I think it’s clear to anyone by this point that I’m a sucker for cozy games that allow me to relax and do things that I regularly wouldn’t do. In real life, I’m an absolute monster when it comes to keeping plants alive – believe me, I’ve tried – but games like Magical Greenhouse allow me to live out all of my obscure, green-fingered dreams. 

Magical Greenhouse is a magnificent indie game developed by a France-based team Mgtt Studio. It’s more than a greenhouse simulator, throwing in elements of potioncraft and shop management, and the Itch.io demo is just a small glimpse of what to expect when the full game releases via Steam. 

Truly magical in every aspect

Opening up the demo of Magical Greenhouse on Itch.io is like stepping into a magical world of strange flora and even stranger selling tactics, but the oddity absolutely does not detract from the joy of playing. The gameplay loop is simple and yet wildly addictive, and despite the admittedly slow start (which is to be expected), you’ll soon find yourself endlessly switching between the three main features currently on offer. 

But what are these features?

First, you’ve got the greenhouse from which Magical Greenhouse takes its name. In the greenhouse, you grow all sorts of bizarre and wonderful plants that need watering and then pruning to gain their ingredients. Plants earn EXP, allowing them to ‘level up’, which essentially means that each pruning will grant you more ingredients each time. 

Once you’ve got those ingredients, you can do one of two things with them. If you want to make a quick buck, you can sell them outright in your store. It’s a valid choice, with some of the ingredients being surprisingly lucrative, but it’s probably not the best way forward if you’re hoping to rake in piles of cash. 

The most effective way of making money in Magical Greenhouse is through making potions and then selling them in the shop. Each potion requires different ingredients, gained by successfully caring for specific plants within the greenhouse, and potions sell for anything from 100 coins to well over 1,000. 

Online shopping is the ultimate convenience

With any money that you make through selling ingredients or potions in Magical Greenhouse, you can purchase items online that will open up new possibilities or otherwise boost profits. You can buy everything from new plants and recipes to decorative items that can be placed within the greenhouse or shop to offer boosts that help with growth or bonus cash at the end of each business day. 

I have to admit, I may have hyper-focused a little too much on new plants and recipes in the initial stages of my demo playthrough. I unlocked every plant, and then every recipe, and spent a very long time stuck in the grow/brew/sell loop, completely missing the fact that I was missing out on bonus income by ignoring the decorative items on offer. 

There’s a tip jar that randomly throws in an additional sum of coins between 10 and 100 each day, and items that appear above the shelves that boost the selling price of items placed there by an additional 20%. In the greenhouse, certain items reduce the speed at which plants suck up their water, or boost how quickly they grow. 

Perfectly pretty pastels

The art style of Magical Greenhouse is simple yet charming, but it’s the color scheme that will steal your heart, and it’s almost a trademark of developer Lya at this point. Every game that has been created by her uses the same pastel swatches, and it’s impossible not to feel happy and relaxed when you’re absorbed in those calming tones. 

Lya Mgtt has a total of 12 examples of her work available on Itch.io, ranging from simple ghostie builders to a full deckbuilding experience, yet every single one of them follows this pastel pattern, and it works so well. Each of the games developed by Lya is brilliant and strangely addictive in its own way – I particularly recommend Candy Box Clicker, which has been running in the background on my PC for hours at this point.

It’s clear to see that all of the experience gained during the development of previous games is being used to it’s full potential when it comes to making Magical Greenhouse, with recognizable elements from many of Lya’s previous games making an appearance in the upcoming release.

Magical Greenhouse is currently under development, but you can go and play the demo now (and the rest of Lya’s games) through her Itch.io page (the demo saves your progress!) and wishlist the full game on Steam.