Gardenscapes

Gardenscapes is a hidden object simulation game with a landscaping theme developed by Easy Interactive for the Nintendo 3DS and was released on June 22, 2012. Players earn cash as they progress through hidden object levels and spend it to buy garden accessories to customize the garden to their taste and compete in the “Best Garden” contest.

As the sole inheritor of a mansion with a ruined garden, the player has to sell household items to raise the money necessary to refurbish the place. The sale takes place in the various rooms of the mansion, each represented by a screen showing the available items scattered over the scenery. At the left side, a clock shows the remaining time to finish the sale, with portraits of customers and their orders displayed beneath it. The objective is to find and click on all the required items before time runs out.

Each patron has a patience meter, a series of hearts that start to vanish if the order takes too long to be fulfilled, making them pay less when finally receiving their objects. As in most time management games, the customers leave their payment as stacks of coins, that have to be quickly collected to make the slot available for the next patron. The game incorporates some of the hint system ideas found in the Little Shop series, as extra items that can be collected at each location.

The thermometers make all the visible portraits frosty or glowing red with heat when the cursor is far away or close to the required object. The cameras turn most of the screen white with their flashlights, with the exception of some of the requested items. ? marks can be collected for extra uses for the hint button at the bottom, which replaces the order entries with pictures of the objects. Coins can also be found concealed on each scene, to be clicked and automatically added to the funds.