Tiny Garden: Cozy Farming Sim Passes Kickstarter Goal, Aims for Steam, Itch.io Release

Tiny Garden is a new cozy farming simulator game that just recently passed its modest funding goal over at Kickstarter and is now aiming for a release on Steam and Itch.io sometime early next year.

The upcoming game features a virtual plastic clamshell that was inspired by the '90s toy phenomenon Polly Pocket. The game was created by Spanish developer Ao Norte and imagines a world where the iconic hinged mini-dioramas are ecosystems of their own.

Tiny Garden Farming Simulator

Tiny Garden: Cozy Farming Sim Passes Kickstarter Goal, Aims for Steam, Itch.io Release — Developer Ao Norte's upcoming game, Tiny Garden, has surpassed its initial Kickstarter funding goal and is planning to release the cozy farming simulator on Steam and Itch.io.
(Photo : Ao Norte / Screenshot taken from Steam)

In them, players are able to grow crops and sow seeds before turning the handle on the side of the clasped toy. This would help carrots, lettuce, and other types of plants and vegetables spring up.

The main goal in Tiny Garden is simply just comfort and customization and there is no defined scoring or challenges that you need to complete. When you harvest crops, you will gather more seeds and you have a chance to discover new plants, including rare shiny ones, according to Rock Paper Shotgun.

You will also be able to complement your garden with various furniture and other decorations that you can get by trading your crops in.

There are certain plans that can also terraform the gridded landscape allowing for more arid solid to plant cacti in, verdant grass and bushes, or water created by fountains to grow water lilies and other aquatic flora.

The developer explicitly described Tiny Garden as being as compact as the clamshells that serve as its levels. Ao Norte said that players should not expect hundreds of hours of unique gameplay from the "tiny game by a tiny team."

The game is as chill as it looks from its trailer as there is no failure, no rush, and no chance of dying. Tiny Garden was able to cross its initial $5,400 Kickstarter goal within an hour of going live on the platform.

Inspired by Polly Pocket

This particular milestone will let it get a Nintendo Switch release and the fundraising page will remain active until Aug. 1, 2024, and can be seen having several tiers of rewards. The official description for the game says that it revolves around the most humble plastic vegetables, said NintendoLife.

It adds that Tiny Garden is just a relaxing and wholesome experience that lets players garden at their own pace while also discovering charming items and wonderful secrets. It also allows you to grow your crops as you grow your collection.

Based on the game's Kickstarter page, the developer is hoping to release Tiny Garden digitally on the Nintendo Switch in February 2025. On top of being inspired by Polly Pocket with its environment, Ao Norte's title was also inspired by the likes of Unpacking and Summerhouse.

In its official description, Ao Norte said that Tiny Garden will bring players back to the past when they were kids and play down with the original Polly Pocket toys.

While some believed that growing vegetables was as easy as turning the crank, being older and wiser now makes them realize just how hard it is, according to NintendoEverything.