505 Games branching out the Cooking Mama brand with Gardening Mama for Nintendo DS

Create Your Own Perfect Garden in Spring 2009

505 Games is today delighted to announce that the superbly successful Cooking Mama brand is set to extend its instantly recognisable mix of pick-up-and-play game play and fun mini-games into the world of gardening; with the release of Gardening Mama.

Heading to Nintendo DS™ in Spring 2009, Gardening Mama sees Mama heading into the great outdoors to turn an empty garden into a tranquil paradise. Green-fingered players use the touch screen to dig holes, plant seeds, mix fertiliser and ultimately grow a range of fruits, flowers and vegetables.

Just like Cooking Mama saw players engaging in different stages of a recipe, Gardening Mama breaks the plant growing process up into small bite-size chunks of game play. The simple mini-games can be played by wannabe gardeners of all ages, as they grow increasingly more colourful and rare flowers.

“The Cooking Mama brand continues to be one of our strongest sales successes on Nintendo DS and we’re confident Gardening Mama will be a fantastic addition to the series,” said Ian Howe, Managing Director, 505 Games. “We’re also sure that Cooking Mama fans will love this new take on the incredibly popular franchise.”

“I’m confident that players will take great delight in growing plants and vegetables alongside Mama,” added Kazuhiro Ohara, Creative Director, Cooking Mama Ltd. “I hope that players will be inspired to grow real flowers at home after enjoying the experience so much.”

505 Games is publishing Gardening Mama for Nintendo DS in Europe in Spring 2009.