Garden Guardian

Released: Aug 9, 2022
Platforms
Last updated: 13 Sep 2026, 18:29 GMT

Updates & announcements

7 posts

28 Jan 2025Developer post
Version 1.3.2 - The Surprise Two-Years-Later-Update!
Somehow, a new patch was born! Even I didn't expect this! Long time, no talk! How've you been? The last patch for Garden Guardian was released in October 2023, and I truly thought that was going to be the last one! The Switch version (an extremely good port, if I may toot my own
Somehow, a new patch was born! Even I didn't expect this!
Long time, no talk! How've you been? The last patch for Garden Guardian was released in October 2023, and I truly thought that was going to be the last one! The Switch version (an extremely good port, if I may toot my own horn) released on the 20th of October and since I don't have full time access to a dev kit, I really thought that would be that! Shipping updates on console is tough, and I value all versions having full parity, so I figured I'd leave well enough alone.
Fast forward to this month, where I suddenly got two weeks of access to a dev kit! I couldn't help myself! Since the game released on Switch, I've logged many hours on the go, and found more areas of the game I'd have liked to clean up, so having this rare opportunity to ship another patch was something I didn't want to let slip. There was, in particular, one really bad issue I had found that I felt really rotten about, so I'm extremely glad to have been empowered to make this happen. Big thanks to Fred Wood (https://bsky.app/profile/fredtwood.com) for empowering and encouraging me to do it.
I have a small apology I want to offer to the few Garden Guardian players out there affected by one particularly nasty bug. Since at least version 1.3.1, the unlockable Classic Gameplay UI Style has been broken, and has been scaling incorrectly. This bug absolutely drove me crazy, since what was effectively the neatest unlockable thing in the game was categorically busted on all platforms. I'm extremely relieved to have fixed it now, so I hope you can all try using that UI Style for one level before deciding that actually the default one is kind of better and changing back. That's what I do, too. Actually though, the Classic Lite Gameplay UI Style is pretty underrated in my opinion!
For anyone who has already finished up the game, this patch adds two new unlockables to the Art Gallery (they're not terribly hard- if you scored well enough in the past, one can even unlock right after you boot up the new version), so I hope you'll check them out. There's a new image by the excellent Phil Dragash (https://bsky.app/profile/phildragash.bsky.social), and an EXTREMELY jokey one by my old friend Momoka (https://bsky.app/profile/milph.mom). Shoutouts to booth of them!
Anyways, on to the patch notes!
Garden Guardian 1.3.2
CONTENT

Two new unlockables have been added to the Art Gallery.
UI

Fixed an issue where UI elements would overlap after dismissing a notification in the Sound Test menu.
Adjusted placement of misaligned elements in the Classic Gameplay UI Style. Apologies for this one!
Adjusted placement of misaligned elements in the Classic Lite Gameplay UI Style.
Fixed an issue that made the SCORE text element in Classic and Classic Lite Gameplay UI Styles accidentally change to a larger font size than intended when a level starts.
Fixed an issue where certain arrow UI elements could be hovered over while a notice was being displayed.
Fixed an issue where using the back button to exit out of the Extra Info mode in the Art Gallery would not properly restore all UI elements.
Fixed an issue where the Music Speed UI element would not fade out while in the Art Gallery's Viewer mode.
[SWITCH] Users can now use the touch screen to move between pages in the Trials menu. [SWITCH VERSION 1.3.2 PATCH RELEASE DATE TBD]
[SWITCH] Users can now use the touch screen to set volume levels in the Audio Settings menu.
[SWITCH VERSION 1.3.2 PATCH RELEASE DATE TBD]
MISC.

