Thriller Garden

Thriller Garden is a mission-based game in which you choose a character and complete objectives in locations filled with monsters. Characters have different skills and weaknesses, and you select enhancements to suit each location’s task type. You can build on a character’s strengths or compensate for shortcomings.

Characters and weapons

The game starts with a handful of characters and their respective weapons. Completing more missions unlocks additional characters. At first, each character can use only their own weapon; for example, a cowboy can use only a revolver. Completing any task at any difficulty with a character removes this restriction, letting other characters use that character’s weapons. You can try different character and weapon combinations for the most difficult tasks.

Enhancements and progress

Most monsters drop experience when they die, which you collect by moving close to it. Once you have enough, you can choose from a set of enhancements. These include effects beyond simple changes to stats, so the mechanisms and combinations of your choices matter. At first, the available options are limited; completing more tasks can earn blessings that may show you more options, improve their overall quality or let you choose again.

Completing tasks earns blessings, and failing does not necessarily leave you empty-handed. If you perform well in specific areas, such as moving fast enough, you can earn achievements that permanently improve that ability for all characters. Harder achievements provide stronger improvements, while easier ones have weaker effects.

Choose your blessings

Before a mission, you can choose which of your unlocked blessings to apply. Some provide advantages, while others add challenges and can make the mission harder for you and your enemies. Choose them to suit your character and the task type.

Add curses

After unlocking all characters, you can add curses to increase a mission’s difficulty. Each curse strengthens enemies, and you choose which effects to apply. For example, if you are good at dealing physical damage, you can select curses that make enemies resist elemental damage. The description advises choosing curses that do not directly prevent you from completing the mission.