Garden Paws is the very first cozy game that I bought on Steam when I finally got a PC. After work almost every day, I would tunnel vision on this game to the point where it was probably not very healthy.. I don’t even want to think about how many nights I stayed up much too late (and even pulled all nighters) because I couldn’t bring myself to close out of the game. If you ever had to be mindful of when you started playing a game again after a long hiatus because you couldn’t trust your self control, then you understand that those kinds of games are top tier for you.
Welcome to Florens!
As per the usual cozy game trope, since your grandparents decided to live out their glory days traveling the world, you end up inheriting their farm in Florens! However, this game isn’t just about tending to crops or barn animals. Garden Paws is all about exploring the wilderness and outer islands, helping out your new neighbors, and expanding the town by constructing new buildings. Essentially, you’re a good Samaritan with a passion for adventure! Along with farming and taking care of animals, you’ll be able to spend your days gathering resources, crafting, fishing, running your own store, fulfilling requests for your neighbors, and so much more.
ALL THE CUTE ANIMALS!
Overall, Garden Paws is such a cute game and is absolutely the cutest one I have ever played. I know many cozy games are cute games, but there is nothing like..
- Having a bunch of cute talking animals as your neighbors
- Being a cute animal (of your choice) yourself
- Being able to breed, raise, and tame cute animals
- Being able to ride on some of those said cute animals
- Being surrounded by wild, cute animals
- I think you get it hahaha
The developers of this game decided to not only have real life animals in their game such as hedgehogs that you can name after your real life hedgehog, but they also have mythical animals! I am ashamed to say that although I spent so much time on this game thus far, I haven’t even stumbled upon any of them yet. These mythical animals are deemed as “rare animals,” so they can only be found in certain areas or if you complete certain requests. For the sake of spoilers, I’ll leave those details out.
In addition to including animals that don’t even exist in real life, the developers also included animal colors that don’t exist either. There are some colored animals that can be found and tamed in the wild, which are the pink sheep, pink penguin, and blue penguin.
Breeding is like a box of chocolates
Another way that you can attain colored animals is through breeding. As you can see above, those chickens in the middle Breeding Pen are of a different color AND size! Breeding animals is definitely very fun since you’ll never know what you’ll get, but you must admit that the Breeding Pen itself plus the little hearts coming out of the chimney are really cute too! You can’t see it in the photo, but the little pillow inside is also shaped like a heart <3
Tired of living an easy, laid-back lifestyle? Enter the Dungeon!
If you love cozy games that are all about the usual farming, socializing with NCPs, and resource gathering, but also enjoy games that include some action, then Garden Paws is the game for you! The entrance to the dungeon can be found at this location on the map near your home. After talking to the devious-looking little guild master cat, Hash, you will be equipped with a wand and ready for battle! Don’t forget that the wand can be used to fight enemies AND shoot down the random little bubbles you see floating up from bodies of water. A present will drop down from the bubbles and you’ll have the chance to get some cool loot!
As you progress through the game, you will be able to get different equipment for combat such as other types of wands and swords. There are maaany levels in the Dungeon; well above 100. Every 10 levels, there is a different elemental theme: lava, rock, ice, desert, and forest. In between each element theme, there is a boss level, so you’ll have ample time to prepare yourself for each one! Most importantly, the Dungeon has loot that can only be obtained in there, so make sure to stock up! Oh and yes, I absolutely got mobbed in the picture on the left while attempting to get the perfect screenshot..
Ready to begin your Garden Paws quest?
Garden Paws can be ran as a single player or online co-op game with up to 10 players in Story Mode and 32 players in Creative Mode. It is currently available on the following platforms:
- Steam for $19.99
- Nintendo Switch for $24.99
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