Listen to the Wind
—
Listen to the Wind
Game
Game2024
Horticular: Build a Garden, Attract Wildlife
Developer inDirection Games
Horticular is a relaxing garden builder where you grow plants, design habitats and attract a wide range of wildlife. Help the gnome Keepers restore a barren wasteland with magical powers and populate it with adorable critters. Reclaim nature from a looming corruption and create your perfect garden. From the Steam store page
233 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
87
LovedLoved
167 positive · 24 negative
95% range 82–91%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 167 | 24 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 9 | 1 | 22 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 1 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
327 of 358 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
88% recommend · 169 yes, 23 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 192 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (379 of 423 positive).
Players praise Horticular for scratching the Viva Pinata itch with its charming garden-building and wildlife attraction. [1][2][3] Many find the habitat system frustrating due to auto-placement and lack of removal options. [4][5][6] Some reviewers note the game is slow-paced with tedious mechanics like waiting for timers and repetitive spellcasting. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [6]
The game has a lot of potential and fun, and I loved it,, until I didnt. The auto placing habitats where I DON'T want them drove me from this game. I've rarely seen such an irritating mechanic in a game. You do your best to prepare a place for a new habitat and boom.. game placed a habitat for another creature there. I don't need FOUR goldfish habitats thank you. Maybe that pond I was painstakingly preparing was for …
- [14]
RATING: 7/10 I like this game, and would recommend it for a light and charming puzzle game. The gameplay loop is based on altering tiles to build habitats for animals based on their certain terrain/object needs, and it's very rewarding to get into the minutiae of tailoring every tile to fit as many animals as possible in one area. More animals = more income to buy more objects and expand your land. However, the game …
- [16]
TL;DR Do you have ADHD and/or autism just like me? Do you like complex systems, building, and unlocks in games? Spend a small amount of money and WAY too many hours on this game. I genuinely can't recommend this game enough! At sale, it's a STEAL! The last two weeks I have played 40 hours of this game. That is a half-time job. My actual job has been stressful lately and this game has seriously been like therapy for …
- [4]
I definitely recommend it but it's not for me, which is ok! Love the concept and the graphics but stopped playing because the habitat thing got too frustrating to deal with. It's not very clear as to what the animals want exactly, if it used the same idea as in terra nil maybe it would've been perfect.
- [13]
Needed a game to hook my brain onto to escape The Horrors. It worked, and also, it is THE NICEST GAME IN THE WORLD. What really makes it is that your animals don't just stay in their own little "habitat" squares - they have to have that home base of resources, but then they wander or swim or fly all over the place, and they hide under things when it's raining, and the whole thing just feels so ALIVE. T_T
Summarised from 34 of the 234 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 13, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
88% of the 192 Steam reviewers we collected recommend Horticular: Build a Garden, Attract Wildlife. The complaint that keeps coming up: frustrating auto-placement of habitats with no deletion. Deal-breaker or nitpick?
Reactions
60 of 233 · most liked firstHello Bluesky! We're Slug Disco, a small UK-based game studio making our first game Empires of the Undergrowth - an RTS about ants. We publish a bunch of other nature games too. Join us for Empires of the Undergrowth, Beetle Uprising, Ecosystem, Adapt & Horticular!
neutral · AI labelView post →What I enjoyed: - The design and art is very well done. - The flow of missions gave me a steady thing to do. - Lots of different things to plant, and the decreasing payout forces some variety. - Figuring out habitat setup felt like small puzzles. What got me to stop: - Spellcasting felt more annoying than fun, but it's required to do it frequently. I felt like I was fighting the game. - There are days when I have nothing to do, but still have to wait it out, and the days are slow. Here's…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular (2024, PC) These might be the tiniest houseplants I've ever posted but I assure you they are there! Really love this game, it's kind of like a city builder but in a giant garden, good stuff.
