Game Classification

Gardenscapes is a hidden object game with a landscaping theme. As the sole inheritor of a mansion with a ruined garden, the player has to sell household items to raise the money necessary to refurbish the place. The sale takes place in the various rooms of the mansion, each represented by a screen showing the available items scattered over the scenery. At the left side, a clock shows the remaining time to finish the sale, with portraits of customers and their orders displayed beneath it. The objective is to find and click on all the required items before time runs out. Each patron has a patience meter, a series of hearts that start to vanish if the order takes too long to be fulfilled, making them pay less when finally receiving their objects. As in most time management games, the customers leave their payment as stacks of coins, that have to be quickly collected to make the slot available for the next patron.

The game incorporates some of the hint system ideas found on the Little Shop series, as extra items that can be collected on each location. The thermometers make all the visible portraits frosty or glowing red with heat when the cursor is far away or close to the required object. The cameras turn most of the screen white with their flash lights, with the exception of some of the requested items. ? marks can be collected for extra uses for the hint button at the bottom, that replaces the order entries with pictures of the objects. Coins can also be found concealed on each scene, to be clicked and automatically added to the funds.

The money received has to be spent on a separate screen showing a top view of a garden section, with the butler Austin roaming around it and giving advice and clues. Parts of the ruined scenery can be clicked, bringing the available purchase options. As the garden is reformed, letters and telephone calls move the plot forwards. When the section is complete, the game moves to the next one. [source:mobygames]

Distribution : Retail - Commercial
Platform(s) : iPhone / iPod Touch - Macintosh - PC (Windows)

Links

• http://www.mobygames.com/game/gardenscapes/