Review: Family Farm (PC)

19 Nov, 2011

Title: Family Farm
Platform: Windows, Linux, Mac (Reviewed on Windows)
Developer: Hammerware
Publisher: Iceberg Interactive
TL;DR: Relaxing and rewarding game ideal for casual and younger players.
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Family Farm takes place in a realistic, 19th century farmstead setting. It combines a mixture of life simulation (think The Sims), farming simulation (think FarmVille) and tycoon management. Not only do you need to manage your farm and its resources, you also have to take care of a family and make sure they tend to livestock and crops. On lower levels (or The Lowlands as they are referred) this is very straight forward, but by the time you unlock the higher levels (The Manor) it can become quite complicated and you will need to strategize and pay careful attention to every detail in order to succeed. In-between these two difficulty levels are The Highlands. In order to progress you need to meet certain conditions and goals as set out in each ‘Story’, ten of which make up the three aforementioned levels. I didn’t have to replay any Stories until I reached The Manor and in general I found the difficulty settings challenging but satisfying.

You initially take control of a two person farm, which will continue to grow as you progress. Your characters have individual RPG-like attributes which clearly indicate their strengths and weaknesses. These are: Tilth, Hard Work, Plants, Animals and Cooking. Of each of these, each character has a rating out of three stars. They also have Strength, Dexterity, Vitality and Morale scores which can be boosted (or reduced, so be careful) by you.

The game is essentially a click and point affair. You select the character you wish to use with a click and then select on the object you wish them to interact with. This may involve asking them to collect eggs from the chicken coop, harvesting vegetables, fishing, collecting berries, or many other tasks that keep the farm ticking over. As well as running the farm you also need to make sure your family are fed and cared for, and so you will need to select a character (or more) to prepare and then cook food in the kitchen. If you don’t they will complain a lot; and as you would expect, the higher the quality of the food you cook, the better the effect on your team. They can also became fatigued if you work them too hard, so you may need to order them to rest occasionally. If you take into account each characters strengths and weakness and distribute the work evenly this shouldn’t be too much of a problem and you’ll find that your farm runs far more efficiently.

Seasons play a major role in the game. As you play the seasons progress and your farm will change accordingly, as will the tasks you need to perform to work the land. Autumn is naturally the time you need to harvest and till your crop beds, whereas you will do your crop sowing in Spring. This touch of realism and variety is a welcome edition to the game-play.

Primarily in order to boost the morale of your farm hands, you can decorate your farm with flowers and other items. I found this feature a tad redundant and didn’t use it very often, although the result of planting flowers was certainly aesthetically pleasing. In the grand scheme of things it makes very little difference.

The graphics are cartoon-like and although remarkable are very charming. You have a birds eye view of the farm at all times, and you can scroll in and out quickly when needed. The background music that tinkers away softly is very relaxing and helps you to concentrate. I abhor garish music and sound effects, which sadly are often prevalent in simulation and tycoon games. Family Farm thankfully manages to dodge this particular bullet.

I greatly enjoyed trying Family Farm and will likely continue to play it casually for some time to come. If you’re considering trying it for yourself, there is a fully playable demo you can download which I strongly encourage you to try.

The Good:

• Great for kids and casual players
• Linux support
• Try before you buy option

The Bad:

• Cooking and decorating activities feel a tad superfluous
• Linear style of game-play will frustrate some

Family Focus
Family Farm is suitable for all ages. You’d be hard pushed to find a game more suitable for children – younger players will find it fun, educational and satisfying. Better still, when they’re done you’ll enjoy playing it yourself.