positive · AI labelView post →going to refund it. i'm puzzled by this one. all the vertical tutorial screens make me think it was in plans to be a mobile game? that would make sense with the time delays to build things, too, and the multiple forms of currency . . . and the touchscreen-looking interface . . . others mentioning the bad tutorials are right. the menus are bad too. and yes, the creature habitats -- it seems like that's a point where a lot of people realize they aren't having fun haha. it's also strange to sell…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has a lot of potential and fun, and I loved it,, until I didnt. The auto placing habitats where I DON'T want them drove me from this game. I've rarely seen such an irritating mechanic in a game. You do your best to prepare a place for a new habitat and boom.. game placed a habitat for another creature there. I don't need FOUR goldfish habitats thank you. Maybe that pond I was painstakingly preparing was for a frog habitat? But nope, now I'm stuck with 4 of the same habitats with no way…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm marking this review as negative but it's really more Neutral. There's some desperately needed QOL changes this game needs for me to feel good about recommending it. This sort of game is generally something I would deeply enjoy, but there are multiple compounding issues that make the gameplay more frustrating than it needs to be. I really do like this game when it is going smoothly, but as animals gain more complex needs like other animals nearby the frustration starts and compounds.…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For a game that is all about beautifying the land in a confined space and building complex interacting habitats, the habitat system is terrible. In my opinion, gamebreakingly so. You can spend an absurd amount of time and money building something perfectly to your specifications only for it to all be ruined because the game force creates a frog habitat that you can't remove over your 300% goldfish habitat which drives them out. You having no ability to remove said frog habitat. Or the animals…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular started out great but ultimately after a few hours I realized this had one MAJOR glaring issue. I saw almost every single other negative review mention it as well, the habitats for the animals are disaster! The habitats need completely reworked. Why am I constantly battling with different animals and their habitats not being able to coexist? Wildlife will get upset and if you don't move them or fix their habitat they will leave, and the problem with that is, it's nonstop. A frog…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →RATING: 7/10 I like this game, and would recommend it for a light and charming puzzle game. The gameplay loop is based on altering tiles to build habitats for animals based on their certain terrain/object needs, and it's very rewarding to get into the minutiae of tailoring every tile to fit as many animals as possible in one area. More animals = more income to buy more objects and expand your land. However, the game is massively unpolished and lacking quality of life. Enter with some…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Great great game. Here’s a tip: If the conditions are right, it will automatically generate a habitat. Then, an animal will show up, and you’ll be tempted to put the animal in the habitat. You do NOT have to do this. DONT house a frog just because there is space. Leave that fella hopping around without a home. It’s okay. There’s no way to remove an auto-habitat other than removing qualifying items in it’s chunk.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I started playing #horticular recently! Very fun game. Here's the guy I'm playing as - his name is Erevus, and he's a kind and jolly gardening wizard. :) His wizard hat is made of denim. A wizard jat... -- #indiegames #fanart #oc #wizard #artistsonbluesky
neutral · AI labelView post →I love this game a lot and I'm only holding this as a negative review so the devs will see my criticism. There are same small changes that could be made that would make a big difference to the quality of life in the same. Locking habitats so new animals don't just want to move in anywhere.. For example bees want to move everywhere but get sick because this habit wasn't bult for them. It would be better if animals only came into the garden when you built a habitat designed for them. As you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Would like to have it without the corruption thing, where you have to "hunt" enemies with magic and repair stuff, etc.. Just get the best out of the garden without any pressure, that is what I would wanted. Shame really.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I didn't find the game relaxing, rather instead annoying. The UI and descriptive elements lack detail, I find myself wanting to know more about a specific tile to best enhance it. Another big annoyance is when wanting to change or delete plants, you have to click each individual plant/placeable multiple times of in theory for hundreds or thousands of times, there are no mass delete or creation tools to alleviate this issue. I find creating habitats for creatures very, very annoying not fun…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game could be amazing but the habitat feature needs fixing. Hope they sort this in future updates, lots of people reporting similar frustrations with auto generated overlapping/moving habitats that you cannot delete or edit yourself. If this was fixed i could see myself playing this game for hundreds of hours!