Various temporary save data parameters are now properly reset when clearing user save data.
Menu music speed is now properly reset when clearing user save data.
Fixed an issue where users could play the confirm button sound effect on the title screen more than once by pressing the confirm button repeatedly.
Fixed an issue where users could manipulate the game into an unclear pause state by pressing the pause button with good timing after already having selected the Quit option from the Pause Menu.
Updated credits.
[SWITCH] Fixed an issue where the game would attempt a network connection on boot. (For clarity, the Switch version does not support any network features.). [SWITCH VERSION 1.3.2 PATCH RELEASE DATE TBD]
If you're thinking to yourself that nobody would ever notice half the issues fixed here... you're probably dead right! Though there are a few legitimately good fixes in here, a lot of it is just cleaning up the game I love so much. I play it a lot, and I notice these little things here and there, so it does grant me some peace of mind to know nobody else will ever have to see some of these tiny issues. I hope some of you are still down to play as well!
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post
15 Oct 2023Developer post
Version 1.3.1 - The Switch Update!
The Nintendo Switch version of Garden Guardian launches on October 20th! So exciting! Hello again, fellow Garden Guardian enjoyers! Welcome to the patch notes for update 1.3.1! This update was mainly structured around providing additional polish to all areas of the game, and real
The Nintendo Switch version of Garden Guardian launches on October 20th! So exciting!
Hello again, fellow Garden Guardian enjoyers! Welcome to the patch notes for update 1.3.1! This update was mainly structured around providing additional polish to all areas of the game, and really cleaning it up for its October 20th debut on Switch. Humongous shout outs to my close friend Fred Wood (@thatsmytrunks over on Twitter) for his unambigously crucial and relentless support on the Switch version. Without him, who even knows when the Switch version would be coming out? Not me, that's for sure! Lots of changes in this one, mostly to bugs you've hopefully never encountered and little polish issues you've probably never noticed, but we've also added a final little bit of new content to the Art Gallery for you to unlock! Special shout out to @dr_healsgood over on Twitter, who generously loaned us a piece of fanart that really stands out from every other Art Gallery piece in a special little way! I won't fully spoil it for you, but I did have to program some new stuff to make it happen! Anyways, on with the patch notes!
Garden Guardian 1.3.0 - Chapter 3: PEACE
GAMEPLAY

Fixed a longstanding issue where when using a controller, if the user used the face button set to "Confirm" to select "Resume" from the Pause Menu, the user would also simultaneously input a movement for Snippy in the corresponding direction.
The timer for the "Bug Lugger" Trial now continues to count during hitstop frames.
CONTENT

Four new unlockables have been added to the Art Gallery.
AUDIO

Attempted fix for an issue where the end level stinger will rarely play at the game's current audio speed instead of correctly being played at 100% speed.
MISC.

Drastically reduced game file size by learning about a drop down menu in Unity I hadn't noticed before.
The Stats and Awards and Credits menus have been converted to the style of the Art Gallery and Tips menus to improve consistency through the menus.
Fixed an issue where the Stats Star for Game Time would unlock after 3 minutes instead of the intended 120 minutes.
Adjusted unlock conditions for four items in the Art Gallery to improve pacing of content unlocks and potentially reduce endgame grind for some users;

