Rescue your prince in queer platformer The Gardener and The Wild Vines
It’s always been about you being the prince and rescuing the prince from the top of the tallest tower… But not in The Gardener and The Wild Vines. In this explicitly queer game, you are neither a princess, a damsel in distress, or even a knight…You’re simply a gardener, a gardener who will do anything in order to help save the love of his life, the prince.
That’s right, The Gardener and The Wild Vines doesn’t try to allude or simply imply the love between the protagonist and the prince. This game is gay, gay, and gay, and that alone should be more than enough to grab your attention if the beautiful artwork – for some reason or another – doesn’t.
Developed by Finite Reflection Studios, The Gardener and The Wild Vines asks players to embark on a journey that typically would be targeted solely at a heterosexual audience. More than that though, it offers a protagonist that isn’t just your average white twink, but a character that is gay, black, and is willing to scale the highest of towers to get his prince back from the clutches of an evil magician.
The game is a platformer, and has players take control of the gardener as he leaps to and fro, bouncing on leaves and using his shears to cut flowers that grow on the vine and create new platforms. Princes may look cool, but nothing is cooler than someone who is good at his job like the titular Gardener is.
What makes this game stand out from the crowd is how it puts difficulty into the players hands, offering optional towers for you to climb up. It also is written in a way where the narrative allows you to explore themes of identity and love in an empowering way, whilst also being suitable for both children and adults.
“The game’s story is one I’ve wanted to tell for a while,” says lead developer Kartik Kini, “one where a character’s sexuality isn’t hidden, homophobia isn’t the major conflict, and queer characters get the happy ending they deserve.”
The Gardener and the Wild Vines is available to buy on Steam and itch.io right now.
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