- A magical garden story featuring living plants and the undead, presented by Canada’s Silverstring Media.
- Written by BAFTA nominee Lindsay Ishihiro, Community: “A warm narrative filled with sadness and queerness”
- 4-Radio Channel Lo-Fi Soundtrack Draws Attention for ‘Player Time Respect’ Design with No Time Limits
It’s okay if plants die. Because I’m a necromancer who can just bring them back to life. Greenhearth Necromancer, an idle healing garden simulation co-developed by Canadian queer-led indie studio Silverstring Media and publisher indie.io, was officially released on Steam on May 11.
The player spends their days tending to both living and undead plants in a balcony garden inherited from their deceased grandmother. Instead of time limits or mandatory rewards, the game focuses on the joy of slowly tending to the garden while listening to lo-fi music and soothing nature sounds.
A cute and warm colorful pixel art world unfolding above the balcony garden
The visuals of the Greenheart Necromancer capture the vibrancy of an urban balcony garden with a warm and colorful art style. Living and undead plants sit side by side in flowerpots, while ghost bees fly around the garden to generate mysterious honey.
The changing sunlight between day and night, plant leaves swaying in the wind, and the cozy texture of the balcony of an old apartment building visually complete the sense of a small magical space hidden within the city.
Sound is also a key element that completes the game’s atmosphere. Audio director and composer Devin Vibert composed the soundtrack, drawing inspiration from color theory and the rhythms of nature. You can choose your preferred music from four radio channels, ranging from lo-fi beats and serene ambiance to productivity drums and bass, or you can enjoy the game solely through the peaceful natural sounds of a garden, such as the wind rustling through the leaves.
The Garden Life of a Necromancer Who Revives Even Dead Plants
The player takes on the role of Echo, a fresh non-binary necromancer who inherits her late grandmother’s apartment and moves into the Greenhurth Co-op. Echo is skilled in dark magic but clumsy at gardening. However, as she discovers that her ability to revive the dead also works on plants, she creates a unique garden where living and undead plants coexist.
Plants in the game each require different conditions for sunlight, temperature, water, and fertilizer. Problems such as pests and mold also occur, and players must use potions and magical amulets to resolve them.
Furthermore, even if plants die, it is not the end. This is because they can be revived using Echo’s necromancy spells. A key feature is that it turns elements typically considered failures in general farm simulations into a core system of the game.
“It’s okay to turn off the game”… A unique design philosophy that respects time
The most unique design philosophy of Greenheart Necromancer is that “the more you are away, the better it runs.” When you take your eyes off the screen, plants recover faster and new event cards appear more quickly. In essence, the game is designed to allow players to take a comfortable break without requiring constant logins or repetitive gameplay.
The story also unfolds through an event-based structure rather than forced progression. Players interact with neighbors at their own pace and experience the narrative slowly between gardening activities.
The game’s core themes extend beyond simple gardening to focus on community, grief, and the cycle of life and death. Echo’s journey of finding her place within the new community is also portrayed as a key narrative axis.
Celeste · Crypt of NecroDancer, the second in-house developed game by the advisory studio
Silverstring Media has been active as a narrative consulting studio in the indie game industry for the past decade. In particular, it made a name for itself by participating in famous indie game projects such as Celeste and Crypt of the NecroDancer.
In 2022, they unveiled their first major in-house title, Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between, and Greenheart Necromancer was built based on that first release experience. This is the second full-scale in-house development project by Vancouver Queer-led Studio.
Lindsay Ishihiro, author of the BAFTA-nominated work *I Was a Teenage Exocolonist*, participated in writing the narrative, and death counselor and game designer Roshelle P. served as an expert consultant.
Studio Director Lucas JW Johnson explained, “Community, queerness, housing issues, capitalism, and death and grief are the core themes of the game,” adding, “It is a story that anyone who has ever killed a plant can relate to.”
Since its release, the game has been garnering attention in overseas indie game communities, with reactions such as “a much more experimental work than typical healing simulations” and “impressive atmosphere and emotional depth.”
Information regarding ‘Greenhearth Necromancer’
| item | detail |
|---|---|
| Developer | Silverstring Media Inc. (Vancouver, Canada) |
| Publisher | indie.io |
| Genre | Cozy Semi-Idle Garden Simulation / Narrative Adventure / Life Simulation |
| Release platform | PC (Steam / indie.io store) |
| Release date | May 11, 2026 |
| price | $10.99 (20% discount applied for launch only) |
| Art style | Colorful / Cute and warm tones / Balcony pixel art |
| Soundtrack | 4 Radio Channels (Lo-Fi, Ambience, Drum and Bass, Nature Sounds) / Composition: Devin Vibert |
| Narrative | Written by Lindsay Ishihiro (BAFTA-nominated author of ‘I Was a Teenage Exocolonist’) |
| Main Theme | Community, grief, queerness, the cycle of life and death |
| Main Keywords | Cozy, Necromancer, Garden, Lo-fi, Semi-idle, Undead Plants, Queer |
| Official Channel | Bluesky · YouTube · TikTok · Instagram · Twitch |
| Steam Page | Shortcut |
