Gardening Mama

Much as the seasoned method actor asks at the beginning of every production, "what’s my motivation?", so, too, does the gamer.

For a shooter fan, a possible incentive is getting your trigger happy mitts on a SCAR-H; for racers, the possibility of driving a Dodge Viper may prove irresistible.

I’d like to say that Gardening Mama teases the possibility of cultivating a durian orchard of which you can truly be proud, but pretence and deception should really be left to the thespians.

Without so much as an introduction, and with only the barest of instructions, you're invited to don pruning gloves and "get growing" immediately under the watchful eyes of the mum-with-the-green-thumb.

After you've been given responsibility for a couple of gardens at the outset, your tending skills are tested via a series of time-based mini-games.

From swiping furiously to prepare soil to carefully manipulating the watering can’s angle, every stage of the flowering cycle must be completed to unlock new herbs, vegetables, and plantations.

The titular supervisor / instructor scores your horticultural efforts out of 100, awarding bonus saplings should your removal of dead stems or spraying of pesticide prove suitably brisk.

Before too long, though, my fingers were becoming not so much green as wearisome.

The prospect of being rewarded for my endeavours with decorative presents, a rose garden, or a set of gaudy earrings for Mama is by no means compelling.

The carrot dangling on the end of this particular Taito stick simply isn’t tempting enough, despite the occasionally charming cartoonish presentation, clever use of the touchscreen, and semi-educational value.

Without more involved modes or at least multiplayer (which was offered in the Nintendo DS version), resisting the urge to try your hand at another of Mama's many domestic disciplines shouldn't be tough.