Grow a Garden: The Rise of the Golden Piggy and the New XP Meta
The Grow a Garden community isn’t new to dramatic balance shifts, but few updates have shaken progression as much as the introduction of two new craftable pets—the Silver Piggy and the Golden Piggy. Released through the crafting table, these adorable but shockingly powerful companions have already changed how players approach pet leveling, Grow a Garden Items for sale, and late-game optimization. What began as a small update introducing food-based crafting quickly exploded into the biggest XP breakthrough the game has ever seen.
Whether you're a casual gardener or an efficiency-obsessed min-maxer, the Golden Piggy deserves your attention. This article breaks down how to craft it, how the passive actually works, the math behind its absurd XP output, and how to maximize it without wasting time, ingredients, or rare cosmetics.
Because as of now—Golden Piggy isn't just good. It’s the new meta.
Crafting the Silver and Golden Piggies — The First Step to Power
The update added two pets: Silver Piggy and Golden Piggy. Both are crafted rather than found, meaning you must gather specific items and recipes instead of relying on luck from eggs or rewards.
Silver Piggy Crafting Requirements
1 Pig
1 Sushi
1 Lightning Rod
1 Medium Toy
This sounds simple enough, but smart players can save resources during crafting. Using an Orangutan before crafting gives a 56% chance to return one of the used items, which can save hours of grinding or farming. If you’re lucky, you’ll even get your pig back—an ideal outcome when crafting multiple pets.
After crafting, many players use a Patchy team, which offers a 50% chance to duplicate the crafted pet—free profit if it works. Of course, RNG can be cruel, and sometimes it fails, but the value potential is huge.
But Silver Piggy, while fun, isn’t the goal. It’s merely a stepping stone.
The Golden Piggy — High Risk, High Reward
Crafting the Golden Piggy is where things get intense. Unlike the Silver Piggy, this one requires a Tanning Mirror, one of the rarer crafting resources in the game. Unfortunately, there’s a major issue players need to be aware of:
Current Crafting Bug Warning
When crafting a Golden Piggy, all tanning mirrors in your inventory may get consumed, not just the one required.
This glitch has been widely reported and confirmed by multiple players, and until patched, crafting Golden Piggies without emptying your inventory is risky. If you have more mirrors than you intend to use, store them somewhere safe.
Still, despite the bug and high material cost, the reward is game-changing, especially when paired with Ruby Squids and XP treats.
What Makes the Golden Piggy So Strong?
The Golden Piggy’s passive ability scales with cosmetics, specifically gold ingot decorations placed in your garden. When fully leveled, each Golden Piggy grants:
0.2 XP per second per gold ingot cosmetic
That may sound small—until you realize how many cosmetics the garden allows.
Maximum gold ingots per garden: 175
Now the math gets fun.
Breaking Down the XP Math
Players can equip up to 8 Golden Piggies simultaneously in a garden. If each one is max level, they each provide:
0.2 XP per second per gold ingot
With 175 gold ingots placed, that becomes:
35 XP per second per Golden Piggy
Multiply that by 8 equipped Golden Piggies:
280 XP per second total
That alone is crazy—but we’re not done yet.
XP Treat Multipliers — The Real Explosion Begins
Medium XP Treats multiply a pet’s XP gain by 3x, turning 280 XP per second into:
840 XP per second
That’s not just efficient—that’s absurd.
To put this into perspective:
Dilaposaurus provides around 6,000 XP per minute
Golden Piggy method provides 44,100 XP per minute
That’s over 7x more XP, and with zero combat or grinding required—just decoration placement and AFK time.
No farming enemies.
No running missions.
No stressful timing windows.
Just passive XP accumulating infinitely.
It’s no wonder players are calling Golden Piggy the new XP king.
When to Use 7 Golden Piggies Instead of 8
Golden Piggies are mostly used to power-level other pets. But here’s an important detail: you can’t level up the pet you’re currently using to generate XP. So instead of equipping 8 Golden Piggies, you equip 7 of them and leave one slot for the pet you want to level.
In that case, the XP total becomes:
7 Golden Piggies = 1.4 base XP per second
With 175 ingots placed + Medium XP Treat:
735 XP per second
Still unbelievably strong—more than enough to level most pets in minutes instead of hours.
Smith Treats — Potentially Even Stronger
Some players have reported that Smith Treats may offer a 5x multiplier, making them even more powerful than Medium XP Treats.
If confirmed, that would mean:
280 XP per second × 5 = 1,400 XP per second Or 1,400 XP per second × 60 = 84,000 XP per minute
Which would double the already-ridiculous Golden Piggy method.
However, since the exact multiplier hasn’t been widely verified yet, players should test cautiously before investing rare treats.
The Real Challenge — Getting 175 Gold Ingots
The Golden Piggy’s power isn’t free—you need a massive supply of gold ingot cosmetics. And crafting 175 of them is a grind.
One player spent hours crafting ingots and only reached 65—barely 37% of the way to max efficiency.
The best approach?
AFK buying Advanced Sprinklers overnight
Gold crafting requires sprinklers, and unless you hoard them, you’ll run out fast. Buying them passively while AFK lets resource stockpile naturally without active grinding.
Patience becomes part of the strategy.
Is It Worth the Time Investment?
Yes—if you plan to level multiple pets.
Yes—if you enjoy optimizing progression.
Yes—if you're a collector or completionist.
Even if gathering ingots takes days, the payoff lasts forever. Once built, your Golden Piggy garden becomes a permanent automated leveling machine.
It’s long-term effort for eternal efficiency.
Community Reaction — Overpowered or Perfect?
Most players are thrilled. After years of predictable leveling methods, the game finally has a late-game progression system that rewards preparation and creativity—not just grinding.
However, concerns exist:
The tanning mirror crafting bug is harming players
Gold ingot crafting time may be too long
XP numbers may eventually be nerfed
Meta diversity could shrink
But for now, most gardeners aren’t complaining—just racing to build their golden XP farms before devs take notice.
The New Meta Has Arrived
Golden Piggy isn’t just another pet. It changes how players:
Build gardens
Spend resources
Level pets
Evaluate cosmetics
Approach endgame progression
Instead of active grinding, skill rotations, or boss farming, the most efficient XP strategy in Grow a Garden is now decorative, passive, and mathematical.
It rewards planning—not reaction time.
Strategy—not luck.
And honestly? That’s refreshing.
Final Thoughts
The Golden Piggy update proves something important—Grow a Garden continues evolving in unexpected ways. A seemingly innocent cosmetic-scaling pet has become the strongest XP engine ever introduced, and now players are scrambling to adapt buy Grow a Garden Items.
If you want to stay competitive, collect pets, or simply level faster, start gathering gold ingots, crafting Golden Piggies, and stocking XP treats now. It may take time, but the payoff is enormous.
Just remember:
Use Orangutans for return chances
Watch out for the tanning mirror bug
Consider Patchy teams for duplication
Use 7 Golden Piggies when leveling another pet
Treat multipliers matter—a lot
Golden Piggy isn’t just meta—it’s a revolution.