Neat Corporation, the studio behind stealth VR game Budget Cuts (2018), unveiled a new VR project late last month called Garden of the Sea. The game, which puts you on a magical island where you tend to your garden, gather resources, and raise local fauna, is out now in Early Access.

Update (June 11th, 2019): Neat Corp have released ‘Garden of the Sea’  on Steam Early Access, pricing it at a very reasonable $6.  It’s still too early to tell how the game will fare over the course its Early Access period, although 100 percent of user feedback on Steam thus far has been positive.

Check out the trailer below:

Original Article (May 28th, 2019): There’s no definite Early Access launch date yet, although Neat Corp maintains in the game’s Steam store page that it should be “soon.” (see update)

As somewhat of a departure from their development on Budget Cuts, which was done behind closed doors and released immediately to consumers, Neat Corp is aiming to keep Garden of the Sea in Early Access for less than a year from release, making it an iterative process with the game’s supporters.

Main Early Access features are said to include:

  • Growing your own fantastical garden
  • Sailing around in your boat
  • Hanging out with the creatures living nearby
  • Solving puzzles and challenges
  • Feeding the birds
  • Listening to the ocean

The full production game however is said to feature activities such as fishing, plant & creature breeding, new islands with more plants, recipes, puzzles, creatures, and unlockable quests.

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Garden of the Sea is targeting SteamVR headsets such as HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

If you’re looking to get involved with Neat Corp’s next project, the studio has set up a Discord server (invite link), where you can get live updates on what promises to be a unique and whimsical gardening sim.

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Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • Jonathan Winters III

    Just got Budget Cuts on Steam for half off. Great experience.

  • Zachary Scott Dickerson

    If they are smart, oculus QUEST first! I have HTC Vive and Quest, my 6 year old daughter loves the QUEST, so all the kid games will be on that from now on in my house.

    • Skippy76

      Probably not enough power to run this on the Quest.
      The Quest is only good for really dumbed down games.

      • Zachary Scott Dickerson

        Quest works great. Robo Recall looks and plays as well as on the Vive. Creed works great, so does Orbus VR. I think the limitation is how well models are optimized and how many characters at a time on screen etc.

        • Jeremiah

          Robo Recall is heavily downgraded in visuals and a little in gameplay.

        • Skippy76

          You are also wrong about this.. Robo recall was scaled down A LOT to run on the quest. Same with a lot of the other games including beat saber!
          Claiming it runs as well as on the vive is total BS. It runs much nicer on the vive and that’s while also running Revive because the game isnt even available for the Vive..

          • Zachary Scott Dickerson

            I was not able to tell much difference in Robo Recall personally. I played through on Revive, with Vive, and on Quest. Have you played any games on Quest? They look damn good to me, but yes, I imagine there are some severe limitations to get around. The game above I’m sure can run on there given the chance… why else would they have made the Quest if it can’t run simple graphic games?

          • Trenix

            How do you not notice the difference?

          • Harbaldne

            I love the Quest. And the games are amazing. Only graphical details like texture sizes, model complexity as well as light source count drags FPS down – something that can be overcome with optimization. E.g. texture baking. Which is what is done already in Quest games.

            The Quest is an awesome achievement – and from looking at what already exists, I think many go too easy on explaining the potential away. Hopefully more game developers will get it, and the huge user base I’m sure the Quest will have. Good for you Facebook.

      • Raphael

        So let’s get this straight… a game with really simple cartoon low poly graphics won’t run on quest? Who knew!

        I suspect Zachary Scott Dickerson understands the Quest better.

        • Skippy76

          This isn’t as simple as you think. With the quest you can have very limited moving characters and environment due to the lack of power in the processor. Its definitely doable but having to sacrifice a lot!

    • VR4EVER

      That what I‘m talking about! Budget Cuts and this should be ported with minor downgrades to the utterly convenient and beloved Quest!

      • natalie

        Only one year ago I decided to abandon my old job and I am so pleased at this point…. I started out doing work using the internet, for a company I noticed over the internet, for several hour or so everyday, and I get a lot more than I actually did on my office workplace job… My pay-check for past month was 9,000 $… The most important thing relating to this is the more leisure time I acquired for my kids…and that the only requirement for this gig is simple typing and having access to internet… I am also in a position to devote quality time with my loved ones and close friends and also take good care of my children as well as going on holiday break with them very frequently. Don’t ignore this opportunity and make sure to act quick. Test it yourself, what it is about… dimmersedge.on-air.de

      • beulah

        One year before I chose to stop my previous work and I am too happy at present…. I started doing the job through the internet, for an organization I noticed on-line, for a number of hours on daily basis, and I bring home definitely more than I actually did on my office job… previous month was $9k… The most important thing relating to this is the extra free time I got for my kids…and that the only requirement for this gig is simple typing and also accessibility to broadband… I am in a position to put in quality time with my relatives and friends and also look after my children as well as going on family holiday with them really consistently. Don’t skip this opportunity and make sure to take action quick. Try it out, what it is about… abyssjohnny.mail.ht

  • Jeremiah

    They really understand what works well in VR from the looks of this, their first game was sweet as well.

  • To go from Budget Cuts to this.

    Seems like a regression.

  • Arcticu Kitsu

    You have fake experts in the comment section below pretending to know what they’re talking about…… People pretending to understand out the Quest works, and etc.

    This game looks promising, something I’ll have to look into. Like the penguin touch, and the boating. Worth a try.

  • Andrew McEvoy

    6 quid? Yeah ok.