Planted! - Xbox Series X/S - Review

There are plenty of party games that ask you to compete with friends, but Planted! takes a wonderfully ridiculous approach: what if gardening was a full-contact sport? Developed by Cloth Cat Games and published by Curveball Games, this colourful multiplayer battler transforms peaceful vegetable patches into arenas of chaos where your prize-winning produce is just as likely to be launched at an opponent's face as it is harvested for points.

The core loop of Planted! revolves around three simple ideas: Sow, Grow, and Throw. Players claim a plot of land, plant crops, nurture them into massive vegetables, and then weaponise their harvest against rivals. It's an instantly understandable concept that makes the game easy to pick up for players of all ages while still leaving room for surprising tactical depth.

Matches become a frantic balancing act between expanding your own garden and sabotaging everyone else's. Do you play it safe and steadily build your harvest, or gamble on riskier crops that could swing the entire match in your favour? The game constantly tempts players to take chances, and that tension keeps rounds entertaining even when things devolve into complete madness.

Where Planted! truly shines is in its multiplayer design. The gardening theme may sound relaxing, but matches quickly become fierce contests filled with betrayal, opportunistic theft, and last-second comebacks. One moment you're quietly tending your patch, and the next you're desperately defending it from friends who've suddenly decided your giant pumpkin belongs to them.

The combat is intentionally chaotic. Produce can be hurled across the map, while assorted power-ups introduce additional layers of unpredictability. Weed bombs, spud turrets, and a dozen different power-ups ensure that no two matches feel exactly the same.

This unpredictability is both the game's greatest strength and its occasional weakness. The most memorable moments often come from absurd chain reactions and unexpected reversals of fortune, but players looking for tightly balanced competitive action may find the randomness frustrating at times.

Although the game includes solo play, Planted! is clearly designed as a social experience first and foremost. Supporting local and online multiplayer for up to four players, it feels tailor-made for family game nights and friend gatherings.

The simple controls allow newcomers to jump straight in, while the various crop types, power-ups, and strategies provide enough depth to keep repeat sessions enjoyable. The game succeeds because it embraces the idea that multiplayer fun often comes from creating stories rather than rewarding pure skill.

Visually, Planted! adopts a bright and cheerful art style that perfectly complements its playful premise. The gardens are colourful, the vegetables are exaggerated and expressive, and the overall presentation helps keep the competitive action light-hearted even when players are busy sabotaging each other's hard work. The variety in arenas is great too, including a lava covered volcano level to half built skyscrapers! Each with their own unique rules!

Performance is solid on Xbox Series X|S, with the game's colourful arenas and hectic action remaining easy to follow even when multiple power-ups and projectiles are filling the screen.

Pros

• Unique gardening-meets-party-combat concept

• Great local and online multiplayer fun

• Plenty of chaotic power-ups and surprises

• Easy for newcomers to understand

• Colourful and charming presentation

Cons

• Randomness can sometimes overshadow strategy

• Solo play lacks the energy of multiplayer sessions

• May feel repetitive during very long play sessions

Planted! turns gardening into a surprisingly entertaining spectator sport. Its unique blend of farming, territory control, and party-game combat creates a formula that's easy to learn and consistently funny to play. While the deliberate chaos means matches can occasionally feel more luck-driven than skill-driven, that's also where many of the game's best moments come from.

If you're looking for a serious competitive experience, there are better options available. But if you want a game that lets you grow enormous vegetables and immediately throw them at your friends, Planted! delivers exactly the kind of cultivated chaos its premise promises.

XPN Rating: 3.5 out of 5 (SILVER)

Planted! is available now!