# Homescapes Homescapes, also known as Austin the Butler, became an ironic internet fixation starting in late 2017 when Playrix flooded mobile apps with misleading advertisements for its match-three puzzle game. Austin Barrow's melodramatic rescue scenarios bore little resemblance to the actual gameplay, which spawned mockery on Twitter and Reddit, dedicated fan accounts, and eventually a UK regulator ban in October 2020. ## Origin Playrix released Gardenscapes on August 25, 2016 and its direct followup Homescapes in September 2017[9]. Immediately after launch, Playrix bought aggressive advertising placements across mobile apps, and one ad in particular became known as the "creepy" one: it opens with Austin falling through the floor of his parents' mansion[5]. User @makeshiftadult posted the first viral reaction to that ad on September 27, 2017, complaining that the match-three game was being misrepresented in its own advertising[1]. Playrix developed the game and designed Austin as its mascot, but the ironic fandom around the character emerged from users rather any single creator[3]. No one person is credited with starting the Austin the Butler meme; it formed organically out of ad-reaction tweets and YouTube ad compilations. - **Platform:** Mobile ads (origin), Twitter / Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2017 ## Overview Austin ads drew mockery because they advertised pin-removal puzzle minigames and dramatic rescue scenarios that barely existed in the actual Candy Crush-style match-three game[8]. Many of the ads carried the tagline "Why is this game so hard?" and showed Austin failing basic puzzles, including a widely circulated version where he appears naked in a bathroom[7]. This bathroom clip helped fuel a parallel ironic thirst culture around Austin on Twitter[6]. The joke works on two levels. First is straight annoyance at the ads themselves, documented in mock-angry Reddit posts on /r/shittymobilegameads[3]. Second is affectionate parody of Austin as a tragic protagonist, with fans running character-voiced accounts and remixing clips to cast the butler as a cursed internet boyfriend[6]. ## How It Spread An unofficial Twitter account at the handle @Austin_scapes appeared in December 2016, posting fan content written in Austin's voice as though the account belonged to the butler himself[6]. One 2019 video from that account drew 282 retweets and 491 likes within roughly two years[6]. Running alongside this fan work, mockery of the ads escalated as Playrix leaned into increasingly surreal scenarios through 2019, including the naked bathroom clip[7]. YouTuber Aamir Obalaja uploaded a compilation titled "Cringey Homescapes Ad #14" in September 2020, which hit over 45 million views by July 2021[2]. In October 2020, the UK Advertising Standards Authority banned several misleading Homescapes and Gardenscapes pin puzzle ads after complaints that the minigames shown rarely appeared in the real game[4]. The subreddit /r/shittymobilegameads collected examples throughout this period, with one 2020 post by u/gogogothomas drawing more than 5,900 upvotes within six months[3]. By January 2025, Gardenscapes alone had been downloaded hundreds of millions of times globally according to Statista data[9]. Over time these ads became less common in app ecosystems, but Austin stayed a go-to example when people talk about misleading mobile game advertising[8]. ## How to Use Posts typically combine a screenshot or screen recording of a Homescapes ad with a caption mocking the gap between the dramatic puzzle scenario and the actual match-three gameplay. A common convention is writing in-character tweets as Austin himself, often including melodramatic complaints about his life. Some edits run the ads at double speed or add commentary tracks in the YouTube "cringe compilation" format[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Homescapes? Homescapes is a match-three mobile puzzle game released by Playrix in September 2017, best known online for its misleading advertisements and butler character Austin Barrow[3]. ### Where did Homescapes come from? Playrix developed Homescapes as a followup to Gardenscapes from 2016, and the ironic meme culture around it began with user complaints about its ads in late 2017, including a viral tweet by @makeshiftadult[1]. ### What does Homescapes mean? As a meme, Homescapes refers to mockery of the game's deceptive puzzle-themed ads and the ironic thirst fandom around Austin the Butler, the game's protagonist[2]. ### How do you use Homescapes? People typically post Homescapes ad clips with captions ridiculing the gap between advertised puzzles and real match-three gameplay, or write in-character tweets as Austin himself[6]. ### Is Homescapes still popular? The game itself has hundreds of millions of downloads according to Statista, with Gardenscapes drawing significant installs through January 2025[9]. The ad-mockery meme peaked between 2017 and 2020, around the time of the UK ad ban[4]. ## References 1. [https://twitter.com/makeshiftadult/status/913057298213371904]() 2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXyu9ob_91c]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/homescapes-austin-the-butler]() 4. [https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/371747/UK_regulator_bans_misleading_Homescapes_Gardenscapes_pin_puzzle_ads.php]() 5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxEqXLn9EaE]() 6. [https://x.com/i/status/1140997597403815937]() 7. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD7FMtpIG8c]() 8. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52Fkj-xTZvg]() 9. [https://www.statista.com/statistics/1118828/playrix-mobile-games-downloads-game/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/homescapes-austin-the-butler Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library