Garden Ink: Cozy and Adorable Coloring Game Releases September 10 on PC

Get ready to color your world! The delightful and cozy game Garden Ink is set to be released on Steam on September 10th. This charming title invites players to bring a lively forest to life by adding color to its various elements.

Garden Ink offers a relaxed exploration experience. As you navigate the game with your mouse, you'll discover interactive elements, engaging puzzles, and simple tasks to complete. The game features several monochromatic areas that you can gradually transform, choosing to personalize them piece by piece or using special items to introduce color quickly.

Developed by Sven Mehlhorn, Garden Ink allows players to individually color different parts of each in-game object. You can decide the hues for plants, rocks, mushrooms, and other landscape components inhabited by the game's characters. The game encourages creativity through object combinations, boasting over 130 available. Exploration and problem-solving will unlock new colors and decorations, ensuring that while the game is unhurried, it still offers a sense of progress.

Initially conceived as a black and white game, the development team decided to incorporate coloring capabilities based on early player feedback. This change has influenced the entire game, with new areas unlocking fresh color palettes for further customization. It's hard to imagine Garden Ink without the pleasant color spectrum it now provides.

In his January devblog, Sven Mehlhorn shared that the sound design for Garden Ink was inspired by the atmospheric qualities of games like Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing, focusing on "organic sounds and gentle music." Mehlhorn utilized professional sound libraries and also recorded numerous sounds himself, including all the character sound effects and the music, which was recorded in his home studio.

Arne Jürgens joined Mehlhorn's project over two years ago to handle programming, bringing the game to its imminent release on Steam. Alongside a social media manager, Kranich Games, a small team, is preparing to launch their first game. They have a notable upcoming event at gamescom and have already received recognition, winning the award for Best Prototype at the DER Deutsche Computerspielpreis (German Computer Game Award).

A demo of Garden Ink has been available on Steam since the beginning of the year and is still accessible. Those attending gamescom this year will have the opportunity to play the title at the Indie Arena Booth. While its release date falls amidst a busy period for major game launches, this small indie offering operates independently of larger industry competition, making it a perfect title to jump into between other gaming experiences.