Survival guide
Garden Survivor: outlast the swarm for 6:00
Garden Survivor is a cozy survival game. Aphids, beetles and wasps swarm the garden in escalating waves while your sprout auto-fires thorns at the nearest pest. You only steer: kite the swarm, scoop green XP gems, and draft 1 of 3 upgrades every level. Survive the full 6 minutes to win — a Hungry Grub lumbers in at 5:00 for a 500-point bonus.
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On this page (6 sections)
Controls at a glance
| Action | Desktop | Mobile / touch |
|---|---|---|
| Move | WASD or arrow keys, or drag on the arena | Touch-drag anywhere (virtual joystick) |
| Attack | Automatic — thorns fire at the nearest pest | Automatic |
| Dash | Space (3.5s cooldown, brief invulnerability) | Tap the dash button |
| Upgrade | Click one of the 3 draft cards | Tap one of the 3 draft cards |
What is Garden Survivor
Garden Survivor is a single-run survival game capped at 6 minutes. Pest waves escalate on a fixed director: slow aphids first, tanky beetles join in, fast wasps arrive after 75 seconds, and elites with bonus XP appear past 2 minutes. Killing pests drops XP gems; collecting enough levels the sprout and pauses the action for a 3-choice upgrade draft. Eight stackable upgrades — damage, fire rate, thorn count, speed, max HP, magnet, crit, regen — combine into a build. A run ends in victory at 6:00 or in defeat when HP hits zero (one rewarded-ad revive per run).
Pests
| Pest | Behaviour | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Aphid | Slow chaser, weak — the bulk of every wave | 1 |
| Beetle | Slow tank, heavy contact damage | 3 |
| Wasp | Fast dasher that cuts off escapes (after 1:40) | 2 |
| Mite | Fast popper that detonates near you — chain it into the pack (after 2:00) | 2 |
| Elite (gold ring) | 6x HP, 1.5x damage | 5x |
| Golden aphid (rare, 3:00+) | Very fast, very tanky | 25 |
| Hungry Grub (boss, 5:00) | Huge, slow, devastating touch | 50 + 500 bonus |
Upgrades
| Upgrade | Effect | Max stacks |
|---|---|---|
| Sharper Thorns | +30% thorn damage | 5 |
| Quick Bloom | +18% fire rate | 5 |
| Twin Thorns | +1 thorn per volley | 5 |
| Swift Roots | +8% move speed | 5 |
| Deep Roots | +25 max HP and heal 25 | 5 |
| Dew Magnet | +35% pickup radius | 5 |
| Lucky Petal | +8% crit chance (2x damage) | 5 |
| Morning Dew | +0.8 HP/s regen | 5 |
| Petal Guard | Orbiting petals shred nearby pests | 3 |
| Spore Nova | Periodic radial spore burst | 3 |
| Dew Aura | Burning ring scorches nearby pests | 3 |
| Thornstorm (evolve) | Piercing golden thorns, faster volleys | maxed Twin Thorns |
| Petal Maelstrom (evolve) | More, bigger, faster petals | maxed Petal Guard |
| Sporeburst (evolve) | Bigger piercing nova, faster recharge | maxed Spore Nova |
| Sunscald (evolve) | Wider, hotter, faster aura | maxed Dew Aura |
How a run works
- Press Plant & defend to start. Circle the arena — never corner yourself.
- Thorns fire automatically at the nearest pest within range.
- Dash (Space) through tight packs — the brief invulnerability saves runs.
- Collect green gems to level up and draft upgrades back-to-back.
- Beetles and elites can drop healing hearts; mites explode — bait them into the pack.
- Spend coins between runs on permanent seedling upgrades (HP, damage, speed).
- At 5:00 the Hungry Grub lumbers in. Kill it for +500, or just outrun it.
- Reach 6:00 to win. Dying once offers a rewarded-ad revive at 50% HP.
Scoring
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Kill a pest | 10 |
| Level | 40 per level |
| Second survived | 2 per second |
| Kill the Hungry Grub | +500 bonus |
What happens to your scores
Garden Survivor saves your best score to localStorage on the device you played on, submits it to the anonymous global leaderboard, and pays coins on every finished run. There is no account and nothing personal is uploaded. To reset your best, clear site data in your browser settings.
Who this is for
- Players who want a deeper run than a 1-minute arcade round
- Survivors-like fans who like build drafting
- Phone players — drag-to-move works one-handed
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the most common questions about Garden Survivor.
How long is a run?
A full run lasts 6 minutes. The Hungry Grub boss appears at 5:00; surviving to 6:00 wins the run whether or not the boss is dead.
Do I need to aim?
No — thorns auto-fire at the nearest pest within range. Your only job is positioning: kite the swarm, scoop gems, and avoid getting cornered.
What happens when I level up?
The action pauses and you draft 1 of 3 upgrades (damage, fire rate, thorn count, speed, HP, magnet, crit, regen). If several levels are banked, drafts queue back-to-back.
What are seedling upgrades?
Permanent upgrades bought with coins that apply to every future run: +12 max HP, +6% damage, or +3% speed per level, up to 5 levels each. They persist in your browser across runs.
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