Hopefully this review actually makes it through

I wrote a review for this gave several months ago, near its inception. The gist of that review was that the match-3 and gardening elements of the game were a lot of fun, but that my least favorite thing was Austin, whom I found creepy and overbearing. Since I was just prompted to review the game again by the game itself, perhaps this one will go through - I still enjoy the game, its an excellent alternative to other match-3 games like Candy Crush and the like. You wont get as far in Gardenscapes as fast as you can in Candy Crush, because powerups like bombs dont automatically set themselves off, which makes gameplay a little more precision, a little more challenging. Also, I LOVE how you can move a piece into an empty slot to make a match, which you CANT do in Candy Crush. The gardening portion of the game is fun, too, although some tasks are obviously meant to pad out gameplay rather than complete anything meaningful, and others take ridiculous amounts of stars to complete, and there are a few garden decorations you arent allowed to change, which I think is silly. But overall, its a fun way to track in-game progress.

However, Ive said it before and Ill say it again - Austin the butler is the WORST part of this game. They boast on the loading screen that "you can watch Austin for hours and hours," which always makes me groan and say, "Why would I want to do that?" I find it odd that I am supposed to be the owner of this mansion, yet I leave all of the major decision-making up to my butler. I wanted a cat as my in-game pet, not a dog...well, Austin wasnt having any of it. I actually had to spend a star to send Austins dirty shirt to his mother to clean it for him - seriously, man? Do that on your own time. Not to mention all of the people he just allows to walk around my property without my permission. If he was a real butler, he would have been fired long ago. Not to mention the creepy grin he gives you at the end of every level! It makes my skin crawl. And whats worse, in the latest update you cant even skip the sarcastic "wow" that he says at the end of every level. Austin, youre the worst.

Overall, a fun game that is worth a play through. 4/5 stars

JSDy71xaYw about Gardenscapes, v1.7.0