Roblox farming simulator Grow a Garden is attracting tens of millions of gamers throughout PC, cell, and console gadgets, eclipsing numbers achieved by some of the hottest video games on any platform – so what precisely is it?
If you load up Roblox at any time on any day in the subsequent week, there’s a good likelihood round 2 million people shall be taking part in Grow a Garden in some capability. That’s in response to the official person tracker discovered on all Roblox experiences, which crops the colourful free-to-play game firmly atop trending charts in a selection of classes. These are numbers that see the free-to-play game leaving different Roblox tasks in its mud, with the second-most-popular “Playing Now” expertise, Brookhaven RP, exhibiting 590,000 gamers at the time of this piece’s publication.
Pulling 1.5 million gamers is an spectacular feat, and it’s additionally on the low finish for Grow a Garden.
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The farming simulator peaked at more than 8.8 million active users final weekend, annihilating solely competing experiences but a number of lively person information, beginning when it crossed the 5 million lively customers mark earlier this month. The 16-year-old behind Grow a Garden launched it March 25, 2025. It has since been visited 3.4 billion occasions.
For comparability, Counter-Strike 2, presently the hottest Steam game, reached its all-time peak simply final month at just below 1.86 million gamers (by way of SteamDB). PUBG: Battlegrounds holds the trophy for the highest-ever lively participant rely on Valve’s PC storefront, and even its peak topped out at 3.25 million gamers in 2018.
Grow a Garden continues to be trailing behind the free-to-play battle royale megaton that’s Fortnite, which boasts a peak lively participant rely of 15.3 million from an event held in 2020. Grow a Garden isn’t fairly at the high of the mountain, but it’s climbing – and quick. It’s no less than one other important piece of proof that the Roblox platform is one to be taken severely, as tens of millions proceed to flock to the dense forest of content material it gives.
What Do You Do in Grow a Garden?
In Grow a Garden, you – in case you can imagine it – grow a backyard. There’s little complexity to the gameplay components presently setting Roblox ablaze. It’s not yet one more anime tie-in or tower-defense expertise but as an alternative a easy farming game with a tutorial that lays out all the things you need to know in simply a few seconds.
Each participant is plopped into a server with a handful of different Roblox customers, with everybody granted their own plot of land to start their backyard on. While new gamers are gifted 20 Sheckles, Grow a Garden’s in-game currency, to buy easy seeds for greens like carrots, it’s additionally virtually instantly clear how far you’ll be able to take the premise, as different gamers’ fenced-in areas will usually be brimming with towering bushes, bamboo, energetic fruits, and more. Growth takes time, but gardens will repeatedly flourish, even when a participant is offline, till picked.
Grow a carrot and promote it, and also you’ll revenue a few Sheckles. Rinse, repeat, and earn enough for blueberries, then mangos, then orange tulips, then grapes, then peppers, and so forth. The satisfaction comes from the tangible growth you’ll be able to see in your backyard – and money – in actual time. It’s a far-from-unique cycle distilled into its purest type, although there’s more to do for these seeking to dig for it.
Customizing a backyard may be so simple as organizing your yard by coloration, peak, or kind, or taste may be added with elective beauty objects, instruments, and pets. Updates and occasions preserve gamers coming back for more, as do climate modifiers that may probably increase the worth of your crops. Every gameplay wrinkle is an element of the components that has seen Grow a Garden’s participant base balloon to ranges unheard of in Roblox’s blocky world. Not everybody understands it, but the success is simple.
Who Made Grow a Garden?
The 16-year-old who first broke ground with Grow a Garden stays creatively concerned in what it’s develop into but is no longer the solely identify hooked up. Sharing obligations are Roblox expertise management firm DoHuge Studios and well-liked developer Janzen Madsen (a.ok.a. Jandel) and his community of creators at Splitting Point. These are main gamers in the space, but Grow a Garden caught out to Madsen earlier than it exploded.
“The game was developed by a 16-year-old in a few days, and we saw the game when it was on about 1,000, 2,000 CCUs,” Madsen tells us, describing Grow a Garden’s lively gamers, “and we just partnered with that developer, built in a live-ops plan, did some general updates to the game, and, pretty much, the rest is history.”
It was right here the now-gargantuan farming expertise started to plant its roots, as the 20-person staff at Splitting Point started to help create a basis for growth. That’s to not say the authentic, nameless developer stopped being concerned.
