Cost: $9.99
Platforms: PC, Mac
Rating: 8.5/10
In addition to doing reviews of new games, I decided to start reviewing my indie games of the week, for those who wanted a little more information that the quick segment I do in the podcast. If you’re anything like me, you sometimes don’t have the money or time to devote to a $60 AAA title, especially over the summer. Indie games can offer a rich, but less demanding alternative. My favorite thing about playing indie games is that you know you you’re supporting companies that 1) are trying to improve (or at least innovate… plus, most companies can’t do worse than the big companies, so wth, right?) the games industry and 2) add to the diversity of the types of games available. Without supporting indie games, we run the risk of paring the industry down to the CODs, WoWs, and Marios. Perhaps it wouldn’t be that extreme, but without indie companies we certainly wouldn’t have the game I’m reviewing this week: Farm for Your Life, by Hammer Labs Games.
Farm for Your Life is a cross between a casual farming simulation game and a zombie horror game. The gameplay is fairly simple, so if you’re looking for a complete revolution on the casual simulation game, this probably isn’t it. But that’s the appeal of these games anyway, isn’t it? It is sort of like a combination of Farmville, Don’t Starve, and Plants vs. Zombies.
Story:
At the beginning of the game, you are with your father at your farm. You have just purchased a cow from a neighbor, and things are looking good. But out of nowhere, a storm comes and destroys your farm. That starts you on your journey to rebuild it to its former glory. But of course, nothing is that simple. You have gangs of thieves who take advantage of your cowardly father and steal your corn. Just when you think things can’t get any worse, BAM your farm gets attacked by zombies. Now on top of having to rebuild after the storm, feed the townspeople, and keep yourself alive, you have to defend your town against zombies! I won’t tell you any more (spoilers!), but the plot doesn’t get too much more crazy than that, though there are some interesting twists. For a simulation game, I’d say they did a decent job of embedding story.
Pros:
Again, if you are a fan of this type of game, Farm for Your Life has numerous pros. First, the graphics are pretty cute. Second, the devs found a way to make even the typically meaningless tasks fun. For example, once you upgrade your kitchen, you can cook recipes. It’s not like many of the other kitchen games, but it actually requires a lot of dexterity to cook. You have to karate chop ingredients in the air above a pot of boiling water, and they only count if they fall into the pot. It’s tough, but it’s really fun. The twist on cooking is the perfect example of how the devs took a somewhat played out genre and made it interesting and fun again. Every 15 min or so I end up laughing out loud or smiling because of how much the game surprises me.
Cons:
I only really have two negative things to say about the game. First, there are some annoying glitches. I’ve been playing the game for awhile now and certain things that should have disappeared from my screen are still floating around on there, which is slightly annoying. Of course, with indie games, you need to expect that there will be a few glitches and just hope that they’re not game-breaking.
In the end…
I’d say this is a good buy for most people. At $10 it is a little spendy, but if you’re like me you would spend far more than that on microtransaction games on Facebook anyway. Check it out!