"Finish five rounds in any mode." -> "Finish 10 rounds in any mode."
"Finish 25 rounds in any mode." -> "Finish 20 rounds in any mode."
"Finish 50 rounds in any mode." -> "Finish 30 rounds in any mode."
"Finish 75 rounds in any mode." -> "Finish 50 rounds in any mode."
Fixed an issue where the "Start" button on the Title Screen would not be able to be highlighted when swapping input devices from controller to keyboard input.
Fixed an issue where an image in the "Bonus Fruit" Tip was not rendered correctly, and under certain circumstances the "Classic Full" UI style was not rendered correctly.
Minor adjustment to animation on Endless and Trials buttons on the Main Menu to reduce flickering when returning to the Main Menu.
Contents of the Sound Test menu have been properly centered on the screen.
Swapped placement of SFX (Voice) 06 and SFX (Voice) 07 in the Sound Test menu.
Minor text adjustments to multiple items in the Art Gallery.
Adjustments to boot sequence.
Updated credits.
All that said, did I mention that the Switch version releases on October 20th across North America, Europe, and Australia? I did? Well, one more time couldn't hurt! The Switch version is really nice, and we couldn't be happier to finally have a console game under our belt. All said, this has been a really amazing experience, and I'm happy so many of you found some fun in Snippy's world. For the time being, we'll be putting Garden Guardian in the rearview as we focus on our next title! As usual, let us know if you find any horrible new bugs! Thank you so much for all your support, and I hope you'll check out the Switch release once that drops on the 20th!
Thanks again!
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post
30 Jun 2023Developer post
Version 1.3.0 - Chapter 3: PEACE
It's finally here! The last major content update for Garden Guardian arrives! Here we go, Garden Guardian's third and final content update; Chapter 3: PEACE. This update adds a little new tool for scoring higher and rounds out the game's content with many new gallery images and t
It's finally here! The last major content update for Garden Guardian arrives!
Here we go, Garden Guardian's third and final content update; Chapter 3: PEACE. This update adds a little new tool for scoring higher and rounds out the game's content with many new gallery images and the final Award! Of course, there are some bug fixes, too!
To start off, we added Blue Fruit! Blue Fruit are worth many more points than regular fruit, but show up pretty rarely. These don't really require any new work on the player's end, and were added to help users get to higher scores a little quicker! We observed that less experienced users were struggling with the difficulty somewhat, so this will hopefully make it a bit easier for them!
Secondly, the final Award is in place! For the achievement hunters in the crowd, we've got the last little unlockable here, requiring you to unlock all other Awards before you can claim it. It's a big ask, but we believe in you! The Award itself will also unlock a new background in the Customize menu and four new items in the Art Gallery, including some small notes from the team.
Lastly, there are now indicators on menu buttons showing where newly unlocked content can be found! This might not be the most thrilling addition for people who already have everything unlocked, but it's been a longstanding bit of feedback we've wanted to act on for quite a while. Players will now have much more clarity as to where their new unlocks are. Due to some limitations in how I (badly) programmed some stuff, it only highlights the menu containing the new content, and can't highlight the content itself. Something to plan better for our next game!
Additionally, as with all updates, there are new bug fixes in place that fix many little rough edges. Bruisers used to be able to get stuck in an animation loop, the game could softlock during the tutorial (yikes), and ultra wide monitor users often couldn't access their resolutions. All fixed! Without further ado, here are the detailed patch notes.
Garden Guardian 1.3.0 - Chapter 3: PEACE
GAMEPLAY

Bonus Fruit will now appear in gameplay. After you pick somewhere between 10 and 15 fruit (luck dependent), the next fruit to spawn will be a blue Bonus Fruit worth 10 points. Note that the 1-Up Fruit takes priority on fruit spawning, so in extremely unlikely circumstances it's possible that the Bonus Fruit can spawn after 16 fruit if a 1-Up Fruit was already queued up. Bonus Fruits were added to further encourage users to feed the plant and to improve the rate at which users are able to hit score targets.
CONTENT

Ten new images have been added to the Art Gallery.
Two new images have been added to the Customize menu's background option.
One new Award has been added to the Stats & Awards menu. This also includes a corresponding Steam Achievement and Art Gallery entry.
New Tip added to the Tips menu that covers Bonus Fruit.
MISC.

