Being someone who has a liking for business simulations and arcade entertainment, click-management games have a special appeal for me, because they bring in nicely the best of both worlds. These games fix my cravings for fast-twitch action and management all at once. While Helen Gardener isn’t exactly anything too grand, I did still have quite a bit fun with this little game.

The pace in Helen Gardener is slightly different from most other click-management games you might have tried. The tasks in the game aren’t as immediate as they are in Burger Shop for example, and that’s probably because plants are more patient than people, but they pile up rather quickly. It’s not uncommon to go about your gardening efficiently and still have the other half of the screen full of “water me!” and “trim me!” icons. But these plants really are capable of waiting, and just because some of them turn red doesn’t mean you won’t earn the “Master Level” performance ranking. Hence, you’ll find the ability to queue your actions very helpful.

Another interesting point in the mechanic is that of the many tasks to juggle, only one really contributes to your wallet. You earn by growing and selling flowers that clients order during your work day. These flower requests are fixed however, so even if you performed exceptionally well during the day, there is only so much money you can earn from that level. The good thing is that you can always replay completed levels as much as you like to get a little extra cash. The bad thing is that early in the game, the costs of the upgrades and powerups in the shop are rather steep. Most of the time we found ourselves skipping the canned drink boosters to save up for gardening books instead.

The game does have several issues that prevent it from reaching its fullest potential, unfortunately. Some of the tasks have rather similar-looking indicators that make it easy to get confused. On top of that, what makes it a tad more frustrating is that some of these tasks require a specific tool, while others don’t. Also, some of the hotspots to click on are rather precise, maybe a bit too precise for some of us. These issues do affect the playing experience quite a bit, sad to say.

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(2 votes, average: 3.5 out of 5)

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