Gnomes Garden 3 could be a colourful and cute time manager if not for some design choices. While its cute graphics and simple gameplay are suitable for children, its randomised elements can make it unplayable.

The Gnomes Garden games are simple. I would even go as far as saying they are too simple to the point where only children can truly enjoy their barebones gameplay. After all, using up to three workers to gather four resources and pay two helper NPCs to clear all obstacles is as plain as a time manager can get. Although there is some challenge in the form of a clock, all 49 levels have very generous time limits.

The problem with this simplicity is that stages tend to get repetitive and boring. ‘The thief of castles’ tries to find a solution for that, but this is where the game fails. On the first three dozen stages, we always lack one resource, so players have to plan around this shortage—it is a cheap trick, but it kinda works. From Level 37, resource production starts to get randomised, and nothing can be worse in a time manager than waiting for a random drop. As trivial it may sound in writing, this is the biggest reason I cannot recommend Gnomes Garder 3 to anyone.

[h1]Short version: 41%[/h1] Gnomes Garden 3 could be a colourful and cute time manager if not for some design choices. While its cute graphics and simple gameplay are suitable for children, its randomised elements can make it unplayable. [h1]Long version:[/h1] The Gnomes Garden games are simple. I would even go as far as saying they are too simple to the point where only children can truly enjoy their barebones gameplay. After all, using up to three workers to gather four resources and pay two helper NPCs to clear all obstacles is as plain as a time manager can get. Although there is some challenge in the form of a clock, all 49 levels have very generous time limits. The problem with this simplicity is that stages tend to get repetitive and boring. ‘The thief of castles’ tries to find a solution for that, but this is where the game fails. On the first three dozen stages, we always lack one resource, so players have to plan around this shortage—it is a cheap trick, but it kinda works. From Level 37, resource production starts to get randomised, and nothing can be worse in a time manager than waiting for a random drop. As trivial it may sound in writing, this is the biggest reason I cannot recommend Gnomes Garder 3 to anyone.