Farming Simulator 25 is here, and its dedicated community is already hard at work producing tons of amazing mods for the game. Everything, from new tractors to quali?ty-of-li?fe improvements, is in service of making the title even better.

But which ones should you get for your playthrough? Take a look at the 10 best Farming Simulator 25 mods you can download right now.

Courseplay

If you're sick of doing all the busy work in Farming Simulator 25, then Courseplay could be the mod you're looking for. It allows you to assign these monotonous tasks t??o AI workers, from plowing land to planting crops, and much more.

In terms of complexity, it might be unmatched by any other Farming Simulator 25 mod. You just have to know when to stop and do something for yourself �if you assign all the farming tasks to AI workers, you've essentially made yourself the middle manager of a farm, for free.

Follow Me

Follow Me is an absolutely essential Farming Simulator 25 mod for any ?player. With this mod, you can gain control over multiple ?vehicles at once, making your farming much more efficient than in the vanilla game.

It can be a bit finicky to set up, but that's only because of how in-depth it is. Once you've got Follow Me working, you'll never be ??able to go back, especially on a big farm.

Place Anywhere

Place Anywhere is pretty self-explanatory. No longer will yo??u be faced with the irritating "Too close to a??nother building" message.

Simply place your buildings anywhere you want, and Farming Simulator 25 won't try to stop you. Naturally, this can result in some visual glitches, but you a??lready k?now this going in.

Government Subsidy

Who doesn't love free money? Government Subsidy is essentially a Farming Simulator 25 cheat mod, allowing you to take subsidies from the government (4.8 million to 48 million dollars per year) or the local municipality (48,000 to 480,00?0 dollars per year). This l?ets you build your farm much faster.

Of course, Government Subsidy is going to make Farming Simulator 25 much easier. Don't like it? Don't in??stall it. Simple. At least this money mod is wrapped in a thin veil of realism.

GPS for FS25: Guidance Steering Mod

GPS for FS25: Guidance Steering Mod has been around for a few Farming Simulator games now, and there's a reason it kee??ps coming back. It's become an essential part of any player's load order.

So, what does it actually do? This mod helps you create ??tracks for your machinery to follow, with various methods included. It's such a killer quality-of-life feature that it's surprising it hasn't been added to the base game at this point.

MaizePlus and MaizePlus CCM

MaizePlus and MaizePlus CCM adds to the challenge and realism of Farming Simulator 25. In short, it overhauls the silage process to give it much more complexi?ty and makes it so that?? you actually have to work to keep your animals fed.

Admittedly, this won't be for everyone. But for the hardcore players who love to delve into the nitty-gritty of every detail of their farm, there couldn't be a better Farming Simulator 25 mod.

Manure System

Oh yeah, this is the one we've all been waiting for - Manure System. This mod is actually pretty huge, adding in tons of new mechanics to help deal with your slurry. It takes inspiration from how farmers do this in real life, improv?ing the game's realism.

From new fertilizer pumps to an entire new lagoon system, Manure System is another Farming Simulator 25 mod that aims to add complexity to the game, rather than take it away. It's a lot to get to grips with, but is extremely rewarding? if you take the time to learn everything it has to offer.

Disable Vehicle Camera Collision

Farming Simulator 25 has no shortage of absolutely broken camera angles. It's frustrating, to say the least, but it doesn't ha??ve to be this way.

Disable Vehicle Camera Collision essentially fixes these issues entirely. If you're an ardent Farming Simulator 25 fanatic, I'm not sure why you wouldn't have it.

Sleep Anywhere

I'm a man of convenience, and Sleep Anywhere gives me just that. At the push of several buttons, CTRL + Alt + Z, to be exact, Sleep Anywhere allows you to, we??ll, sleep anywhere.

Now, you don't have to head back to the farmhouse to sleep, which can interrupt your flow and waste precious time that could be spent farming. Even if you don't use it every time for immersion, it's worth having installed as a quality-of-life Farming Simulator 25 mod.

