Rake It Easy

About the game

So that's the game - 40 gardens over four seasons, and each one is one long line through every dot in the sand. You go around the stones, you don't rake the moss, and you finish on the step so you're not stranded out in the middle. Later on there are stones with rope on them that you have to circle all the way around, stepping stones that hop you across the garden, lanterns you have to light in order after dark and a stone bridge your line can cross under. You can't lose - pull back along your line and the sand smooths itself out again, and if you really get stuck the cat will walk you part of the way.

The sand is the real star here. It's lit by a low sun with long shadows and leaf shade drifting over it, the rings actually come out round, and a finished garden looks like somebody cared. Every cell you rake plucks a note too, so the line you draw is also a little tune.

When you want no rules at all there's Free Tend, which is your own patch out back. Rake it with the wide rake or a fine comb or a stick, flatten it with the board, drop stones in and ripples around them, grow some moss, change the season and the time of day, make it rain, and then hit Sit and just look at it for a while. It stays exactly how you left it until Gravel walks across it. She does that. You can pet her, she allows it.