How did Gardenscapes move from larger old rewards to a much slower garden-progress system?
One of the biggest sources of confusion in today’s Gardenscapes is the number of stars players receive from levels. Many players remember an older period when harder levels gave more stars, and they assume that the same system still applies. In reality, the game now uses two different reward systems that look similar but serve different purposes.
The first system is garden stars, which affect tasks, days, and story progress. The second system is event points, which are used in temporary events, season tracks, collections, and other reward mechanics. This is where the confusion begins, because the same level can give one star for the garden but more points inside an event.
Garden Stars Are Not The Same As Event Points
When a player wins a level, it is important not to look only at what appears in the event. Garden progress and temporary event progress can be calculated in different ways.
Garden stars are used for renovation tasks, completing days, and unlocking new parts of the story. These are the stars that truly affect how fast the garden moves forward, which is why reward systems changed over time remains an important part of understanding modern progression.
Event points, on the other hand, only work inside specific events. They may help the player collect rewards, boosters, cards, or other temporary prizes, but they do not replace the stars needed to complete a garden day.
How Garden Stars Work Today
In today’s Gardenscapes, most levels give one star for garden progress, whether they are normal, hard, or super hard.
| Level Type | Garden Stars |
|---|---|
| Normal Level | 1 star |
| Hard Level | 1 star |
| Super Hard Level | 1 star |
| Challenge Level | 3 stars |
This means Hard and Super Hard Levels no longer give extra stars for garden progress. The main exception is Challenge Levels, which currently give three stars when completed successfully.
In the older system, however, the picture was different. Hard Levels gave three stars, while Super Hard and Challenge Levels gave five stars. This old memory is one of the reasons many players feel that garden progress has become slower.
Why Many Players Still Think Hard Levels Give More Stars
The answer is found in events. In many temporary systems inside the game, harder levels still count more, but this does not mean they give more stars for the garden.
| Level Type | Event Points |
|---|---|
| Normal Level | 1 |
| Hard Level | 3 |
| Super Hard Level | 5 |
| Challenge Level | 5 |
A Super Hard Level can therefore give five points in an event, but only one star for the garden. When a player mainly follows event progress, it is easy to believe that the old star system still exists.
Where The Biggest Confusion Begins
The confusion appears because the player wins one level, but the game can reward that win through two different systems at the same time.
For example, a Hard Level can give one star for the story and three points in an active event. A Super Hard Level can give one star for the garden and five points in the event. On the player’s screen, these can look like part of the same victory, but in reality they feed different progress systems.
This is the point that needs to be made clear. Most difficult levels still have greater value inside events, but not in garden progress.
Why This Change Makes The Garden Feel Slower
The garden does not move forward with event points. It moves forward with stars.
This means that even when a player gains event points quickly, completing a garden day can still remain very slow. Event points help with temporary rewards, but they do not reduce the number of stars required by an area or a day.
The difference becomes much more noticeable in newer days of the game. Many modern days now require a very large number of stars to complete. When most levels give only one star, the player needs far more wins to reach the end of the day, reflecting some of the broader economy changes that have reshaped progression over the years.
What This Means For Golden League Players
The biggest impact is seen by players who have reached the end of the available levels and play in the Golden League.
Playrix adds 50 new levels every week. For endgame players, this means there is a limited number of new levels that can provide garden stars before the player returns to the Golden League again.
When a player completes all available levels, they continue playing in the Golden League for cups and rewards, but that progress does not work the same way as new levels that give stars for garden tasks.
This is the real problem for endgame players. If a modern day requires more than 100 stars and the player receives 50 new levels per week, completing one day can take around three weeks.
This is not a small change in the rhythm of the game. In the past, when difficult levels gave more stars and day rewards could appear gradually during the same day, the player felt that progress had a more immediate reward.
Today, when day rewards are collected only after the entire day is completed, a Golden League player can play for weeks before receiving the full reward package from finishing one day.
Why This Changes The Feeling Of Reward
This is not only a mathematical issue. It is also about how progress feels.
When a Hard Level gave more stars, the player felt that difficulty had a direct value inside the garden. A difficult win was not just another completed level. It was a bigger step toward finishing the day.
In the current system, the same difficult level can give increased points in an event, while the garden moves forward by only one star. The difficulty remains, but the feeling of progress inside the garden becomes smaller.
For a player who has not reached the end of the game yet, this may simply feel like slower progress. For a Golden League player, however, it becomes much more obvious because the number of new levels each week is limited.
Why The Golden League Makes This Change More Visible
Players who have not yet reached the end still have many regular levels ahead of them. They can keep earning stars as long as they continue passing new levels.
Golden League players have a different experience. They receive the new levels of the week, complete them, collect the corresponding stars, and then return to a competitive mode that does not solve garden progress in the same way.
That is why the change in stars should not be viewed only as a reward change per level. It should be understood together with the weekly rhythm of new levels, the Golden League, and the way day-completion rewards are now given.
Conclusion
Gardenscapes now uses two different reward systems.
For garden progress, Normal, Hard, and Super Hard Levels give one star, while Challenge Levels give three stars.
For events, Hard Levels count as three points, while Super Hard and Challenge Levels count as five points.
The bigger change, however, is not only the difference between stars and event points. It is that garden progress has become slower, especially for Golden League players who have a limited number of new levels each week.
When a modern day requires more than 100 stars and an endgame player receives around 50 new levels per week, completing one day and collecting its rewards can take around three weeks.
So while difficult levels still have greater value inside events, real garden progress now moves at a much slower pace than it did in the past.
Sources And Documentation
The official Playrix help page for stars explains that stars are used to complete tasks and move garden progress forward, which shows why event points cannot be treated as the same reward system: Playrix Help Center for Stars.
The official Playrix help page about new level releases explains that new levels are added every week and that players who complete all available levels can participate in the Golden League: Playrix Help Center for new levels and the Golden League.
The Gardenscapes Wiki page for levels summarizes the current distinction between Normal, Hard, Super Hard, and Challenge Levels, together with their rewards in stars and coins: Gardenscapes Wiki for Levels.
The Gardenscapes Wiki page for seasonal rewards shows how events can measure level value differently, with Normal Levels giving 1 point, Hard Levels giving 3 points, and Super Hard or Challenge Levels giving 5 points: Gardenscapes Wiki for event points.
Have you noticed something that isn’t mentioned here? Level differences, changes, or team-related issues? Leave a comment.