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Great Escape
It’s All Fun and Games Until You Run Out of Coins
Mobile games became such a welcome distraction from my life that, soon, I didn’t have one
The first time I meet Katherine, I’m impressed by her poise. She wears her brown ponytail low and loose and radiates a farmhand-next-door vibe. Austin explains to me that she’s an old friend, though by the way his parents gush over her, it’s obvious they wish it had blossomed into something more. And maybe she does, too; the girl next door is now a woman grown, with seemingly nothing to do but stalk about Austin’s shabby family mansion as he attempts to restore it, to middling results.
After a grueling week spent revitalizing the treehouse in his parents’ backyard, Austin asks Katherine up for a nightcap — a seemingly adult invitation for two childhood “pals.” This is it, I think as Austin turns on the string of lights adorning the treehouse, unleashing their sparkly magic as Katherine claps with delight. They’re gonna bone.
Instead, Austin offers to walk Katherine home. The pair heads off into the night; what happens next is not for me to know. What I do know is that when Austin wakes up alone in his twin bed the next morning, the implication is that nothing sordid occured. There will be no bones in this friend zone — which makes sense, since according to the app store, this game is appropriate for players ages four and up.
Austin is my “friend and butler,” according to his surprisingly sparse wiki — surprising because those familiar with the popular mobile game Gardenscapes know its main character to spare no detail. Austin has a tale for every pebble and windowpane of his virtual world. When you open the game, it’s likely you’ll catch him chatting to himself. Then he’ll look up — out? — at you, bashful and pleased, as if he wasn’t sure he’d ever see you again.
Like hell.
Despite starring in two games (Gardenscapes and its spinoff, Homescapes) that consistently rank on iTunes’ list of top-grossing apps, Austin has an unglamorous origin story. Before Gardenscapes, which was Facebook’s 2016 Game of the Year, Austin was but a minor character in the game Township. A farming simulation for most, Township was a gateway drug…
