Published guide
Trophy guide
An ordered platinum route with all seven memory secrets, the optional island interactions and chapter-select cleanup.
PS5
Offline and single-player. There is no difficulty selection. Cleanup after the ending uses chapter select to revisit completed islands. This guide covers the original PS5 game, not Hidden Memories of The Gardens Between for VR.
Start a new game and work through the islands in order. I recommend reading the current Roadmap stage before you enter its worlds, then opening the linked trophy solutions when you reach each opportunity. Trophies is the quicker route if you're looking up one missing unlock. The five sections below are my route stages. Island numbers such as 3-2 mean World 3, second island.
We'll learn the lantern in Worlds 1–2, collect the extra interactions around the games in World 3, then continue through the treehouse, museum, drains and night-time islands. After each of Worlds 1–7, stop in the memory scene to find its hidden Garden Friend. World 3's memory has a second trophy too. In World 7, take the short detour before the second island's exit. Check the lightning interaction in the final world, then finish the story.
All 18 trophies fit into one playthrough. Nothing requires a timed run or an irreversible choice. If you'd prefer to solve the puzzles without advance hints, finish the story first and use the chapter-select locations in the individual solutions afterwards. For cleanup, choose Continue from the main menu and return to a completed island. Platinum Garden has the final checklist.
Move the left stick right to advance time and left to rewind. Release it to hold a moment still. Arina carries the lantern, while Frendt operates bells and time devices. Press at an interaction prompt. The aim is to deliver a lit lantern to the altar at the end of each island.
If the first island seems blocked, rewind all the way, then advance again to collect the lantern. Bells open or close flowers. Light flowers fill the lantern, while dark ones remove its light. The moving cubes are Garden Friends, which can carry the lantern through places Arina cannot reach. Put it down with , move time until the cube collects light, then meet it again to retrieve it.
After 1-2, find the door secret for Moving In. After 2-2, find the cooler secret for New Friends. These happen in the floating memory scenes after the islands. Move time gently until the target glows and shakes, then release the stick and wait for its animation. Hold to leave only after the trophy appears.
gold · optional
A sneaky stowaway Garden Friend.
Location: memory after 1-2. Complete the moving-house islands to reach the scene outside the front door.
Move the left stick slowly left or right while watching the door. When it glows white and trembles, release the stick. Leave the scene at that moment until the door opens and a Garden Friend appears. If nothing happens, adjust time slightly and stop again. Replaying 1-2 brings you back to this memory.
gold · optional
A Garden Friend is hiding in the Esky.
Location: memory after 2-2. In the paddling-pool scene, watch the blue cooler behind Frendt, near the fence. This is the Esky named in the description.
Use the left stick to move through the memory until the cooler glows and shakes. Let go of the stick and wait for its lid to open. The Garden Friend reveal unlocks the trophy. If the lid stays shut, move slightly back towards the shaking moment. Return through 2-2 if you've already left.
This world introduces time devices that move objects while the children stay in place. Press to use one, move the left stick, then press again to return to moving the children.
| Island | Before leaving |
|---|---|
| 3-1, board games | Collect the second light orb before restoring the domino chain for Reset The Dominos. |
| 3-2, television | Remove the game's light orb, then run its crow into danger for Game Over. |
| 3-3, sofa | Holding up the falling cloth gives Great Catch! during the puzzle. |
| Memory after 3-3 | Find the TV secret for Staying Up Late, then repeat the popcorn hit for Friendly Fire. |
The two memory trophies share one scene. Check both before holding to leave.
gold · optional
Super Silly Crow escapes the TV.
Location: memory after 3-3. The children are playing a video game on the sofa. Move time with the left stick until the television glows and shakes, then release the stick.
Wait for the crow to come out of the screen. Don't keep moving time while the TV is shaking. Before leaving this memory, also complete Friendly Fire. Either trophy can be done first, and replaying 3-3 returns you to the scene.
silver · optional
Restore the board to a clean state.
Location: 3-1, the board-game island. Use the first time device to clear the blocks, then cross the light bridge. At the second device, advance the scene until the domino chain falls.
Leave the device and move forward to collect the second light orb. Rewind the children and ring the bell on the way back so the dark flower won't take it. Return to the second time device, press and rewind the objects fully until every domino is upright.
