How to play Sprout Garden

What is the goal in Sprout Garden?

Each level is a small garden of soil plots and a bag of pieces to plant. The big circle shows the piece you plant now and the small one next to it shows what comes after, so you always know two moves ahead. The goal chip at the top, next to Sprout, tells you what to grow, for example one bud or two buds, and some levels also ask you to pull every weed. Next to it you see how many seeds are left. A level is won when every goal is done. It is lost when the bag is empty or the garden has no free plot left, so the real puzzle is where to put each piece.

How to play Sprout Garden, step by step

These pictures come from levels 4 and 5, where the game teaches the basics.

1. 1Step 1: Look at the seed bag. Here the piece to plant now is a seed and the next one is a seed too. Tap an empty plot to plant it. If you press and hold, the game shows a preview of where the piece will land and which plants would merge.
2. 2Step 2: Put matching plants next to each other. Three of a kind that touch up, down, left or right merge into one plant of the next stage. Two sprouts are already side by side here, so the sprout in the bag right now can finish the group.
3. 3Step 3: Watch for stones and weeds. Stones never move and block their plot. A merge pulls every weed that touches the merging plants, which is how you clear weed goals.
4. 4Step 4: Keep growing up the chain. Three sprouts make a bud, and a bud counts toward the goal. Petals burst when it pops up, and the goal chip moves to 1 of 2.

What are the plant stages?

Every plant climbs the same ladder: seed, sprout, bud, flower, bush, tree and golden tree. Three seeds make a sprout, three sprouts make a bud, and so on. The new plant appears on the plot you just planted, and if it now touches two more of its kind, it merges again straight away. That chain is a combo, and the game shows Combo with a number when it happens. Golden trees are the top and never merge. Early levels only drop seeds into the bag, while later levels mix in sprouts and buds too. If the art is hard to tell apart, turn on Growth numbers in the settings to show each plant's stage number.

What do Hint, Undo and Restart do?

Three buttons sit under the garden. Hint shows the best plot for the piece in the bag. Undo takes your last seed back, which is handy after a tap in the wrong place. Both cost tokens, the coins you earn by finishing levels. Restart is free and starts the level over with a full bag. If you run out of seeds or room, the game can offer a continue that adds five more seeds, and when the garden is full it also clears the smallest plant to make space.

Tips to beat hard levels and get three stars

Stars depend on how many seeds you use: the fewer, the better. The goal chip shows the seeds-left mark you need for three stars, and any continue drops the result to one star. Plan with the Next piece in mind, so you are not forced to drop a seed in a corner. Keep pairs of the same plant next to each other and leave the third plot free, so the next match completes a group. Build in one area instead of scattering seeds, because the garden fills fast on bigger boards. Plant next to weeds on purpose when you have a merge ready. From level 20, every tenth level is a hard one, and the other levels ending in 5 or 0 are calmer breathers.

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