Review: Wylde Flowers will sprout love and ruin your real-life productivity

When I found Wylde Flowers, I came into the game a little blind. For instance, I didn’t know about the witchy aspect of the game (which I love), I’d just seen all the hype on social media for it. Honestly, I’m kind of terrible at reading game summaries before trying them. If it looks good, I want it.

Needless to say, Wylde Flowers looked good to me, and I’m happy to say that it delivered. I’m a sucker for a good magic-related storyline. And even though I give some crop-growing games a side eye – who else was burned by Farmville on Facebook back in ancient times? – this one was done in a well-rounded way. 

Wylde Flowers tells a story of mystery, magic, and…m-farming… I tried.

You play as Tara Wylde, a girl from the city who has returned to your grandma’s farm to take care of her in her ailing state. Throughout the summer, Grandma Hazel will be your guiding hand, teaching you how to take care of crops and putting you on the path to not only bringing the farm back to life but connecting you to your magical potential.

By day, you’ll be Tara the farmer. But, by night, you’re one of many witches in the Fairhaven Coven. The duality of navigating these two different lifestyles and their individual requirements means that you’re always busy from day to day.

You’ll be able to grow crops, go fishing, mine for resources, build things in your shed, keep animals, and help the citizens of Fairhaven. But while you’re doing that, you’ll be crafting potions and incantations to help keep magic in balance and help the people of Fairhaven.

It’s not all flourishing farms and magical spells, however. There is an outside force at work that is trying to bring down the coven and you’ll have to help Tara navigate the challenges that pop up as a result.

Tara Wylde’s story is linear with very little that you can deviate from. You’re very much living within the time constraints of the seasons and various festivals, but I never found the time limits to be an issue. 

As far as controls, I feel like playing with a controller is the far superior way to play, but I was able to navigate playing with the mouse for small amounts of time. (Listen, I was eating food and couldn’t be bothered to stop playing…)

Have I seen you somewhere before?

When it comes to music, I have no complaints, but I did eventually turn the music off to listen to my own music. There’s no reason other than preferring my own tunes during grinding moments in the mines or fishing.

The art is something that I’ve seen a few comments about on Reddit where people weren’t vibing well with it, but I’m not one of them. I can see where there seems to be some likeness to Disney Dreamlight Valley, but I felt the game did a really good job of making every character feel unique and breathing life into the island.

Grab a blanket, a bag of snacks, and a big bottle of water because you won’t be moving for a while.

Wylde Flowers is exceptionally cozy. I may have qualms with the romantic pool, but if I’m honest, I’ve got too much to do to worry about building up a romantic storyline. (Though, if Violet were an option, she’d be priority #1.) 

Usually, I find the “real-time” farming games to be tedious. Waiting for crops to grow feels like you’re just waiting for days to move forward with the story. And while there were times when waiting felt like a chore, there always seemed to be other things to do.

It was infrequent that it was daylight outside and I felt I needed to go to bed to get to the new day. Usually, I just used that extra time to run around and pick up things around the island.

Overall, I think the pacing of this game was exceptional.

We’re not breaking the mold on this one.

There is a huge lack of individualism in this game. You don’t make your character, you don’t name her, and it takes FOREVER for you to be able to change her clothes. This is something that the developers have addressed in a statement about making Tara feel more “real” by creating the parameters for you.

I’m fine that they chose to keep her a very closed design, but I disagree that it feels more real. Tara was clearly made to someone’s tastes, but it wasn’t mine. Honestly, in some ways, not letting me connect with Tara in ways that were personal to me kept me from connecting with her fully.

For instance, the dating pool that was given to Tara is… maddening. She has seven potential suitors; Westley, Amira, Damon, Kim, Cameron, Kai, and Giva. That’s two women, four men, and one non-binary character. While I applaud the addition of Kim as an NB option, it feels unbalanced.

I love the richly diverse cultural background of the islanders. However, I felt the dating pool didn’t have enough variance. Most characters had dark hair and dark eyes with a few outliers; Amira with her green eyes, Giva with predominately dark hair but blue tips, and Kai with predominately dark hair with bleached ends. We don’t include Cameron on any statistics because the dude is straight-up a cult leader and you can’t convince me otherwise. That’s not a spoiler, you’ll get those Kool-aid vibes right from the start.

All this to say, WHY WASN’T VIOLET IN THE DATING POOL?! You put in a cult leader, but I can’t have my girl with purple hair? Are you kidding me? You only gave us two girls! She would have been perfect to round out more options for women and give us a more alternative style to choose from.

Violet should have been a romantic option. She’s the superior choice. Hands down, case closed, no further discussion. And why isn’t she an option? Not only is she an extremely good character and endearing, but did I mention purple hair?

Personally, I think anyone who wasn’t attached and was in the acceptable age range should have been an option, but I guess that’s not “real” enough for the devs. Because of this, I’m not pursuing a romantic interest actively. I’ve been talking to Westley, Amira, and Kim, but my heart wants Violet. 

Due to me being so casual, I doubt I’ll ever get enough interactions to open up the romance options. It takes a LONG time to build up a relationship with people and if it ain’t Violet, I’m not terribly invested. (Real talk, if I ever get that far, I’ll probably go with Amira.) 

Also, I did mention that you could change her clothes, but that’s mid-to-late game stuff and if you don’t have a damn olive tree yet, you’re not making anything for a very long time. So, take this as a hint to buy that olive seedling. You need it to make tanning oil and you need tanning oil to condition leather needed to make outfits.

I’m willing to make the devs a trade: deal or no deal?

In writing reviews for Comfy Cozy Gaming, I talk a lot about feeling like a game is a good one to sink several hours of your life into. This one I actually have. I’ve sunk over 40 hours into this game and it has been a problem. I had to keep myself from opening the game today just to make sure I’d get anything constructive done.

You’ll have a hard time not playing for hours at a time. That being said, the game is worth every penny and if there is anything that is keeping you back from buying it, throw those reservations away. This game is worth giving a try. 

The game gets a 9. When they give me Violet, I give them their 10. This is absolutely a hostage negotiation. It’s also a joke, mostly. The lack of being able to choose romantic partners played a part, but not being able to customize Tara was the bigger reason for the knock to the score.

If you want to fall into obsession with me, you can pick up the game on Steam or Nintendo Switch for $24.99. And if you’re looking for some tips, we’ve written up a few that we think are massively helpful!