Freeware Garden: Space Gardener

Freeware gardening aside, I really am not much of a gardener in real life. I'd love to, but I don't have a garden. Anyway. Seems like virtual space gardening could make for quite the substitute. Despite not being certain as to how such things would work on a real, very physical and appropriately deadly planet that's not Earth, the terrific Space Gardener makes it sound like a lovely prospect.

Looking for more free games? Check out our round up of the best free PC games that you can download and play right now.

Space Gardener casts you as gardener in a proper-though-pixelated spacesuit and is as relaxing as a game-y experience can get. It is, exactly as the tin implies, all about creating and tending an extraterrestrial garden. All about turning alien environments into nice flowery places. A peaceful, soothing and creative affair that, and please trust me on this one, is 13 times more relaxing than the best of your digital aquariums.

Working on that space garden of yours involves digging up blocks; that's a lot of two dimensional landscape architecture and a lot of harvesting blue, rocky blocks that can be processed by a special machine, which will convert them into pots. Said pots contain plants that grow to look lovely and produce seeds, which when converted themselves, reward players with a harder shovel and the potential to unlock more goodies and make a more beautiful garden.

Yes, it's simple and slow, but it's lovely. Play it with the music on and a cup of whiskey masquerading as tea and you'll simply love it.