A garden is more interesting when the player’s choices have a visible response. The local build now lets us place five kinds of habitat, including a spring border, wildflower patch, log refuge, shallow wildlife pond and chalky meadow edge.
A compressed in-game calendar cycles through the seasons. Sunshine, cloud and showers affect simplified moisture and encounter rules. Some visitors need a suitable habitat, time to establish and the right season; suitability does not guarantee a rare visit.
The important distinction is between a useful game relationship and a scientific prediction. Encounter probabilities, growth times and the fictional regional settings are authored game rules. They help us test a readable, gentle loop of making space and observing what happens.
The current build still explores one corner. The next larger design challenge is the Garden Trail: proving that leaving, revisiting and caring about more than one garden is enjoyable.