Dev Log #3: Indoor Gardening Is Different

In our previous devlog, we talked about why Tiny Eden takes place in an apartment instead of on a farm, and how that choice shapes the way the game works.

This time, we want to look a little closer at the gardening itself, because growing plants indoors is not simply the same as farming outdoors, just with a roof over your head. It changes what you have to think about, how you use the space around you, and what kinds of decisions matter as your garden grows. So while this is a dev log for the game, it's also a look at indoor gardening in general.

In many farming games, the player starts with open land, there may be rocks to clear, weeds to remove, or old fields to repair, but the basic idea is usually something like this: you have space to grow your crops or raise your animals (or both), and over time you expand your farm. In this case, the challenge often comes from deciding what to plant, what to raise, how much of it all you want to work with, and how to organise a larger area as your farm becomes more productive.

However, indoor gardening works differently. When you grow plants indoors, you do not start with a field, instead, you are starting with a living space. Just think of your living room, you have windows, walls, furniture, shelves, and more, ultimately, you have a limited amount of room to work with. All this means that the player will need to balance deciding what to grow with how to use the actual apartment as a proper growing space.

Just a typical room, there’s space, but it will run out soon!

Here are three examples that show this perfectly:

• A windowsill is not just part of the room, it is one of the places where plants can get the most natural light (provided that the room is sun-facing, of course).

• A shelf is not only a decoration or storage space, but something that can help you use the apartment vertically.

• A corner that once looked empty may become useful if you can fit the right container there.

This is a big part of what makes indoor gardening interesting to us. Space matters, but not in the same way it does on a farm. Indoors, space is about arrangement and efficiency, you need to think about what fits, what belongs near a window, what can grow in a smaller container (space management), and which plants are worth giving the best spots to.

Light also becomes much more important, outside, plants (usually) have access to direct light, and while weather, seasons, and shade can still matter, the basic assumption is that the plant will have access to all the light that it needs.

Some plants need more light than others!

Indoors, this is not the case. Light is something you have to work around. Why? Again, look at your room. Some parts of your room (and any room really) will get more light than other place, what's more, we're not talking about just ambient light, plants need direct sunlight. That means that some places will naturally be better for growing than others, but even more important is that these spaces are limited. So players will need to really think and decide what plant goes where.

Containers, meaning the pots, trays, and other spaces where your plants grow, are another important difference. Outdoors, the ground itself usually gives plants room to grow, that said, you still need to think about placement, spacing, and how close plants are to each other. Indoors, those same decisions become are much more important. Every plant needs its own container, and that container decides how much space the plant has, not only above the soil, but below it as well.

Why? Because not all plants grow their roots in the same way. Some plants send their roots deeper into the soil, while others spread them closer to the surface. Therefore, some plants will be happy in smaller pots, while others need more room below the soil before they can grow properly above it.

A small tomato plant - White Bull Tomato, see how deep the roots are growing!

A plant with deeper roots may struggle in a shallow tray, even if there is enough space above the soil. Another plant may not need much depth, but may still need enough width to spread out. In Tiny Eden, we wanted that idea to be part of the decision-making. The player is not only asking where a plant should go in the apartment, but also what kind of growing space that plant actually needs.

This is also why indoor gardening is not simplified farming and why Tiny Eden is not just a simple version of a farming game. In many ways, players will need to think even more carefully, because the environment is smaller and more controlled. You are not simply placing rows of crops across a field, you are shaping the conditions around each plant and deciding how the apartment should change as your garden grows.

That does not mean Tiny Eden is trying to make every decision complicated, our goal is not to overwhelm the player with endless rules, but to make the act of growing plants feel more connected to the space around you. The game will still be fun, and though you'll need to think, you will still be able to relax and enjoy it.

Stay tuned, follow us on social media, and make sure to wishlist Tiny Eden on Steam if you have not done it yet.

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