Time Fast Forward

Sick of waiting for your crops to grow in real time? It's kind of what you signed up for when you bought Farming Simulator 25, but regardless, Time Fast Forward gives you an out for this admitt?edly tedious p??rocess.

At the push of a button, you can speed up time ?by a factor of 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, or 9600. T??hose crops have never grown faster.

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After days of fans crying out to Dead by Daylight developer Behaviour Interactive, The Trickster Killer has finally been temporarily disabled using the game'?s killswitch. This means nobody will be at risk from the photosensitivity issue the Killer can cause when playing against them.

A fan reported a photosensitivity issue with The Trickster in Dead by Daylight earlier this week, but Behaviour Interactive expla??ined that it couldn't replicate the issue, so it wouldn't be hitting the killswitch to disable the Killer temporarily. However, players were appalled by this and worked together to get hundreds of clips posted online showcasing the issue and the fact that it could trigger someone with photosensitivity issues.

The Dead by Daylight community just wants everyone to be safe

As of late July 5, 2024, The Trickster was killswitched in Dead by Daylight, and a photosensitivity w?arning? was added to the game. This is exactly what the community wanted and should help anyone who could be affected by these issues avoid encountering them in the game.

The game's community has celebrated this win on the Dead by Daylight subreddit. Many, like user Darkling5499, are happy the developer has final??ly listened. "Thank god. At least they finally listened rather than continuing to go 'well it works fine on o??ur end, we can't do anything about it' and leaving him active."

Some still don't know what this issue ?is and are learning about it from users like boneless_dip, who explained, "Photosensitivity bug that could happen. There is no origin found yet, but the glitch has reportedly (I'm not sure about that) hospitalized a player."

While some feel they can finally joke about the issue a little, there's still a serious undertone because this issue might well have impacted someone with photosensitivity issues. To date, there are no confirmed report?s of this, though.

The most important thing is that The Trickster has finally been temporarily disabled. But fans have definitely lost a bit of confidence in Behaviour Interactive because it took so long. From the community's perspective, the players' report of the issue should have b??een enough to killswitch it regardless of whether it could be replicated.

In truth, there was no reason for the Dead by Daylight community to raise this issue and push Behaviour Interactive to act other than a deep desire for fellow playe?rs to?? be safe. Hopefully, the developer will consider this if similar problems are ever reported.

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As eager fans gather for FarmCon 2024, developer Giants Software has shared a preview of one of the biggest new features in the upcoming Farming Simulator 25 rice farming. The entire syst??em looks complex and satisfying, as only a game in this franchise can achieve.

The almost 30-minute preview video shows off more than just rice farming. It details how the game's engine has been improved since ?Farming Simulator 22 to offer an unprecedented simulation experience with more realistic weather patterns, shadows, wheat, water, and tracks. Not every fan can make it to FarmCon, but this video makes seeing these changes possible for everyone looking forwar??d to the next entry.

Watch your rice planter work like a typewriter

There are no shortcuts in the Farming Simulator franchise, and this preview shows how complex the rice farming process is in Farming Simulator 25. The rice seedling machine seen in the cinematic trailer for the game is shown in action here, highlighting how each individual rice plant is picked and planted as you drive thro?ugh your paddy.

The process is explained in even greater detail, thoug??h. One variety of rice can be planted directly into a rice paddy before it's flooded. Once fully grown, it can be harvested with a traditional harvester similar to the combines you'd use ??on a wheat field. The preview shows a few of these, each harvesting rice differently.

Farming is about hard work and preparation, though. You'll need to grow the other variety of rice in a greenhouse to get it going before you can plant it in your already flooded paddy using a rice planter. I didn't expect this level of detail between the varieties of rice, but I'm looking forward to figuring out which one is most profita??ble by the time you've grown everything, used your machines to harvest it all, and sold it.

While we get a look at the small-town commercial animal sellers in the game, we don't learn anything about the new retail elements Farming Simulator 25 is introducing. These enable you to grow food and take it directly to customers effectively, whether that's selling?? it as it is or pro?cessing it into something else to be sold in a shop or restaurant.

