Long ago, in a beautiful Eastern kingdom, a queen and her people pleased their Gods by constructing a mystical pagoda. The pagoda housed the four Gods and towered over the magnificent kingdom. As time passed, the queen fell ill, and she summoned her people to vie for her crown. The crown would be passed to the person who could build the most pristine garden around the pagoda. The heir would be picked by the four Gods themselves.

The goal of Four Gardens is to gain the most points on the score board by completing landscape cards and finishing sets. Each completed set creates a panoramic view of a garden, and these sets are called (no surprise) "panoramas".

Players may finish panoramas by first laying groundwork cards, acquiring resources by turning the 3D pagoda, and allocating those resources to satisfy the requirements of each groundwork card. Once the requirements have been met, a groundwork card becomes a landscape card. Multiple landscape cards placed in the correct order create a panorama. Each God has their own satisfaction meter which displays their goodwill towards the gardens and their builders. Players will try to please the Gods by completing landscape cards and finishing panoramas.