Farm Tycoon
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| Farm Tycoon

Thankfully for Farm Tycoon, it's not a 'warts 'n' all' farm simulator. If it were, you'd have to deal with unpleasant mess, drink rough cider and argue with EU representatives about barmy trade regulations. That would be realistic, but it wouldn't necessarily be fun. Apart from the cider drinking, obviously.

What you do get, though, is a surprisingly addictive game revolving around the management of a small farm. You start off by purchasing some seed and then head out to the field to clear the land, plant your crops and subsequently tend them as the days roll in to weeks and months.

And that's basically it.

The skill in Farm Tycoon is managing your time and energy, so that you have enough of both to be able to: water the shoots that need it; harvest the crops that are ready to pick; earn enough money to expand your land; woo the shop assistant; and buy new warehousing facilities and advertising. Money also buys you bigger and better tools, enabling you to harvest more crops in a shorter amount of time.

Random elements thrown into the mix can either help or hinder you. Sporadically, a mysterious seller will appear at your door offering you items that help you – but cost a small fortune, naturally. On the downside, winds and locusts are frequent visitors to your farm. Both these natural disasters have the ability to clear large chunks of your land, so you'll need to return to the shop to buy new seed and replant the affected areas.

To keep the game interesting, the farming year is split up, predictably, into four seasons. Each time the season changes, you need to buy new seed and start planting all over again – and, in winter, you'll also need to buy greenhouses to protect your crops from frost.

From all that, it sounds like Farm Tycoon should be slightly dull, and possibly over-complicated. Remarkably though, it's designed in such a way that not only is it incredibly easy to get started and pick up the gameplay basics (there's also a good tutorial that helps you the first time you play the game), but it's also worryingly addictive, too.

Watching your bank account rise steadily and knowing that it's a direct result of your careful planning gives the game a pleasing, organic feel. The sight of a well-toiled field and a bursting warehouse full of valuable crops is much more rewarding than you may initially believe possible.

Inevitably though, like all good things, it has to come to an end. Just as you suspect you're beginning to tire of the game slightly, it goes and does the decent thing and finishes. But even this is well designed, as there are four possible endings to the game, depending on how well you do, how much you've been able to flirt with the shop assistant and how big you've increased the size of the farm.

Farm Tycoon is a game that will be passed over by many in the rush for yet another puzzler or driving game. That would be a real shame, though, as we guarantee that there are a lot more people out there who would love the simple and addictive gameplay, if they gave it a chance.

Farm Tycoon

It shouldn't be so entertaining but, mysteriously, Farm Tycoon manages to be great fun to play
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Dean Mortlock
Dean Mortlock
Dean's been writing about games for 15 years now and has played more than he's had hot dinners. Mind you, he does eat a lot of salad…