Rice farming and retail are just two of the improvements this game offers. It will be interesting to see what else Giants Software shows off during FarmCon 2024 and as we approa??ch the game's release on November 12, 2024.

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When you think about the Farming Simulator series, the last thing that comes to mind is a story that reflects real farming families and communities worl?dwide. These games are serious simulation titles that allow you to feel what it's like to run your own farm and ride in some of the planet's biggest and most specifi??c machines.

That's exactly how I felt because there's no way Farming Simulator can stand up to the deep stories you can uncover in indie titles with deep farming mechanics like Stardew Valley. But that was before I watched the opening cinematic for Farming Simulator 22.

This video goes hard al??most immediately. It shows a gruff farmer walking around his shed as he prepares to hop in his tractor, get outside, and do some jobs around the acres and acres of land he looks after. But it switches between that point of view and his daughter's. She wants to follow in his footsteps, and while she struggles at first, she eventually finds herself as the one getting up early, doing the small chores, and making it easier for her and her dad to get out and do the big jobs before the weather decides they can't.

This cinematic alone is fantastic because it demonstrates the real joy that farmers find in their work. I grew up and live in a large farming community; many of my friends are farmers. They're born into this life, and it's what the??y go on to do, but that doesn't mean they don't have other options. They choose to remain on the family farm and work the land because it's where they want to be and what they truly want to do with their? lives.

When Farming Simulator 25 was announced with a ci?nematic trailer that shows how the franchise's father-daughter duo was getting on, I lost my mind a bit.

Three years later, the pair are traveling the world together. They miss their transport and end up stumbling into a rice paddy,? which gives them an idea for diversifying their farming back home. But that's not the takeaway I want you to think about here.

The father and his daughter went backpacking together. Sure, they might have been visiting farms along the way. That's what farmers do. But they chose to go with each other. This isn't the dad leaving his daughter? to run the farm while he scopes out new crops or the daughter going off to find herself. These two know who they are. They know they don't want to do this sort of thing with?? anyone else, so they just took the chance in the off-season to get out there and see the world.

What this cinematic story says about farming families is why Gian?ts Software gets farming simulation so right in its games. Yes, day-to-day farming is nothing but hard work. I know farmers who will spend the entire autumn getting up at 4 AM, getting 4 hours of sleep af?ter a full day of combining, and going back to do it all again for weeks on end.

Farming families do this because they love it. It's not that they just like their jobs; they are beyond passionate about them. But the through line here is that, just like in Farming Simulator 22 and 25's multiplayer mode, your friends and family a??re there for you. Eve??ryone comes together to get the job done, and it's that sense of community, harking back to the days when entire towns all took the summer off to help with the harvest that would support them through winter, that this franchise has absolutely nailed.

The most astonishing thing is that Giants Software has done it without any story mode for you to follow. But you can still see and feel it in the g??ames when you pick up jobs for other farmers to help them out or hire in help for a field or two. We all pitch in, we all do the work, and we all benefit.

I don't expect to see a story mode in Farming Simulator 25, but I already know the game's going to be good because it's got the precision simulation that's made every past title so great and the knowledge of how real farmer?s live and breathe their work woven into the gaps between its code.

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Giants Software's Farming Simulator 25 will be released on November 12, 2024; fans have been waiting years to get their hands on it. Given that players will spend so much time in the game, having an edition ??that reflects that dedication makes sense.

The Farming Simulator series has a hardcore fan base that spends dozens of hours each week perfecting their farms, mastering machinery, and establishing the best setup possible for producing crops and managing livestock. Farming Simulator 25 is the type of game that you could justify a specialized farming simulation controller for on any platform, which is why some fans want to have a collector's edition that shows off just ho??w much they love it.

Every edition of Farming Simulator 25 and where to buy them

Below, I've listed every edition of Farming Simulator 25 that you can pre-order and where to get them from. As more retailers become available, I'll keep this list ?up to date so you can get the best deal possible.