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is way too complex and overloaded with different mechanics to be fun. The developer have failed to design a careful sequential introduction of different features and mechanics. You will be overwhelmed. Tons of text you have to read which is not clearly comprehensive. The developer have failed to design a clear and useful interface for all these different mechanics. Most of the time you are furstrated and wondering why it's not working. Did I miss something in the last 50 letters and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game is sort of fun, but there are some things that are just way too frustrating to actually enjoy myself. For one, I am trying to create a Dragonfly habitat, and I added everything I have in my already established Dragonfly habitat, all prerequisites (including the Bumblebee). Yet, it still is not becoming a habitat for some reason and there is no way to know why without just happening to place the exact thing the game wants you to have. For two, the corruption monsters at night are too…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Playing through some new games, then art with a new vtuber friend! www.twitch.tv/voiddebris #Vtuber #TempestTower #Horticular #Art
neutral · AI labelView post →Habitat function is busted. Can't 'lock' a habitat, and doesn't have clear instructions on how to build the 'supreme'(?) versions either. (You build up a habitat, and then get told to make it 'supreme' or whatever, and no instructions on how to do so.) Also not very helpful UI regarding habitat impact, you can place an item, and it will then update the values. But you can't hover over where you would place it, you have to actually place it for the values to show. Meaning that you have no…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Live Now! ✨🌿 Cozy pixel art lovers, this one's for you! I'm diving into Horticular, a beautiful pixel adventure that was generously given to me as a game key! Come hang out, get comfy, and let's explore together!! I got my Gojo boba ready! 🌸 Twitch.tv/pinkfairyblossom🌸
neutral · AI labelView post →Very complicated UI and the force wait time for terrain changes is unsatisfying. The slowness of the terrain changes combined with the deluge of complex tutorial info somehow feels like simultaneously too much and also not enough is happening all at once. The last straw for me was wanting to set up a bee area and then the game automatically put the zone one block to the left of where I wanted it to be. Could not figure out how to move the zone and just figured it was best to cut my lost time…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular, a relaxed garden building and management game with classic isometric graphics, releases its 1.2 Halloween update with new items. [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1928540/Horticular/)
neutral · AI labelView post →Really scratches that Viva Pinata itch. Since it's newer, some of the mechanics are improved which is nice. I do miss having pinatas though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →TL;DR Do you have ADHD and/or autism just like me? Do you like complex systems, building, and unlocks in games? Spend a small amount of money and WAY too many hours on this game. I genuinely can't recommend this game enough! At sale, it's a STEAL! The last two weeks I have played 40 hours of this game. That is a half-time job. My actual job has been stressful lately and this game has seriously been like therapy for me. It starts out fairly simple with easy animals with simple requests for…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I enjoy decorating games, but often find panorama games too heavy on the sandbox and light on the direction to really get as into them, as much as i *want* to. Horticular doesn't suffer from this problem, and so I've been deeply absorbed in this game far beyong the lifespan of my interest in games like Tiny Glade and Make Room (beautiful games I recommend, but I couldn't quite get into myself). While it reminds me a little of the particular types of mobile game represented well by the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular is a fantastic cosy game, with some minor annoyances. First off, it looks great. The art and variety of items is extremely deep and it's hard to find items that don't really go together, a fantastic testament to it's cohesive art style. I just love how you can just slap things down or meticulously plan it out and either way it'll still look great. The music is nice too, and the rainy days and nights are a vibe. All the little critters are very cute and it is satisfying to just sit…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game has finally scratched the itch that Viva Pinata left me with. I had a lot of fun with it.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →🤍 LIVE 🤍 playing #Horticular today! i was very kindly gifted a code to the game and it's new DLC, but i will still be completely honest about my thoughts/opinions ;w; twitch.tv/pastelkofii | #twitch #vtuberEN #pastelkofiiLIVE
neutral · AI labelView post →Horticular, a relaxed garden building and management game with classic isometric graphics, releases their Frozen Frontier DLC. [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1928540/Horticular/) [DLC Youtube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2X3Le4mLI8)