Notification indicators have been added to various buttons on the Main Menu and Extras screens that indicate you've unlocked something new within that menu.
Fixed an issue where Art Gallery contents could be scrolled off of the edge of the screen while in viewer mode.
Fixed an issue where Bruiser enemies would get stuck in their stagger animation and not vanish if a stage ended while they were staggering.
Fixed an issue where the user could be congratulated for earning all stars in Endless mode twice.
Fixed an issue where ultra widescreen resolutions would be not be supported under certain circumstances.
Integrated potential fix for rare softlock during tutorial.
Minor text adjustment to multiple items in the Art Gallery.
Minor text adjustment to multiple items in Tips.
Minor text adjustment to a few UI elements.
Updated credits.
So, with all that said, where does that leave us now that Garden Guardian is done and dusted? Well, first and foremost, I'm happy to confirm work is underway on a console port for the game! Due to severe lack of budget, personal bandwidth limitations, and my recent temporary move across the world, there is only one console planned at this time. I hope you can understand!
Beyond that? Well, work is well underway on our next title, which will be a clear departure from Snippy's world. The game's story is almost completely done, and if we land it I'm really confident you'll have a fun and unique experience unlike any you've played before! I don't want to spill too many details, but we have a wide variety of gameplay elements planned, far beyond the single game type Garden Guardian presented. I have no dates or anything really concrete to announce for this one, but please stay tuned for future news!
Finally, I'd like to once again take a second to thank everyone who has supported us with Garden Guardian. It means a lot that there are people out there who can look at such a tiny game and find joy in it. Although I aspire to make bigger games in the future, it's reassuring to know that there are still people out there who are totally down for one absurdly tiny and absurdly tight gameplay loop.
Thank you so much for your support.
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post
19 Dec 2022Developer post
Version 1.2.0 - CUSTOMxEYEZ
Happy holidays! Time for the second big Garden Guardian update; CUSTOMxEYEZ! Welcome to Garden Guardian's CUSTOMxEYEZ update! This update adds a few ways for you to tailor the experience for yourself! First off, the new Customize Menu! This new area of the game lets you tweak the
Happy holidays! Time for the second big Garden Guardian update; CUSTOMxEYEZ!
Welcome to Garden Guardian's CUSTOMxEYEZ update! This update adds a few ways for you to tailor the experience for yourself!
First off, the new Customize Menu! This new area of the game lets you tweak the game's visuals in a couple of ways. First off, you can now change the background art on the Main Menu! You'll start with a handful unlocked, and can collect eight more backgrounds by working your way through the game (when you load up your save data, you might even unlock some right out of the gate).
Secondly, there are now four available UI layouts! Newly added are a more lightweight UI layout and two new classic layouts inspired by the look of Game & Watch games. I'd like to thank my friend Aaron Schmit for helping out on some assets for the Classic UI!
Finally, Garden Guardian joins the ranks of Video Games In Which You Can Colour Yourself Like Your Favourite EVA Unit with the new shear colour options! You can change the left and right shear handle colours independently, so get out there and find your best look!
As with the last update, there are two new Awards to unlock and four new images added to the Art Gallery. Additionally there are a few bug fixes in place that improve some UI behaviour and adjust when the game performs autosaves (in a good way).
Garden Guardian 1.2.0 - CUSTOMxEYEZ
CONTENT

Four new images have been added to the Art Gallery.
Two new Awards have been added to the Stats & Awards menu. These also include corresponding Steam Achievements and Art Gallery entries.
Customize menu has been added to the Extras menu. Users can adjust the background for the Main Menu, toggle between a few Gameplay UI presets, and change the colours of Snippy's shears. Users can unlock eight new Main Menu backgrounds and two Gameplay UI Presets, and depending on a user's progress, some may be unlocked immediately when the user loads their save file for the first time in 1.2.0.
AUDIO

Updated voice clip used when opening the Sound Test menu.
MISC.

Save Data indicator has been moved to another location onscreen to reduce instances of it overlapping other UI elements.
Made adjustments to save data logic related to receiving unlock notices in the Main Menu. This fixes instances where the game could perform multiple saves after each notice window under certain conditions.
Updated credits.
The next major update should be the last major content drop for the game, rounding out the second page of Awards and polishing some rough edges- keep an eye out for it in the new year. Speaking of which, happy holidays! Wishing you and your families the best. <3
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post
01 Nov 2022Developer post
Version 1.1.0 -『GALLERY BOOST』
Hi again! Welcome to Garden Guardian's first big update;『GALLERY BOOST』! In『GALLERY BOOST』, the aim was to finally add a bit of new stuff to the game! I promised a better way to view your unlocks in the past, and I'm happy to finally deliver it! First and foremost, let's talk abo
Hi again! Welcome to Garden Guardian's first big update;『GALLERY BOOST』!
In『GALLERY BOOST』, the aim was to finally add a bit of new stuff to the game! I promised a better way to view your unlocks in the past, and I'm happy to finally deliver it!
First and foremost, let's talk about this "gallery boost" thing I keep obnoxiously saying. Now you can use a newly added viewer mode in the gallery, allowing you to zoom and pan to your heart's content (you can also hide the UI, for even better gallery viewer-ing)! All of the unlockable Art Gallery assets also got a boost in resolution, which raises the game's file size a bit but makes them look a lot better when you zoom in on them (the file size increase is a one-time thing, thankfully). Additionally, five new unlockable items have been added to the Art Gallery! Depending on your progress in the game, you might even unlock one the moment you start with the new update! Big thank you to @PerpetualMoti and @sheaparfait over on Twitter for letting me include their art in the Art Gallery!
Secondly, we've got the new Sound Test menu! From there you can listen to the various sound effects, voice clips and songs found across the game. This was a natural thing to include in『GALLERY BOOST』, since in effect it's basically the "sound gallery"! Everything is unlocked by default in the Sound Test menu, so don't fret about having to unlock things. One extra little addition to this is the ability to change the music speed- using the right stick on your controller of choice (or the + and - keys on keyboard), you can mess about with the menu music! You can actually use this in all of the frontend menus, not just Sound Test!
Finally, there are a few bugfixes and improvements made to a variety of areas. They weren't the focus of the update, but I got a few requested ones in for you!
Garden Guardian 1.1.0 -『GALLERY BOOST』
CONTENT

