Ancient Farm PC Review By Ayden 7.5/10 "This is a FUN Time Sink" 🐖🌱🥬 #IndieGame #GameDev

A lot of us still carry points of fascination we picked up as young children. There's no shortage of dinosaur obsessed young boys, or kids that dream of growing up and making a life among the stars. For me, ancient civilisations were that obsession. The idea of forgotten words and ways of living is something that encourages a particular curiosity. Unfortunately most of the games, movies and TV shows that are based in such worlds rarely focus on immersing the audience within the day-to-day life of these amazing environments.

Enter Ancient Farm. Long before sprinklers and robotic harvesters, early man farmed with rudimentary tools and very few shortcuts. In that respect, Ancient Farm is true to life. This is not a sim in which, after a couple hours of grind, you are able to fully automate your farm and watch your gold grow. But I think this is the strongest selling point on offer here. The continuous engagement required to grow your homestead keeps you actively invested, and truly does lead to a definitive sense of reward as you continue to progress.

It does not have the uber polished graphics that we are sold with every new Unreal Engine trailer, however it remains quite pretty and vibrant. I didn't notice any clipping or serious visual jank, and its minimum system requirements are quite forgiving. The soundtrack is relaxing and fitting for what Ancient Farm is, but quickly becomes white noise and isn't really anything too notable. But that's a minor gripe, as you wouldn't want anything too spectacular to dismantle the immersion.

To begin with you're plopped down on a large plot of land in rural ancient Egypt, with an in-depth but not overwhelming tutorial. A boat with some traders will sail down the river to your dock periodically, enabling you to sell your products and acquire the goods necessary for you to expand and diversify your farm.

While there is minimal automation, some upgrades do exist within the progression. For example you can use an ox to plough the land for you. However this is where the realism made me question the usefulness of a feature like this. The ox is hard to steer, and it's easier to just plough it yourself.

You clear and prepare the land, and then plant and water seeds. You can also invest in farm animals, which is much the same – you keep them fed and watered. When they're ready for harvest or slaughter, you harvest or slaughter.

It may sound like a lot of waiting around, and it is, but there is a mechanic where you can speed up time and then go back to normal when your crops get thirsty. To further add to the immersion, there are three seasons which you should pay attention to if you want the best crop yield (one of which seems wholly useless to grow most anything in). I appreciate the realism of this, and it's not too much of a drag as you can speed through a season if necessary.

SUMMARY
Ancient Farm is fun and relaxing, and lives up to what you would expect of its name but hasn't (at least for me) surpassed those expectations. If you have an itch for a more immersive and humdrum experience in an ancient world, this sim will scratch that better than other games in similar settings. I'm hesitant to say this is a broad appeal game, but if you appreciate a well paced grind, then this is a fun time sink you can stick on a podcast to and settle in to the world.

7.5/10

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