The first time I played Greenhearth Necromancer, I wasn’t totally sure what to make of it. But honestly, I had the exact same reaction the first time I played Glitchhikers: The Spaces Between, and that eventually became one of my favorite games ever, while Silverstring Media became one of my favorite indie studios.
So first off, huge thanks to indie.io and Silverstring Media for providing early access to the game.
In Greenhearth Necromancer, you play as a young necromancer whose grandmother, a green witch with an incredible garden and an even more incredible green thumb, leaves you her condo co-op after she passes away. There’s just one problem: the garden is dying. Well, it’s dead.
But hey, you’re a necromancer, so who needs a green thumb when you can raise plants from the dead?
Your grandmother didn’t just leave behind a balcony full of dead plants, either. You’re introduced to her familiar, an adorable little spirit named Compostifer, who helps guide you through the garden and the building itself. And almost immediately, you start meeting the residents of the co-op, a cast of neighbors who each feel warm, weird, and wonderfully distinct. And mostly welcoming.
One of my favorite parts so far has been learning about your grandmother through the people and connections she left behind. Everyone in the building reacts to her death differently, and seeing how connected this little community was made the world feel surprisingly personal and lived-in. It’s such a small touch, but it adds a lot of emotional weight to everything you’re doing.
And despite the necromancy twist, the gardening itself is actually pretty approachable. Different plants need different amounts of sunlight, water, and fertilizer, and you’ll spend time pruning and harvesting materials ranging from simple wood to glowing magical blooms. You can grow living plants alongside undead ones, brew potions, cast spells, and slowly transform your balcony into this strange little magical oasis.
But gardening is only part of the experience.
The game also uses a card-based system to trigger conversations and mini-storylines with your neighbors, and every new interaction reveals a little more about both the people around you and things about your grandmother you didn’t know. So far, every character has been charming, quirky, and memorable in their own way, and I’m already invested in getting to know all of them better.
Another thing I really love is that Greenhearth Necromancer is designed as a semi-idler. You can absolutely sit there and actively manage your garden for hours, but the game also lets you step away whenever you want. If you alt-tab out or leave it running, it shifts into a focus mode, and it’s dang near perfect.
The art is gorgeous, the atmosphere is incredibly cozy, and the lo-fi soundtrack is genuinely fantastic. I found myself leaving the game running on my second monitor while writing emails, working on social posts, and doing other work because it’s just such a nice space to exist in. The music especially is an absolute bop.
Greenhearth Necromancer launches on May 11th on Steam, and there’s already a demo available if you want a small taste of what the full game has to offer.
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