The trophy should appear with the restored board. Doing this before collecting the second orb may not count. If needed, leave the device, collect that orb and try again. To continue uphill, ring the bell again when you reach it so you can carry the light to the altar.
silver · optional
Super Silly Crow is defeated.
Location: 3-2, the television island. First power the TV using the time device at the end of the lower path. Rewind the children to the remote and pause with Frendt's hand on its button until the video cassette ejects. Walk up the cassette and cross the light bridge to reach the TV game.
If the bird survives, the power-up is still in the game. Repeat the orb pickup and make sure Arina has the lit lantern before advancing the crow again.
silver · unmissable
What's under the table cloth?
Location: 3-3, the sofa island. This happens while solving the main puzzle.
At the second time device, position the Garden Friend beneath the falling cloth near the broom handle. Leave the device and advance the children so the cloth lands on the cube, holding it out of Frendt's way. The trophy unlocks during this sequence. If the cloth still blocks him, adjust the cube beneath it and advance again.
silver · optional
Arina throws popcorn at Frendt five times.
Location: memory after 3-3. Arina is holding popcorn while the children play a video game on the sofa.
Push the left stick right until she throws the popcorn and Frendt reacts to being hit. Rewind until it is back in her hand, then advance through the hit again. Repeat until he has been hit five times and the trophy appears. Let each hit and reaction finish rather than moving back and forth across only part of the throw.
Also collect Staying Up Late before holding to exit. If you've left, replay 3-3 to return to the memory.
In the treehouse world, light clears purple fog, but it also removes fog bridges. If a bridge disappears as you approach, check whether your lantern needs to be empty. Dark flowers can help you cross.
| World | Route and trophy check |
|---|---|
| 4, treehouse | Cut the plank in 4-1 for Saw Through Time. Ride the final lift in 4-3 for Gone Fishing. In the memory, stop at the poster for Our Secret Clubhouse. |
| 5, museum | Finish the computer and dinosaur islands, then inspect the egg in the memory for Mischievous Discoveries. |
| 6, drains | Finish all three islands, then pause the memory at the left pipe's valve for An Expedition Goes Down The Drain. |
Some mechanisms need time to work even while the children are still. In the electrical island, hold a water droplet across the broken wire until the light comes on, then move through the cleared fog.
gold · optional
A Garden Friend sneaks a look.
Location: memory after 4-3. In the treehouse scene, look at the poster on the wall behind Frendt.
Move the left stick left and right until the poster begins to glow and shake. Release the stick and wait. The poster rolls up to expose the Garden Friend, unlocking the trophy. If it stops shaking without opening, make a smaller adjustment and pause again. Replay 4-3 to return after leaving the memory.
gold · optional
A Garden Friend follows on a school trip.
Location: memory after 5-2. After the dinosaur island, the museum memory contains an egg display.
Watch the egg while moving time with the left stick. Find the moment when it glows and shakes, then release the stick until it opens and reveals the Garden Friend. Moving past that moment too quickly won't trigger the reveal. Rewind slightly and wait again, or replay 5-2 if you've already left.
gold · optional
A Garden Friend gums up the pipes.
Location: memory after 6-3. The scene shows the children beside the drain. Watch the valve fitting on the pipe at the left edge.
Adjust time with the left stick until that fitting glows and rattles, then let go. Wait for the Garden Friend to emerge and the trophy to appear. If the pipe remains closed, nudge time back towards the rattle and pause. Replaying 6-3 returns to this memory.
silver · unmissable
Saw the plank. Next, get a hammer.
Location: 4-1, the first treehouse island. Progress until Arina stands on the saw handle.
Alternate the left stick left and right so her movement works the saw through the plank. Keep going until the wood breaks and the trophy appears. This is part of opening the onward path. If the plank is still intact, repeat the full movement over the handle rather than holding one direction.
silver · unmissable
Arina’s at the end of her rope.
Location: 4-3, near the top of the lift puzzle. At the final time device, bring the lift platform up beside Arina.
