The Garden Path News

Welcome back!

I am happy to announce that, just two weeks since we launched, we have passed 75% funding on Kickstarter!

I wanted to thank you once again - to be at this point in the project and already so close to hitting that main goal is endlessly encouraging, and wouldn't be possible without the support of each and every wishlishter, backer, and supporter.

Please continue to spread the word about The Garden Path if you can! It remains one of the best ways to bring more people to the game, especially now when we're on that home stretch for the main goal.



You can find and follow the Kickstarter with the link below:

[h3]https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromcarrotcake/the-garden-path-a-hand-illustrated-slice-of-life-sim-game[/h3]

You can see how the project is doing and which rewards are still available - but I must report that the one-of-a-kind ceramic models kindly being crafted by my Mum are now all gone!

I’ve already updated the demo a handful of times with fixes over the past two weeks, many of which I’ve been able to find and debug thanks to your help sharing notes on the Discord.

If you’ve had a chance to play the demo, thank you - I really appreciate you checking it out and hope you enjoyed your time in The Garden. And if you haven’t played the demo yet, there's still plenty of time to download and give it a try.

Either way, if you have any thoughts or questions, be sure to send them my way.

If you haven't yet joined our Discord community and want to share your experience with the demo or just say hi then find us here:

[h3]https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU[/h3]



Thanks again for reading, sharing and supporting The Garden Path.

Whether you've been able to back the game or not, I hope you'll join me on this last stretch ~ To 100%!

Until next time…

*

Follow us on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromcarrotcake/the-garden-path
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU
Follow us on Twitter: @fromcarrotcake

And if you haven’t yet, please consider giving The Garden Path a wishlist and a follow!

Welcome back to the Steam community and, yes, The Garden Path is live on Kickstarter now!

As mentioned in my last update, there's been a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes setting this all up, so I hope you enjoy everything we have to show!

If all goes well, this campaign will be a big step in eventually bringing The Garden Path to new platforms and new places, allowing even more folk to enjoy and experience the game.

Should the opportunity arise, your support will also go to making sure everything runs as smoothly as possible, and give it that extra layer of polish.



You can find and follow the Kickstarter with the link below:

[h3]https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromcarrotcake/the-garden-path[/h3]

Here you can read about the campaign’s story, learn more about how your support will help, and back The Garden Path should you wish.

There are some neat rewards on offer, from prints and pins - and I've even got my Mum working her magic on one-of-a-kind ceramic models that you can pick up.

Perhaps even bigger news -- you can now begin to uncover the garden and meet some residents in an early test demo, available to play right now!

It's a snapshot of what's available in the game, but hopefully it will give a feeling of what's yet to come, and you can always share your experiences, thoughts, or report any bugs in The Garden Path discord ~ I'll be there responding to as many as I can.

https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU



Thank you for reading and for supporting The Garden Path!
Whether or not you’re in a position to back the game on Kickstarter, your engagement and excitement alone are always hugely appreciated.

Expect more updates (and Kickstarter news) to come!

Until then...

*

Follow us on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromcarrotcake/the-garden-path
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU
Follow us on Twitter: @fromcarrotcake

And if you haven’t yet, please consider giving The Garden Path a wishlist and a follow!

Welcome back to the Steam community!

Strange to think it’s been over a month since the official announcement of The Garden Path--it’s been a whirlwind and your support so far has been an invaluable encouragement. But, now, there's even more to come just around the corner: The Garden Path is coming to Kickstarter!

This is something that’s been in the works, behind the scenes, for a little while now, and I’m thrilled to finally reveal this next step for the game. The Garden Path has grown so much over the years and, after some deliberation, I really believe crowdfunding will give the game a better shot at being accessible to many more people who would want to play.



For now you'll have to wait until the page goes live to hear more about the project’s story and goals, but all support will be going towards getting additional help in polishing the game, so it’s as good as it can be when you get your hands on it and that as many peoplecan get their hands on it...

Head to the pre-launch page and you can give it a follow to be one of the first to know when the campaign goes live (there's even some neat, limited rewards that that will be on offer).



Before I wrap up, I wanted to share with you the new notification system I was recently working on for the game, in case you missed it elsewhere. It consolidates a number of information points that arise throughout the game, so it’s easy to see everything important.

It's navigable anytime using the D-Pad or Arrows Keys so long as you aren't using other UI elements and, since the visuals go through varying stages of presence depending on use, the game-view remains uncluttered. I think it's quite intuitive.

It's since become an integral part of the game, a place for advice, learning more, and building a greater sense of what's happening in the garden around you.



I’m pleased with how silky smooth it turned out!

*

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you’re as excited for the Kickstarter as I am. Stick around for more updates on The Garden Path and the Kickstarter campaign.

Until then...

*

Follow us on Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fromcarrotcake/the-garden-path
Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU
Follow us on Twitter: @fromcarrotcake

And if you haven't yet, please consider giving The Garden Path a wishlist and a follow!

Hey there and welcome to our Steam community!

I’m Louis Durrant, the sole developer of The Garden Path. This project has been a labour of love for me for some years now, and I’m very proud of how far it has come in that time.

As this is my first post here, it felt only fitting to welcome you to the garden and explain a little about how the world works behind the scenes. So, without further ado, welcome to the garden...



Deciding how big the garden should be was more difficult than I had anticipated. I want players to feel like there's a thrill to exploring, but that they'll soon have it mapped roughly in their heads.

To have curated the entire space should be a tremendous challenge, but most players should feel content that they have shaped a corner of the garden to their liking.



Originally, I had intended on having the world be entirely randomly generated so that every gardener had a completely unique place to explore. In the end, I settled on making the garden a collection of different ‘acres’ (randomly generated puzzle pieces).

Some ‘acres’ will be more interesting than others, while some will be rarer. Each, however, should offer something new to uncover.

With this system, players who enjoy rebooting and rebuilding their garden might experience some deja-vu, but ultimately will be met with a fresh new world to explore each time. Meanwhile, players dedicated to their original garden can continue to explore, expand, and enjoy the environments.



Every ‘acre’ is approximately 9 screen sizes, and every garden is made up of 36 ‘acres’. It’s pretty big. As is the most important metric: running from one side of the map to the other certainly takes a fair bit of time.

But with flora and fauna to examine, as well as charming characters to chat to on the way, players will feel satisfied in finding something new every time.

*

My goal for The Garden Path was to create a game where players could have a tranquil space to kick back in, feel safe, and get lost in their garden. With this system in place, I think the garden will be a cozy and comfortable home-away-from-home.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed reading a bit about the garden. Expect more updates to follow as I continue working on The Garden Path.

Until then...

*

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/nWTg5WvZbU Follow us on Twitter: @fromcarrotcake

And if you haven't yet, please consider giving The Garden Path a wishlist and a follow!