Level reviews

"Well it's just gone midnight on the 3oth December 2025 so it's officially New Year's Eve and there I was playing this, the last level I imagine for this year! I am sure I played this before but never completed it - at least I did recognise the first garden and the carrot patch :D Quite a mixed bag here with textures from (I think) TR3. From a scenic outdoor area you find yourself in some dark tunnels being attacked by mutant boar (?) of some kind. I had to reload at this early point having realised I had no medpacks provided in the inventory and had not found any up to that point. That way I could inch forward and retreat to a degree in order to conserve health when under attack. There's some boulders and fire tiles to avoid in other areas and dogs in a snowy area but all fairly easy to avoid/dodge. My favourite part wasn't an element of the game but rather a lovely Indian sounding high- paced song which I hated to interrupt by shooting wild boar! It's probably not one I would replay but I had fun playing it to its conclusion this time and do enjoy levels with pretty garden and pool areas. Recommended." - High Priestess

"An Easter short with Halloween parts and a Christmas ending. I didn't see such a thing yet, and the song was a banger. Had some fun here, recommended despite of filler." - DJ Full

"this level starts off in the gardens and areas leading underground that surround a mansion and mostly remains outside of any home play inside which was unfortunate for me but it was still quite alright exploring around actually because of course this is the magic gardens (as the title says) so one side of the mansion is all flowers, greenery and summer like and the other side is all snowy icy and winter like so that makes a good variety to play in. the gameplay is all quite simple really finding objects and placing them but there was a few interesting tasks like finding a way to break the frozen pool and placing a carrot in a funny place and what i did like was of course the traps which adds a bit more to it. Camera work and music were very well done but lighting and textures really need a bit more time spent on them but were still ok, theres a few enemies like monsters underground and wolves and warthogs in the gardens which made me jump and to finish the level you make another short visit inside to find and place a christmas present. so to sum up theres a few interesting things to see and do here but unfortunately nothing too memorable or intriguing for me" - John

"Not a bad little level. The gameplay is okay for the time being, there are attempts to make a change from the ever lasting to and fro with a lot of levers and items which is still prominent here, but the two boulder traps, the jump pad puzzle and the carrots were at least something different. Didn't like the pushable gazebo as there is no real hint on what to do with it; the long underground passages are also somewhat pointless. There are a few quite nasty enemies in this one like the ahmets and the wild pigs, I left some of them alive and just ran away. Don't know why the statistic screen shows 12 available secrets as there are none actually (or they are all VERY well hidden...). The atmosphere is the best part in this game with a few nice flybys and the choice of music is apt as well, but there are a several mistakes in texturing and also paper thin walls and sometimes unrealistic architecture so a bit more work in these regards had been nice. Still this 25 minute level manages to impress even with its faults and has a quite special charm, even if it seems like it hasn't aged quite well." - manarch2

"This is billed as a Christmas level, but that does not become apparent until the very end. Along the way you have various tasks to perform in a garden area and in a frozen area. There's a lot of required backtracking, but the distances to be covered are not great so this never becomes severely aggravating. There are also enemies to kill in the form of wolves and wild boars, but you get plenty of armament to deal with them. The surroundings are rather crude, but everything flows along in a smooth manner and you get about a half hour of stress-free gameplay. You pilfer a half dozen carrots from one of the gardens toward the end, but only one of them is used for anything. Another pleasant but unmemorable time-filler." - Phil

"This was a nice level to play. It is classed as an Xmas level, but the only glimpses of a Christmassy atmosphere I got was one snowy area and a couple of rooms with Christmas trees at the end. What you get here is a peaceful, linear and flowing level with a few nice ideas thrown in for good measure. You use a few buttons, perform a small pushable puzzle, jump around a bit and shoot a few dogs, ahmets and boars (which is a bit out of place in such a peaceful level). A nice touch was making it rain to be able to grow carrots to give the snowman a nose to get through the level. I liked the choice of audio. Worth a look for something fun and not too taxing." - Ryan

"Quite a lovely garden this is, but the surroundings are rather on the obscure side. A smooth transition through different weathers is missing, as even though everything is outside, inside the gates you have a warm feeling and then past the gates everything is covered in snow. Later on it rains in part of level and just in that specific area the rain remains, too. I thought that having rain to grow carrots was a nice touch, and you get to leave the level with five of them in your backpack! Pushing the boulder into the frozen water was also a novelty. There are, however, a few wafer thin walls and for some reason the combined yin-yang puzzle disappears from inventory. Nice little Xmas level for inbetween raids. 40 minutes. 04/08" - Treeble

"My only problem with this level is that we have to shoot the anilmals. Apart from that it's good Christmas level. The two different enviroments might be strange at first, but I think it's nice that some authors spare a thought to the Christmas of those who live souther so, at least on this level, they can step into a white Christmas, as if by magic. We start in a very nicely detailed mediterranean garden, but we already can see the snowy areas in the background. The garden is beautiful, with lots of plants and other nice objects, great musics played, especially during the fly-bys, they not really for helping the progress just to show the garden, but since it's an eye candy, they were all right. Good application of textures. The underground corridors perhaps a bit unnecessarily long and gloomy, and took us out of the happy atmosphere of the garden, but all in all the latter dominates. There were great original moments, like pushing the rock, the carrots growing in the rain, and the way we use one of them. Apart from the enemies, a pleasant adventure in charming enviroment." - Akcy

