this becoming frustrating and too overwhelming, because the game does an excellent job sectioning off the different puzzles and never making them boil down to trial and error tactics. The solutions make sense and are always logical; they just aren't obvious at first.

Click For the Full Picture Archive

There are seven different worlds to complete before the big finale, each with two or three different stages full of smaller puzzles. Each of these stages takes place on small islands with oddly-shaped mountains in what appears to be the middle of the ocean. You'll start to notice a theme with each of these areas, as they represent important events in the two friend's lives. Some stages will be filled with old tape decks and VCRs, another will feature dinosaur bones, and yet another world will be filled with tools from dad's garage. And once you've solved the world's puzzles, you'll be treated to a visual of the moment that inspired those stages. It's both simple and effective.

And I think that's what I respect the most about this game. When you're dealing with rewind and altering time, there's a desire to make things more complicated than they need to be. The Voxel Agents have used great restraint, opting instead for smaller and more poignant moments than trying to be too ambitious. As a result, each level feels important; like it's advancing a larger narrative. The game never throws in filler to extend the length, but instead is confident in the levels and puzzles it puts forward. I felt like I had gone on an emotional roller coaster ride by the end, and I loved every second of it.

The Gardens Between is a small game that will leave a big impact. It's an enthralling journey with endlessly clever puzzles and a deeply emotional core that will no doubt remind you of your childhood friends. It's also gorgeous. I love the look of this game and its gentle, soothing atmosphere. It's also creative, but never overwhelming or frustrating. The Gardens Between is a time-bending puzzler for anybody that wants to feel something. This is a special game.