Garten of Banban
Garten of Banban is a survival horror video game franchise developed and published by the Euphoric Brothers. The series began with Garten of Banban in January 2023 and has since received multiple sequels and related releases. IGN maintains a franchise listing covering the series and its individual entries.
The games are primarily set in and around Banban's Kindergarten, an abandoned educational facility associated with the disappearance of its occupants. The series combines first-person exploration, puzzle-solving and horror elements with recurring mascot characters. Garten of Banban has also been examined as part of the mascot horror genre in academic research.
Gameplay
The Garten of Banban games are primarily first-person horror games combining exploration, puzzle-solving and encounters with hostile creatures. Players explore environments associated with Banban's Kindergarten while completing objectives and attempting to uncover information AbOUT the facility and its inhabitants.
A recurring gameplay element is the use of a remotely controlled drone to interact with objects and mechanisms in the environment. The games also feature puzzles, environmental exploration and encounters with mascot-like creatures.
The player GeneRally progresses by exploring different areas, finding clues and items, solving puzzles and advancing through the facility. Later installments expand the environments and introduce additional characters, locations and gameplay mechanics.
Plot
The series follows a parent who enters Banban's Kindergarten after the disappearance of their child and the other occupants of the facility. As the player progresses through the games, they explore increasingly large sections of the kindergarten and its underground facilities while encountering the creatures inhabiting them.
The narrative gradually reveals information about the history of the facility, its experiments and the origins of its mascot characters. Documents, recordings and environmental clues are used to provide information about events that occurred at the kindergarten.
The story continues across multiple installments, with later games expanding the setting and introducing additional characters and conflicts.
Development
The series was developed and published by the independent game studio Euphoric Brothers. The first Garten of Banban was released in January 2023, followed by several episodic installments over the following years.
The games were released during the growth of mascot horror, a genre that commonly combines colorful or cartoon-like characters with horror settings. Academic research on mascot horror has examined Garten of Banban alongside Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach and Poppy Playtime.
The researchers describe Garten of Banban as one of the examples through which mascot horror can be studied in relation to platformisation and the distribution of games and related content through digital platforms.
Releases
The franchise consists of multiple mainline installments and related releases. IGN maintains a listing of games in the Garten of Banban series.
Main series
Title |
Release date |
|---|---|
Garten of Banban |
January 6, 2023 |
Garten of Banban II |
March 3, 2023 |
Garten of Banban III |
May 5, 2023 |
Garten of Banban IV |
August 10, 2023 |
Garten of Banban VI |
December 23, 2023 |
Garten of Banban VII |
May 7, 2024 |
Garten of Banban 0 |
February 20, 2025 |
Garten of Banban 8: Anti Devil |
August 28, 2025 |
Other releases
- Garten of Banban Minecraft
- Garten of Banban Roblox
- Garten of Banban VR
Garten of Banban 0 serves as a prequel to the main series. Garten of Banban VR expands the franchise into virtual reality.
The series has also received releases on consoles. Garten of Banban 7 received a surprise release on the Nintendo Switch in December 2024.
Characters
The franchise features a large cast of human and non-human characters. Many of the recurring characters are mascot-like creatures associated with Banban's Kindergarten.
Among the most prominent characters are Banban, Jumbo Josh, Opila Bird, Nabnab and Stinger Flynn. The characters combine cartoon-like designs with horror elements, a characteristic examined in academic discussions of mascot horror.
The characters play different roles throughout the series, with some acting as threats to the player while others become associated with the story and exploration of the kindergarten.
Reception
The Garten of Banban series has received mixed coverage and criticism, particularly concerning its gameplay, presentation and position within the mascot horror genre.
Reviews
Reviews of the series have discussed both its distinctive character designs and its gameplay. TheXboxHub reviewed several installments, including Garten of Banban 4, Garten of Banban 6 and Garten of Banban 7, with coverage discussing their puzzles, controls, presentation and continuing story.
A review by Movies Games and Tech of Garten of Banban 6 criticized aspects of the game's controls and described them as sluggish.
Pure Nintendo reviewed Garten of Banban 0 for Nintendo Switch and discussed its status as a prequel and its horror gameplay.
Criticism
James Stephanie Sterling's The Jimquisition published a critical analysis of Garten of Banban I through Garten of Banban IV, titled "The Mascot Horror Grift". The article criticized the franchise in the context of the mascot horror genre and discussed its production and approach to the genre.
ScreenRant discussed the first game in an article concerning whether Garten of Banban was suitable for younger audiences. The article described the series as an indie horror franchise featuring colorful mascot characters and compared it with Poppy Playtime and Five Nights at Freddy's.
Cultural impact
Garten of Banban has been discussed as part of the rise of mascot horror in independent video games. The DiGRA paper Scary Business: Mascot Horror as Product and Reflection of Platformisation selected Garten of Banban as one of three primary case studies used to examine the genre, alongside Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach and Poppy Playtime.
The paper examines characteristics of mascot horror including cartoon-like characters associated with childhood imagery, fictional corporate settings and the use of transmedia storytelling. It also considers how games in the genre are connected to digital platforms and online audiences.
Games.gg discussed Garten of Banban as one of the franchises that followed the success of Five Nights at Freddy's and placed it within the broader development of modern indie mascot horror. The article described the series' colorful characters, episodic structure and popularity among streamers and content creators.
The series' expansion onto other platforms has also contributed to its wider presence. Nintendo Everything reported on the surprise Nintendo Switch release of Garten of Banban 7 in December 2024.
See also
- Five Nights at Freddy's
- Poppy Playtime
- Mascot horror