Parents' Guide to The Gardens Between

Though not for everyone — action junkies need not apply — this puzzle game of time manipulation will delight those looking for an interesting intellectual challenge. In The Gardens Between, you have to help two teenagers who were sucked into a vortex and wound up in some strange land where balls of light work as keys and switches to unlock passageways, turn on bridges, and open the way to the next level. It's not entirely sure who you happen to be when you play the game -- perhaps you're God or an overseer of this strange world -- but you have to manipulate time, shifting it back and forth, so the kids can get the light balls where they need to be. This, of course, gets increasingly challenging, with you often having to shift time repeatedly, and subtlety, to figure out a solution and then make it happen.

Constantly trying to figure out what you need to trigger and shift around in each level is part of the twist with the gameplay, which is why this game is somewhere between a puzzling adventure game and an adventurous puzzle game. It's also why, despite being challenging and clever, it'll be a bit slow for those more interested in testing their reflexes than their minds. The puzzles also don't evolve greatly from one area to the next, though they do over the course of the game, so while you'll eventually see new tests of your skills, you'll still be engaged from start to finish. All of this makes The Gardens Between a compelling game for those who have the time and patience for it.