neutral · AI labelView post →Horticular is an adorable relaxing game that reminds me of the good time I spent with Viva Pinata in my childhood. I always hoped games would bring back that old charm, and here it is! I only played the story mode on the easiest difficulty so far and will later try out Sandbox. My garden is chaos and I can't get myself to organize it since I'm too busy trying to make progress in the storyline. Being brought to your first little garden plot to help out and inhabit it with plants and wildlife.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →i guess i don't understand the hype. this game is extremely aggravating, with half explained mechanics and terrible visual aides. too frustrating to continue playing.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →As someone who initially bought this game bc I've seen it compared to Viva Pinata, I have found it to be so much more enjoyable than that. It's the perfect game to chill out with while you listen to a podcast or audio book. Watching your garden grow and cute little creatures start to appear and thrive is very rewarding!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular, a relaxed garden building and management game with classic isometric graphics, releases their Frozen Frontier DLC. cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/26191801 > [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1928540/Horticular/) > >[DLC Youtube Video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2X3Le4mLI8)
neutral · AI labelView post →So excited Horticular has a DLC 🥰 It's a cute, colourful, sim game where you build a garden, create biomes for creature frens & have gnomes to help you out. 💜 store.steampowered.com/app/3421790/... #indiegames 🎮
positive · AI labelView post →Such a cute game! It's reminiscent of Viva Pinata from back in the day but with *so* much more to offer!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I definitely recommend it but it's not for me, which is ok! Love the concept and the graphics but stopped playing because the habitat thing got too frustrating to deal with. It's not very clear as to what the animals want exactly, if it used the same idea as in terra nil maybe it would've been perfect.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I really like the concept, but the mechanics make it really difficult to love. Specially with the Habitat. I don't know if it's because I don't understand but if you put an animal that does not get along with another one by mistake (because the game sent you a curious animal that you did not want) you are basically stuck with it. Unless you create another home for him? Sometimes you create an habitat for a specific animal (at 100%) , but it never come and instead you are stuck with a stupid…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Escape to a magical world and create your own garden that cares for creatures of all kinds. Adorable pixel art, chill music and relaxing atmosphere. I have spent many an hour in this game, it is a delightfully chill experience. I adore animals, gardens and comfy environments. Due to my disabilities it's difficult to maintain my own garden. This game is a great way to engage with nature for some folks like me who may have difficulty accessing it. It was so much fun unlocking new biomes for all…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular, garden building/management game with gorgeous isometric graphics, released on Steam.
neutral · AI labelView post →I was initially hyped for Horticular but the habitat mess made me quit. I'm certain, this is the main reason people stop playing this game and end up frustrated. Basically every negative review says the same for the past years (!). If animals randomly choose their places, at the very least stop them from moving somewhere where they destroy the habitat of an already established species. The frog-goldfish relationship is a nightmare to deal with and you have to deal with it for the entirety of…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The design element is good, the gnomes are cute, and it's fun trying to get animals to come to your garden, everything else just sucks. So many people said it was like Viva Pinata, it's not. I LOVED Viva Pinata, it was a great game. This game is frustrating and boring. The corruption happens all too often, and always seems to happen when you've conveniently "overloaded" your glove and makes it impossible to cure anything or restore corrupted items. You spend tons of time making a really cool…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I recently played this game's predecessor, Viva Pinata, again for old time's sake, and I realized something: I think as a garden simulator game, Horticular is probably the better game. I like both of them, but after getting a better look at both games I can't lie about this.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a surprise gem of a game this is. The first few hours are a bit strange and a kind of learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's pure joy. Definitely a yes for someone who want a comfy, yet puzzley level challenging game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolutely love this game, I can see myself playing this for many many hours! The art style is super cute, and the Viva Pinata inspiration really shines through. It's a very slow paced game though, which definitely isn't for everyone. A few mechanics feel a bit clunky as well, for example, moving an overlapping habitat. That's really my only complaint! I'm excited to experience more of this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's fine. The pace at which this game operates though is way too slow. The amount of gold required for upgrades, land expansion, buying new plants etc is way too high compared to how much gold you can generally make in a day. It means most of my time playing was spent waiting for time to pass so I can continue expanding. This also created a problem with the missions, as if you'd like to complete the times objectives you'll have to spend a lot of gold, it's glacial and not really for any good…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Going to play a game that actually works! Nice change of pace? 🤔 🔴LIVE NOW on #Twitch with Horticular! Come say hello and let's hang out! 🔗 www.twitch.tv/thenickster15 #Promosky
