absorbs the light. The player does not control Arina and Frendt, but instead makes time pass forwards and backwards. As time moves forwards, the pair walk down the pathway with the viewpoint following them, sometimes taking different branches if the pathway is forked. The player cannot move time forward or past a point where either Arina or Frendt cannot progress. Time does not pass uniformly for all objects; for example, Arina can collect light from a flower and then go backwards in time along the path with the light in order to give the now-lit lantern to a cube creature she had passed. Frendt can also activate devices that let the player move time forwards and backwards just for a specific object, such as a radio or garden hose. This may be needed to create paths previously blocked, bring falling light flowers into close proximity to Arina's paths, or similar actions. Other solutions may require lateral thinking that involve recognizing how the various time stream manipulations can work. Development The Gardens Between was developed by Australian studio The Voxel Agents over the course of four and a half years. The initial concept for the game was created in 2011 as part of a series of rapid prototypes for game ideas, with most centering on manipulating time. The Gardens Betweens concept was inspired by a scene from the 2002 film Minority Report in which a character plays a video memory forwards and backwards by moving his hand back and forth. Although the concept was not turned into a game then, when game director and designer Henrik Pettersson rejoined the studio in 2014 they began to expand the concept into a full game. The initial version of the game was a puzzle game using the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but the team wanted to use an original story instead, which was created by narrative designer Brooke Maggs. The game's narrative retained some elements of fairy tales early in development, but soon shifted to use fantastical elements that were more surreal and less taken from fairy tales, as well as the "Voyage and Return" narrative archetype such as in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , Pan's Labyrinth, and Coraline. The music was inspired by Icelandic composers and ambient music, and the composer, Tim Shiel, was involved early in the design process so that his music would match the tone of the game