Leave the device and move her onto the platform. Use the device again to lower Arina herself, with her lantern, all the way to the light flower at the bottom. Collecting its light unlocks the trophy. Bring her back up to finish the island. Sending only the cube down during the earlier lift puzzles isn't this final action.
Complete the playground island, then read Found You! before finishing 7-2, the island with the portable music player. Its final puzzle gives you a lit lantern. Carry that light back down the path to expose the hidden cube before delivering it to the exit.
In 7-3, the telescope and sky form part of the puzzle. Capturing the moon's light gives Reach For The Sky. After finishing the island, find the telescope secret in the memory for Stargazing. The moon puzzle and memory secret are separate actions.
gold · optional
A Cosmic Garden Friend phones home.
Location: memory after 7-3. In the scene with the children watching the stars, find the telescope behind Frendt.
Move through the memory with the left stick until the telescope glows and shakes. Release the stick and wait for it to turn around and reveal its Garden Friend. If it doesn't turn, readjust to the shaking moment. This is separate from Reach For The Sky, which happens during the island. Replay 7-3 to return to the memory.
silver · optional
Release the hidden Garden Friend.
Location: 7-2, the music-player island. Reach the portable player near the top and use Frendt to tune it. Each coloured station moves the matching cube. Tune away to stop that cube at a useful position.
Bring the blue cube beside Arina and put her lantern on it. Move it down to meet the yellow cube's light flower. Adjust the yellow station if the light isn't close enough. Once the lantern is lit, move the pink cube's dark flower out of its return route, then bring the blue cube back up and collect the lantern.
Before using the exit altar, rewind the children down the path with the lit lantern. Its light clears the purple fog hiding a Garden Friend in an alcove, and revealing that cube unlocks the trophy. Then return uphill to finish. If the fog stays, your lantern is empty, so repeat the music-player transfer. Replay 7-2 if you've already completed the island.
silver · unmissable
Pluck the moon right out of the sky.
Location: 7-3, the telescope island. This is the final light pickup needed to finish the island.
At the upper time device, move the sky's dark orb close to the lantern on its cube to remove the light. Align the stars into a bell, leave the device and ring it. Adjust the sky again so the light is to the left above the bucket, then retrieve the empty lantern below.
Advance Arina until the lantern overlaps the moon and stop for a moment. The light transfers into it and the trophy appears. If it doesn't, check that the lantern is empty and adjust Arina's position slightly before waiting again.
World 8 is one selectable island with several sections. In its second section, watch for the floating white machine with a green screen. Stop there for Don't touch that! before continuing uphill. If you leave the world first, cleanup starts at 8-1 rather than directly at the machine.
Finish the remaining puzzles and the closing scene for The Gardens Complete. Then check Platinum Garden against your trophy list. Revisit only the islands tied to missing trophies. For a memory secret, replay that world's final island to reach its memory again. You don't need to erase your save or start a second story run.
platinum · optional
Collect all other The Gardens Between Trophies.
Unlock the other 17 trophies. Finishing the story alone leaves the optional interactions and memory secrets to check.
There are seven Garden Friend secrets in the memories, one after each of Worlds 1–7. World 3's memory also contains Friendly Fire. The other island checks are Reset The Dominos in 3-1, Game Over in 3-2, Found You! in 7-2 and Don't touch that! in the second section of World 8.
Use Continue at the main menu to return to chapter select. Select the island named in the missing trophy's solution. For a memory, completing the world's last island brings that scene back. Existing trophy unlocks do not need to be repeated.
gold · unmissable
Friends apart, memories remain.
Finish World 8 and continue through the final memory to the ending. This trophy is automatic.
If you're at the top but it hasn't appeared, place the lantern at the last altar and let the closing sequence finish. The optional secrets aren't required to reach the ending and remain available through chapter select afterwards.
silver · optional
Arina really shouldn't be pressing buttons.
Location: World 8, second section. Load 8-1 for cleanup and progress through its opening section. The next area contains a floating white machine with a round green display, near a wooden bridge. This is the oscilloscope.
Move Arina until she is behind and slightly below the machine on screen, then release the left stick. Hold the scene still for a few seconds so the lightning strikes the machine and unlocks the trophy. If it misses, adjust her position a little and wait again. You need the strike on this machine, not just another lightning effect later on the path.