Jason Savio

Sometimes you come across a video game that defies expectations. These are the games that take the medium and use it in a unique and imaginative way to tell a story, not just be an exercise in button-mashing. They strive to do more, and by doing so, they show the potential of the craft.

The Gardens Between is one of those rare treats.

Playing as two children, Arina and Frendt, you embark on a wonderland journey across a surreal landscape that, at first, may not make any sense. The friends begin the story by playing in a treehouse before a sudden impact sends them and their surroundings flying into disarray. They awake on a small island with scattered boxes strewn around and a moving van suspended in mid-air.

As you travel from island to island, there are brief flashbacks of the two characters that give an insight into their relationship. The flashbacks feature them at home, showing where the different items in the dreamworld originated. Many of the islands and the objects on them represent specific parts of their friendship; one features oversized TVs and video game controllers that are bigger than the characters, while another has all the makings of a makeshift tent you would construct in your living room as a child. You begin to piece together the bond between Arina or Frendt without the use of any dialogue – everything here is visual storytelling.

You control both Arina and Frendt, and as such, they work together as a team to make it across each island by opening up doorways and portals from one to the other. A pulsing orb of light that is held in what looks like a lantern acts as the key, and for it to work, Arina and Frendt must manipulate time by rewinding it and fast forwarding it to sync everything together. The Gardens Between is a complicated puzzle, but it also strives to explore themes of time and how the passage of it can affect friendships. The characters’ ability to control time – and the lack thereof – is a great way of illustrating how it can change things without us noticing, sometimes for the better and sometimes not.

The cherry on top of this gaming experience is a soundtrack with touching piano melodies that add an extra layer of depth to the narrative and the characters.

The Gardens Between is not your average game – it’s better. It is a surprisingly emotional and thoughtful story that makes you wish others could be just as good.

For more information, visit thevoxelagents.com/gardensbetween.