neutral · AI labelView post →A fun, relaxing gardening strategy/puzzle game. I found the game-play loop very enjoyable. The initial puzzles are fairly easy, but deeper in they become more challenging. The challenging puzzles are optional for the main story quest. You also get a good amount of flexibility in how you lay out your garden to meet the goals - there's real flexibility for creativity and focusing on things that interest you, while still making core game progress. There are some creative, subtle touches that I…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →So far this game has been enjoyable to play when I want something chill and zen to play. Love building up the garden to attract more wildlife. No cons at the moment, I may update my review after playing for a bit longer.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Extremely fun time waster. This game is all about building habitats for garden creatures. It is not a farming or life sim in any regard, and if that is what you are looking for, you won't find it here; however, I urge you to take a look at this game regardless. It has many similar themes such as a heavy emphasis on space and time management. It plays more like a city builder than anything, and has probably become one of my go-to games if i want to chill and waste a little time, or escape into a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Needed a game to hook my brain onto to escape The Horrors. It worked, and also, it is THE NICEST GAME IN THE WORLD. What really makes it is that your animals don't just stay in their own little "habitat" squares - they have to have that home base of resources, but then they wander or swim or fly all over the place, and they hide under things when it's raining, and the whole thing just feels so ALIVE. T_T
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Feels like a mix of SimCity and Viva Piñata with a garden gnome flair. I recommend Horticular to anyone who likes either of those.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Horticular, a relaxed garden building and management game with classic isometric graphics, announces its post-release development roadmap. [Steam store page](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1928540/Horticular/)
neutral · AI labelView post →Horticular is a beautifully relaxing garden-restoring game inspired by Viva Pinata
neutral · AI labelView post →Here's what I've tried so far: [Botany Manor](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1425350/Botany_Manor/) – low poly indie game where the puzzles are figuring out how to grow plants. the low poly is done well and feels very painterly and cozy! the puzzles feel very short and easy to solve, and I suspect that won't really change in the full game. I'm hoping it'll be a $10 to $15 dollar game that I can pick up and complete in a weekend. [Jusant](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977170/Jusant/)…
neutral · AI labelView post →Decent Game 6.5/10. I played this game for the "Viva Pinata" vibe and it delivers that feeling in parts but I think is let down slightly in some areas. Creating habitats for animals starts out fun but gradually becomes tedious as you need to attract eight animals of a given species to "master" it, I feel like four might've been a better number for the species mastering. In addition, the decay, sickness and corruption mechanics become quite irritating as the size of the garden increases. You…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Scratches that Viva pinata itch.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm in love with Pokopia, but also look up a game called Horticular on Steam. It's pixel graphics, but it plays closer to Viva Pinata than any other game I've ever played.
neutral · AI labelView post →I guess its just not for me.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love a good resource management game, and this is pretty decent. My main gripe is the habitats and how they can randomly spawn. Bees keep trying to take fish areas because I used flowering water lilies to increase the fish habitat quality. I also want to be able to relocate my creatures so I can re organise my layout as my game progresses. Management games tap into the parts of us that want to make order from chaos. Being unable to reorganise should not be a game play feature. Edit:…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Not even 10 hours in and this is already my favorite game I've tried this year. I got it during the Steam summer sale, but I would have gladly paid full price. I went in hoping this would at least be a serviceable one-trick pony, but it hits the mark or overachieves in so many categories. Its pretty clear the devs have taken a lot of inspiration from games like Viva Pinata, Stardew Valley, Tycoon/City-builder games, ect. but also wanted to make something novel and genuine. Its charming,…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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