Welcome to this week’s installment of F2P Friday, where we highlight our favorite Free-2-Play games. The video game market is oversaturated, and sometimes, hidden gems fall through the cracks. This is where we dig for you and feature a new F2P game we know you will enjoy every week. Let’s dive in.
CONTENT WARNING: This story contains heavy topics such as chronic illness, suicidal ideation and death.
Astra’s Garden
Welcome to Astra’s Apothecary where there’s a cure for every witchy ailment. Unfortunately, there is no cure to ease the shop owner, Astragalus’ introverted attitude. Help her grow plants, prepare herbal remedies and greet customers to progress the story.
RELATED: Need more free games? Check out our F2P Friday archives!
The Basics
Let’s get down to the basics. Astra’s Garden is a unique visual novel and idle clicker mix by developer Nomnomnani who also worked on the fan-favorite game Bad End Theater. The game is a prequel to Starry Flowers and features two characters from First Kiss at a Spooky Soiree, but you can play this game as a stand-alone entry and understand the story.
Gameplay is simple to pick up, involving just a mouse click to select characters, grow plants and progress dialog. The idle aspect of the game (growing the plants) can be run in the background and can be played indefinitely past the end of the story. The narrative story can be finished in about an hour with discoverable epilogues that extend the play another half hour-ish.
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Why Should I Play?
So why should you play Astra’s Garden? This visual novel will speak to anyone who has felt a little beaten down by life. Astragalus is a witch running her apothecary shop after finishing school. She’s got no money, no motivation and no idea why she opened a shop when she hates talking to people.
The storylines that develop through the customer interactions and phone calls home are heartfelt, building an interesting story among the mindless gameplay. The experience is also LGBT+ inclusive, featuring a trans magician and pronoun placement.
You can watch the teaser trailer below to get a better idea of the adorable chibi-style art and soothing music. Ready to test your green thumb? You can play Astra’s Garden in your browser on Itch.io here.
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