"It's a simple level with dogs, wolf like creatures and wild boars. The initial setting has gardens but then in another place in the back yard you see a snowy setting which doesn't match. You can't have trees and flowers in one area which means warm weather and then a few feet further snow which means cold. It was released near Christmas so I will justify the Christmas trees and presents in the end of the level. There is a gem to find, two keys and a carrot, six to be exact, that has to be placed as a nose on the snowman. Well, the music is nice but the gameplay isn't that good." - Kristina

"This is a nice straight forward level, played out mostly in the grounds and lower rooms of a large house. One part of the grounds is a sunny summer garden in bloom, the other is covered in winter snow and ice. I wouldn't class it as a Christmas/Advent level as we've come to know them, or for children as there are a few tricky traps and enemies. I can appreciate the work involved, and there are some good parts, but it seems to be a mix of anything that came to mind. Far too many enemies for this confined space; warthogs, wolves, and those fire beasts. Some are well placed, some attack unfairly, but others just.... show up. The lighting could do with some more work. Objects are randomly placed, lit or not. Miscellaneous traps, invisible blocks, items that are hard to pick up, and a few good, but unnecessary flybys. The one showing the lanterns lighting up one by one is good, and watching the carrots grow was great. Using and dodging snowballs was also good fun. The level can be played on a mac by putting the coastal.tr4 in the data folder and using the original scripts. So all told, this is certainly a nice little level, and I look forward to seeing what this author creates in future." - CC

"This short level has some small defects but it's playable. I was stucked for a moment in the gazebo area but rest of the level has a fast gameplay, although not very interesting puzzles. The rolling ball in the narrow corridor was hard to pass. Most of the cameras are not useful, only for show the scenes? The plucking of the guitar in the song near the end is very good! The snowman detail was good too, but don't you expect wonders of this level." - Jose

"Initially, I did wonder why this was classified as a Christmas level as it starts in a charming, sunny, flower filled garden (with a mercifully short detour through some dark, unattractive, ahmet filled earth tunnels), but that's where the magic part comes in. Go through one of the garden gates (much easier than a wardrobe) and you find yourself in a world of winter. The gameplay is simple; there is perhaps rather too much running backwards and forwards between the garden areas, but the snowman and carrot idea is so cute that I was left with a good feeling about the level overall." - Jay

"I thoroughly enjoyed myself in this level as Lara frolicked around in this magic garden. The magic probably was that there is a summer and a winter side to roam around. The gameplay overall isn't hard, there are enough camera's to show you where to go next. I just loved the carrots that were growing in the vegetable plot and giving one to the snowman was a great idea. The added music is a bonus, so play this short but enjoyable level" - Gerty

"Very short, not christmas level because there a few enemies. Cute on first sight, and for some reason good for relaxing and playing. Gardens are nice made it and colorfull with nice flovers and not too expensive decorations. Waterpools are okay too. Sound is nice and on some oments back you to christmas time and on other for standard TR games. Few nice traps and puzzles not too hard, simply jump-jump hard." - Ivan

"A complete change of pace from this level builder. Gone are the gratuitous killings of his previous adventures,and in their place you find a sort of AdventCalender/Oxy hybrid,and full of charm it is too. It doesn't pretend to be anything serious and substantial,but provides a great deal of enjoyment with occasional highly imaginative flourishes (I loved the growing carrots). Gameplay is pretty straightforward(although mutants were used too frequently for such a peaceful setting) but rolling boulders are used well,both as traps and devices to allow gameplay to progress.You'll not be wondering what to do very often (if in doubt,try pushing things) but you'll be charmed frequently.The concept,the storyline and the choice of music,is quite lovely." - Orbit Dream

"This has to be the least Christmassy Christmas level I've ever played. Other than the final two rooms, it feels like any other level taking place inside and around (mostly around) a mansion. It doesn't feel very magical either, to be honest. The idea of having summer on one side of the mansion and winter on the other was a good one, but wasn't utilized as well as one would expect. The gameplay is extremely straightforward and getting stuck is next to impossible, due to levers and keys always opening doors in the same or the next room. And in case you get confused, there's a ton of flybys that never really show anything spectacular, and most of which could have been skipped entirely. The gameplay is quite boring, and never very challenging. There are a few traps, but too much of the level revolves around finding the next lever. To make the level harder, I suggest not killing any of the enemies. A few rooms look rather nice, but too much of the level takes place underground, where earthy textures reign supreme and there's nothing interesting to look at. All in all, this is a sort-of-enjoyable 25-minute level, which, although a solid effort, never really does anything that makes it stand out." - Magnus

"Some players just cannot appreciate an entertaining little level when they see one. I for one thought that Magic Garden, apart from being Martins' best work to date by far, was really a nice little adventure that never has you scratching your head for long, takes you back and forth nicely between the sunny and the wintery side of the house, and the idea of growing carrots to give the snowman a nose was very original. Add to that plenty of camerawork, always with a decent choice of audio (and even a little insight into local music I assume) and you get 40 minutes of relaxed raiding that may be just the thing you need on a rainy day." - MichaelP