Gamescom 2018: The Gardens Between is a Beautiful Time-Twister on Switch

August 24, 2018

Australian developers had their own booth in the Business Area of Gamescom this year, with many coming across like BigAnt, Wicked Witch and Panda Arcade. Some of their games were even being shown off at other larger booths as well, as was the case with The Voxel Agents’ The Gardens Between which was set up on demo stations for indie titles on the Nintendo Switch, and which I was able to spend a short time with, ahead of the game’s release on multiple platforms in September.

The Gardens Between is a showcase for fantastic, subtle animation – in fact it seems like the central gameplay device has been set up around getting to watch it over and over again. Players watch as a boy and girl, best friends, wake up in a dreamlike world filled with surreal elements from their memories. They’re modelled in a sweet  clean style that’s a little reminiscent of games like Flashback or Another World, both games which were also known for their excellent animation. Your main interaction with the game is controlling the flow of time – moving it forward to see where they progress, or rewinding it backwards. However, puzzles do come into play, as some elements can be influenced by your interaction with time, removing an obstacle or revealing a key item to the friends they’ll need to move forward. For a game linked to memories, it’s a beautiful mechanic that marries with the concept perfectly. On Switch, the game’s stellar presentation looked as good as any of the other version’s I’ve seen, although I wish I’d gotten the chance to try it out in handheld mode, as it feels like a great game you could chill out with on the train.

The Gardens Between is out on 20 September, 2018 on Switch, PS4 and Steam.