User can now enter a "viewer mode" in the Art Gallery. In the viewer mode, scroll and zoom functions have been added along with the ability to hide the UI.
Five new images have been added to the Art Gallery.
Two new Awards have been added to the Stats & Awards menu. These also include corresponding Steam Achievements and Art Gallery entries.
Sound Test menu has been added to the Extras menu. Users can listen to all game sound effects, voice clips and music tracks in this menu.
ART

Increased the resolution of the diagram that appears on the "Extra Lives" Tip.
Reduced the level of compression on all Art Gallery content to improve the user experience when viewing them in the new "viewer mode". Note that this has resulted in a one-time file size increase of approximately 115MBs.
MISC.

User can now mute and unmute sound settings with the mouse by clicking on the appropriate button. This was a mouse-only issue, so controller behavior has not been adjusted.
List of available resolutions in the Video Options menu should now also update when the game window regains focus.
User can now adjust the music playback speed in most frontend menus by using the Right Stick on the active controller or the + and - keys on the keyboard. Music speed can be returned to default with the Right Stick Button on the active controller or the = key on the keyboard.
Improved writing style consistency for some unlock conditions in the Art Gallery.
Updated credits.
As always, thank you all for your support! We've already managed to pay to have over 550 trees planted through the Plant-for-the-Planet foundation! I hope we can make it to 1,000 before all is said and done!
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post
14 Sep 2022Developer post
Fresh Patch notes! Version 1.0.4 is out!
Hello everyone! Happy belated one-month launch anniversary! Today I'd like to take a sec to talk through the newly released version 1.0.4! This version seeks to adjust and improve a few things (based mostly on user feedback) that took some time and learning on my part to implemen
Hello everyone! Happy belated one-month launch anniversary!
Today I'd like to take a sec to talk through the newly released version 1.0.4! This version seeks to adjust and improve a few things (based mostly on user feedback) that took some time and learning on my part to implement. Thank you for your patience!
Firstly, this update sees new button icons for Xbox and PlayStation controller layouts. The previous controller icons were a sort of mishmash of Xbox and Nintendo Switch icons, and I wasn't fully happy with them (they weren't perfectly accurate to either one, and of course did nothing for people using PlayStation controllers) so the game will now detect your controller type on boot (or the first time you plug in a controller) and show the correct icons. Right now you can't swap between controller icon families once you've chosen a controller for the session, but it's an issue I'd like to fix in the future.
Secondly, there are a few new options in the Video Options menu that let you swap between a couple of screen modes and resolutions (based on your current screen's resolution). This was the first time I'd ever dealt with this sort of thing, so while I think I got it right, I can't be 100% sure! I can confidently say... I think it works!
Lastly there are a few minor fixes and a set of balance changes I'd like to talk about! These balance changes concern the Menu Time stat tracker; basically, there were two different targets (one for the Art Gallery and one in the Stats screen) that required you to amass multiple hours of time in the menus in order to unlock them (one hour for the Art Gallery item, two hours for the Stats star). These were numbers I put in there as numbers for completionists and honestly it seemed like an innocent enough thought at the time, but in truth I don't think anyone other than myself ever playtested it and so I never really got any feedback on it before launch. Ultimately I've reduced both Menu Time targets down to thirty minutes. It just wasn't a fun thing to do, and that was my bad! To everyone who already idled in the menus to unlock these... I'm sorry!
Anyways, for anyone interested in the nitty gritty, here are today's detailed patch notes;
Garden Guardian 1.0.4
CONTENT

A new illustration has been added to the Art Gallery.
ART

Added stroke effect to all button icons to improve consistency across UI.
New button icons added to support Xbox and PlayStation layouts.
MISC.

