Game Review: Gnomes Garden 2 (Xbox One)

It would probably be easier to just copy and paste our review of the first Gnomes Garden game or the following Gnomes Garden: New Home as this sequel is effectively the exact same game with 49 new levels. If you’re playing these for variety then you’re best looking elsewhere.

That being said there is something so very addictive about them and for those wanting another fix, Gnomes Garden 2 certainly delivers that. If it was anymore then £10 I’d say stay away, far away but this and the other two cost only £3.99 each!

A strategy/resource management game, Gnomes Garden 2 builds on the groundwork laid by the other games in the series, adds a new story and cements its addictive gameplay. The former, as per usual, is almost irrelevant. Gnomes Garden 2 doesn’t tell an interesting story with the occasional set of slides attempting to fill you in as you play through the levels. Simply put, story is not the games strong point.

What is its strong point is its gameplay even if it’s repetitive as hell. There are no new ideas here, if you’ve played either of the other games then you’ll be right at home.

Each level asks you to clear a number of tasks such as clearing roads, planting trees, collecting seeds and much more. These vary per level and as the difficulty increases you’ll have to plan which to tackle accordingly. Even more so if you’re trying to get the maximum stars available. Clear a level as quickly as possible and you’ll get three stars with a bar on the left hand side of the screen slowly depleting as you play. Smart and careful planning will rarely see three stars missed but there are a handful of levels that are very tight.

In each level you begin with workers that you send out to collect resources that include wood, food, magic crystals and more. These resources are used to complete the majority of tasks as you rebuild destroyed buildings which give you even more resources. Before you know it you’ll have a healthy supply coming in as your workers scurry about collecting and completing the tasks you assign them. Simply click on what you want them to do and they’ll do it with you able to lineup many tasks in a row, just bear in mind some are more time consuming then others.

Once you get the hang of it, something that won’t take long as it’s not particularly complex, you’ll be flying through levels at speed. Boring? Well, no but as mentioned above, it is repetitive and that might put some people off. However, the frantic nature of trying to earn all three stars in every level is quite something and you can often approach every level in your own way.

Gnomes Garden 2 the epitome of the ‘just five more minutes’ game. You’ll finish one level, tell yourself that you’re going to take a break and before you know it you’ll have done another two or three.

I do hope we really get some changes going forward though. Nothing major, nothing to disrupt the core gameplay but just some new and interesting ideas.