The Gardens Between – A Dreamlike Puzzle Journey

Rating: 5/5 ⭐️

Even though I had The Gardens Between installed for quite a while, I only got around to playing it recently because it was leaving Apple Arcade, and I’m glad I did, it turned out to be one of the most beautiful and memorable puzzle adventures I’ve played in a long time. It’s a game about friendship, nostalgia, growing up, and the quiet heartbreak of moving apart, all told without a single line of dialogue.

The very first screen instantly hooked me, a moody treehouse scene, alive with rain, thunder, and subtle vibration feedback. That detail set the tone for what followed: a dreamlike world where sound, visuals, and atmosphere carry the experience. The ambient soundtrack is soothing and immersive, and the entire game feels like stepping into a surreal memory.

The premise is simple yet powerful. Two kids, drift through strange islands in their treehouse. Each island is a diorama built from fragments of their shared childhood, whether it’s toys, moving boxes, or household objects transformed into towering landmarks. At the heart of each island lies a core memory that you must reach by solving puzzles.

What makes the game stand out is its central mechanic, you don’t control the kids directly. Instead, you scrub time forward and backward, watching them move along predetermined paths while the environment responds to the flow of time. The lantern they carry is key: it can illuminate paths hidden by fog, but the same light can also dissolve the fog bridges you need to cross, forcing you to plan carefully. Some puzzles even require stopping time at precise moments so that environmental elements like streams of water or lighting interact with objects in just the right way.

The puzzles aren’t overly difficult, but they do make you pause and experiment. Often, it’s about trial and error until everything clicks, and that final “aha” moment when you reach the glowing memory at the end of an island is deeply satisfying. Across 21 islands, the game keeps introducing new ideas without overstaying its welcome. In about three hours, I reached the end and felt like I had experienced a complete journey: compact, yet rich with meaning.

The Gardens Between doesn’t rely on words, but it doesn’t need to. Its quiet storytelling through visuals and gameplay speaks volumes. It captures the magic of childhood friendships and the inevitable change that comes with growing older. I give it a full 5/5.