Bepass Harvest

Vicarage Lawn 4, and only five tiles of long grass are left. The fuel gauge shows two bars. You swipe down, the little red mower hums along the hedge, and the stripes come out neat and pale. One more swipe to the left would finish it, except that the tulip bed sits right in the way. So you stop, look again, and spot the jerry can tucked in the corner. A detour, three fresh bars of petrol, one long run up the side, and the job is done in par. The Vicar's fête is safe, and a packet of Zinnia seeds goes into your tin. That is Garden Mower: a calm sliding puzzle about mowing every blade of grass without flattening a single flower or running out of petrol. HOW TO PLAY 1. Swipe to start the mower. It runs in a straight line until it meets a hedge, cutting every tile of grass on the way. Straight lines only; it will not turn until it stops. 2. Mow it all. The lawn is finished once every grassy tile has been cut, and a counter underneath shows how many are left. 3. Mind the flowers. Flowerbeds will not stop the mower; it drives straight through them and flattens the lot. Flatten a bed and the run is over, so plan routes that skirt round them. 4. Watch the petrol. Each slide burns one bar of fuel. Drive over a red jerry can for three more bars. Run dry with grass still standing and you are stuck. 5. Use the tools. Undo takes back your last slide, Restart resets the lawn, and Hint shows where the next good slide ends. 6. Aim for par. Mow a lawn in par and you earn three stars, and the neighbour slips you a packet of seeds by way of thanks. PROGRESSION There are thirty lawns across three gardens. The Cottage Garden, with roses round the door, starts small and forgiving while you get the feel of sliding and stopping. The Vicarage Lawn needs smartening up before the fête on Saturday, and its flowerbeds and fuel cans begin to shape every route. The Manor Grounds close the season with show-day striping, where several beds and a tight tank force you to think the whole route through before you touch the screen. Every lawn is built so the jerry cans and flowerbeds genuinely shape the solution rather than decorate it. Every finished job pays pocket money, which is earned only by mowing. Spend it in The Shed on six mowers: the quiet Push Reel you begin with, the trusty Red Rotary, the Hover Mower that floats on a cushion of air, the polished brass Vintage Cylinder, the politely beeping Robo-Mow and the Ride-On, which comes with a cup holder. The Seed Tin holds the thirty seed packets you can win, one per lawn mown in par, from Sweet Pea, Sunflower and Cornflower to Foxglove, Forget-me-not, Hollyhock, Peony, Bluebell and Gladiolus. The Garden Diary keeps a tally of tiles mown, stars, slides and hints used, along with twelve badges to earn, including Neat Edges for your first lawn in par, Acre of Grass for 500 tiles mown and Green Fingers for five lawns in a row without a hint. Settings let you turn the mowing stripes on mown grass on or off, along with haptics and the butterflies drifting over the lawn. You can mow with no internet at all; there is no account to create, no advert to sit through and no shop taking real money. On a tablet the gardens grow to fill the larger screen. A NEIGHBOUR CALLS EVERY DAY Each morning, someone from the village leans over the gate with a favour: a fresh Daily Lawn that is different from the thirty in the gardens. It could be Mrs Bloom, Mr Hedges, Old Tom, Auntie Rose, The Vicar, Miss Marigold or Farmer Giles, depending on the day of the week. Mow it and you earn the Daily Chore badge; mow three daily lawns on consecutive days and the Weekend Warrior badge is yours. It only takes a few minutes with a cup of tea, and tomorrow there will be a new lawn, a new neighbour and a fresh tank of petrol waiting by the shed.