Between the hard-core fans to casual players, farming and life sims draw a massive crowd. From the Harvest Moon franchise to indie titles like Stardew Valley, Roots of Pacha, and Fields of Mistria, there’s just something magnetic about the living a virtual life and carrying out mundane tasks. However, farming/life sims offer so many different ways to whittle away the hours. What aspects of these types of games attracts you to play them and spend the most time doing?
Next to the Sims (at my cousin’s house), the first sim game I ever played was Harvest Moon 64. There was something so cozy about the day-to-day activities that I wouldn’t be surprised if I put more hours into it than all the N64 games I played combined. Although I steered clear from farming sims since then (likely due to genre burn out and subsequent sub-par Harvest Moon releases), I completely understood those that would gobble ’em up at every opportunity.
If we speak strictly about farming sims, common gameplay offerings include, but not limited to, planting and harvesting crops, mining, fishing, cooking, crafting, participating in contests and festivals, and fostering romances.
The variety keeps the experience fresh, so things don’t get too boring; however, we usually gravitate toward one or two aspects. Some people go hog wild with raising barn animals while others would rather make a living unearthing precious minerals. I mean, there are only 24 game-hours in a day!
I’ve recently started Fields of Mistria, a new indie farming/life sim that is available on Steam via Early Access, and it completely sucked me in. The primary draw and focus? Romance! The eligible bachelors and bachelorettes are absolutely gorgeous. Even though Fields of Mistria has a pixel art-style, each character has a hand-drawn image that pops up during conversation.
In addition to characters being total hotties, I found myself in a bizarre mix of a people-pleasing and competitive mode. I wanted, no, needed to win the hearts over every people I can. Turns out, I was like this in Harvest Moon 64 as well. I poured much of my focus into building relationships with characters, and games that provided depth to NPCs are what keeps me in a farming sim.
With that said, fishing is a close second. There’s just something about anticipating what you will pull from the pond, lake, river, or ocean. How about you? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
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