What is Grow a Garden? The Roblox farming simulator exploding in popularity

The fastest-growing video game in the world might just be a game within a game. Grow a Garden, labeled as an experience within Roblox, is skyrocketing in usage.

The New York Times reported it topped out at 16.4 million active players over the weekend, a new high. For context, that's more players than even Fortnite's peak.

So, what is Grow a Garden? Well, it's basically the 2025 kids' answer to the millennial Farmville fad. Grow a Garden lets users grow virtual crops and tend to a digital herd of animals, which you can then sell for in-game currency. You log off for a bit, come back, and see your crop come in.

Wrote the Times:

"Plots begin barren before users transform them into fantastical safaris of shimmering frogs and prancing monkeys that each have their own special abilities. Suddenly, a player’s dismal square brims with vibrant vegetation and beanstalks shooting into the sky."

Search around online, and you can see lots of clips of folks showing off Roblox gardens and talking about just how popular it has become.

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While the, ahem, growth of the gardening simulator is stunning, it's not totally surprising. There has long been a demand for more passive gaming. Again, think Farmville or even RollerCoaster Tycoon. Mashable's Chase DiBenedetto also recently wrote about so-called "cozy gaming" going mainstream with hits like Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing. These games are almost meditative, fostering a sense of comfort as you create homes, or homesteads, and build up your own cozy little world.

So, in many ways, it tracks that Roblox's Grow a Garden has taken off. If you haven't yet, it might just be time to start planting seeds.