The gameplay is as simple as it is fun. So much fun even that a tired 30-year old famer like me could enjoy it and spent more time with it than I would like to admit. Kids will love this game! You need to plant seeds and grow them until they become old oaks or fluffy bushes. Flowers, plants, trees, woods... everything needs to be maintained so that you can attract animals to your land.

Just like in Viva Pinata you need to have some prerequisites to make animals happy. First they come explore your territory after which you need to keep them by giving them food, a house (f.i. a certain tree) and bonding with them. This is done by for instance using your stylus (shaped as a hand) for feeding and petting or by blowing into the microphone for playing with them. All very cute!

Quickly you'll have them mating, your area is filled with lovely animals, all sorts of colorful flowers, a grumpy bear and constantly new challenges to fulfil. Also it's very easy to move trees or rearrange plants and bushes, something that people who like a neat garden will love. If you manage to fill up your Happy Meter you unlock a new part of forest with new animals, plants and missions.

The controls are good and this becomes necessary very quickly. As in so many games like this the line between fun and frustration is thin due to the fact that giving water is taking a lot of your time. Micro-management in the later levels becomes a bit too much to remain fun and I couldn't get rid of the thirst for more complexity but I doubt young gamers will have that problem a lot. What could get some work though is the camera viewpoint which should zoom out a little more so that you see more on your screen, but luckily the handy map in the top screen largely fixes this issue.

Also the graphics are good but don't manage to come near to the o so cute qualities of Viva Pinata.