The game will now detect whether the user is using an Xbox or PlayStation controller and display appropriate button icons.¹ Non-Xbox or PlayStation controllers will default to the Xbox button layout.
Title screen messaging updated to reflect supported controllers.
Data is now saved whenever a series of Notices is completed. This prevents users from seeing the same Notice repeated multiple times under certain circumstances.
Adjusted unlock condition text for Award "You do You" to provide more clarity;
"Finish a stage with any Options setting set to 0" -> "Finish a stage with any Options setting set to 0 or "None""
Adjusted unlock condition for an item in the Art Gallery;
"Finish a level after surpassing one hour of menu time" -> "Finish a level after surpassing thirty minutes of menu time."
Adjusted unlock condition for the Menu Time star on the Stats screen;
two hours of Menu Time -> thirty minutes of Menu Time
Improved punctuation consistency for many of the unlock conditions for Art Gallery contents.
The text indicating your current selection for options in the Video Options menu no longer triggers mouse hover behaviour.
User can now change the Window Mode in Video Options between three settings;²
Full Screen
Full Screen (Windowed)
Windowed
User can now change the Window Resolution in Video Options. This will allow the user to choose from a selection of resolutions lower or equal to their current screen's resolution.³

¹Note that there is currently a known issue where the buttons icons will not update correctly when swapping to a second type of controller during a play session (other than the button icons, the game will still function properly). If you wish to change the button icons, please exit the game and reboot it with the desired controller type active.
²If your save data was created before version 1.0.4 your save data will be automatically adjusted to the following settings when you first boot version 1.0.4;
The Window Mode option will be automatically set to Full Screen (Windowed).
The Window Resolution option should automatically default to your screen's native resolution. Note that this has only been tested on a limited selection of monitors.
If your computer has multiple monitors available, the game may under rare circumstances default to a different monitor than you usually play the game on. This should only happen the first time you boot the game past version 1.0.4.
³Note that when using external software or OS level controls to move windows between monitors, the list of available resolutions will not update in real time. You will need to exit the Video Options menu to refresh the list of available resolutions.
If you find any issues with the game, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]!
Thanks again for your support over this past month!
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post
10 Aug 2022Developer post
Launch day and version 1.0.2!
Garden Guardian is out! Happy launch day! We're so overjoyed to see people playing the game! I hope you're having fun with it! While the game is in great shape and things have been pretty smooth, a few things slipped through the cracks! Today we're rolling out version 1.0.2, whic
Garden Guardian is out! Happy launch day!
We're so overjoyed to see people playing the game! I hope you're having fun with it! While the game is in great shape and things have been pretty smooth, a few things slipped through the cracks! Today we're rolling out version 1.0.2, which addresses the two bugs people have reported so far and smooths out some unclear unlock conditions and awkward unlock criteria;
Garden Guardian 1.0.2

Fixed issue where when returning to the Trials menu from gameplay, multiple Trial menu options could appear highlighted at once if the mouse had been left over the space where one would appear.
Fixed issue where the Stats menu stars were not being tallied correctly under certain circumstances.
Added functionality to allow unlocks related to Stats menu stars to unlock in real time while viewing the Stats menu (previously, users would have to re-enter the Stats menu).
Adjusted unlock condition text for three items in the Art Gallery to provide more clarity;

"Surpass one hour of play time" -> "Finish a level after surpassing one hour of play time"
"Surpass two hours of play time" -> "Finish a level after surpassing two hours of play time"
"Surpass one hour of menu time" -> "Finish a level after surpassing one hour of menu time"

If you find any issues with the game, feel free to drop me a line at [email protected]!
Thanks so much for all your support!
-Liam Allen-Miller
Original post