“I actually think they’re, creatively, pretty incredible,” Madsen mentioned when describing how improvement obligations are shared. “I think they bring a pretty unique perspective to the game, and I think there’s maybe a generational gap between me and them. Everyone has… I would say it’s almost equal, honestly, in terms of, we get on a call, we plan an update – it’s probably not what you’d expect. Sometimes we’re planning the update week to week, you know?”
Madsen can’t nail down what triggered Grow a Garden’s meteoric rise, largely as a result of “it happened so quickly,” but factors to tight replace methods and occasions as dependable attracts for Roblox gamers. Recent examples embrace bringing in a DJ for leisure and organizing a mass dance social gathering in hopes of breaking a world document. Every replace presents an alternative to create a second that sucks gamers in whereas making them really feel concerned in the journey.
This goes out to all the haters at GDC from 2022-2024 in case you aren't taking Roblox severely then you might be getting left behind! pic.twitter.com/6MeE1vVABL
— Jandel – Roblox (@jandelRblx) May 17, 2025
The small free-to-play mission with humble beginnings ultimately exploded into the largest game in Roblox historical past. There’s a full-on operation sustaining its success to make sure its tens of millions of followers proceed exhibiting up, and the builders aren’t tending to it at no cost. Although Madsen declined to share the particulars concerning Grow a Garden’s earnings previous an acknowledgement of Roblox’s previously established cut of in-game spending, the expertise gives more than a few clear methods for gamers to spend real-world money.
Nearly each merchandise of curiosity may be bought with the Roblox premium currency often known as Robux, Grow a Garden’s major source of income. On PC, $5 translates to 500 Robux, with seed costs starting from seven to 715 Robux and decorations like crates and campfires asking for 119 and 149 Robux. There are additionally seed packs and eggs that may be bought one at a time or in packs, primarily serving as loot containers containing particular crops and pets, respectively. Most these things can nonetheless be bought with in-game Sheckles, even when the price tag can typically attain numbers larger than Grow a Garden’s participant average participant rely. It’s unclear how a lot gamers are spending to equipment out their farms, but with no less than 1.5 million customers taking part in at any second, we will guess it’s in all probability a lot.
Climbing the Beanstalk
Grow a Garden is pulling consideration the likes of which Roblox has by no means seen, but success is much from a international idea on this platform. New experiences flood in each day, and whereas many of them by no means attain the high of trending charts, a lot of others, equivalent to Blue Lock: Rivals and Dress to Impress, nonetheless boast tons of of 1000’s of engaged gamers months after release. Roblox isn’t a gaming contemporary phenomenon – it’s been right here for years, and it’s solely attracting more consideration.
Still, reaching round practically 9 million lively customers is so unbelievable that many have questioned the legitimacy of Grow a Garden's success. Some have steered bots have performed a position in inflated numbers and fabricated reputation, but Roblox says this isn’t the case.
“Grow a Garden's global success is fueled by exceptional user retention, vibrant social interactions — with friends driving play — and strong Robux engagement,” a Roblox spokesperson informed Game File. “Our preliminary analysis confirms genuine popularity, not artificial inflation, validating the game's authentic community-driven growth.”
While these on the outdoors raise eyebrows at Roblox's attraction to avid gamers, Madsen says he has labored to legitimize the platform he calls home for the majority of the time he’s been on this space. He sees Roblox as each a slice of gaming that’s gone ignored and a hub for creativity.
“Most people’s first impression of Roblox is, ‘This is a silly platform for kids, and there’s no depth to the gameplay or games,’ and I think legitimately some of the best game designers in the world are on Roblox making games,” Madsen defined. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, they look simple, but they’re actually like… they’re solving hard problems there in the platform. They’re pushing the boundaries.’
"Look at AAA. No one takes big risks, you know? Every day on Roblox, there’s a new concept or a new game out – I think it’s kind of cool. I think it’s easy to judge from the outside without really taking a few weeks to look at it.”
Even if Grow a Garden has already bloomed to its fullest extent, it’s no doubt planted the seeds for different Roblox experiences to succeed in and even exceed its high bar. While we look ahead to it to grow, you’ll be able to learn up on all lively Grow a Garden codes here.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's greatest identified for his work at websites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to present him a observe on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).