Farming Simulator 25 Digital Edition (PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X/S)

The Digital Edition of Farming Simulator 25 is the basic edition you can purchase for every platform and costs $59.99/ÂŁ47.99. This edition includes the game, but if you pre-order it ahead of its release date, you'll also get the FS25 MacDon Pack, which includes th??e M1240 Windrower, the DX140 & FD140 Headers, the PW8 pickup header, and the R216Sp disc header. All of this is equipment made by the Canadian manufacturer and won't be available in-game without this pa?ck.

• Pre-order for Xbox Series X/S: Microsoft Store
• Pre-order for PS5: PlayStation Store
• Pre-order for PC: Giants Software

At the time of writing, there's no physical edition of the base game for PC, PS5, or Xbox Seri?es X/S. If one is announced, I'll include it here for those who prefer physical media.

Farming Simulator 25 Year 1 Bundle (PC, PS5 & Xbox Series X/S)

Farming Simulator 25 Year 1 Bundle edition includes the base game and the Year 1 Season Pass. With this pass, you get a new expansion every quarter, including more innovative machinery, additiona?l plains and prairies packs, what looks to be a vehicle-focused expansion, and t?hen a brand new map to round things off.

This edition costs $84.99/ÂŁ70.99 for PC/Xbox Series X/S. On PS5, the price currently stands at $119.99, but this seems like an error, given the price is consistent on the other storefronts. If you pre-order it before launch day, you'll net yourself th?e FS25 MacDon Pack and a bonus harvester.

• Pre-order for Xbox Series X/S: Microsoft Store
• Pre-order for PS5: PlayStation Store
• Pre-order for PC: Giants Software

Farming Simulator 25 Collector's Edition (PC only)

The Collector's Edition of Farming Simulator 25 is the ultimate edi??tion, and it's packe?d with goodies. This edition includes the following items.

• Farming Simulator 25 base game for PC/Mac
• Collector's Box
• A USB Ignition Lock that responds to in-game vehicles
• Three A2 Posters
• A Key Chain
• A 16-bit Retro Edition Soundtrack CD
• 32 Brand Stickers
• Modding Tutorials
• New Holland CR11 Gold Edition

This edition includes two bonus vehicles but doesn't include the Year 1 Pass, so you'd need to buy that separately. At the time of writing, there's no price for this edition, but we do know that you'll need to buy it direct from Giants Software. Based ?on the other editions of the game, it's likely going to cost over $100/ÂŁ100 plus whatever shipping is required, so?? it's probably only for those who absolutely adore the franchise.

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It's time to head to East Asia in the latest FS entry, Farming Simulator 25. This upcoming map offers plenty of unique resources, including an all-new crop type to dabble with. Here's everything you need to know about Farming Simulator 25, from a release date to expected features.

When does Farming Simulator 25 come out?

Farming Simulator 25 will be released on Nov. 12, 2024. Although the game has yet to be released, a roadmap has already been implemented for those who purchase?? the Year 1 Bundle. The first quarter offers more 'Innovative Machinery,' while the following phase fo??cuses on plains and prairies. And by the fourth quarter, we're diving into a new map for an exciting farming challenge.

What platforms are available for Farming Simulator 25?

You can play Farming Simulator 25 on PC/Mac, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. Pre-orders are also available, including an exclusive Collector's Edition. This limited edition pack contains various merchandise, such as a key chain, USB ign??ition lock, and modding tutorials. Plus, anyone who pre-orders gets the bonus MacDon Pack, featuring five highlight m?achinery.

Farming Simulator 25 trailers

Farming Simulator 25 has only one trailer so?? far, with its cinematic announcement. The video follows the adventurous protagonists, Sarah?? and Jacob, as they travel around East Asia.

Sarah and Jacob's primary goal is to use what they learn from these travels to grow rice in their home in North America. Thanks to the newly improved graphics, you may have also noticed a significant upgrade to Farming Simulator's visuals. This includes details like enhanced shadows, ground defo?rmation, and distance fog.

What's new in Farming Simulator 25?

A new Asian-themed map will be available to play on, where you can try out the latest crop, rice. Besides this resource, you can expect other new additions, including spinach. Water buffalos can also be found on this map to expand your li??vestock.

Like previous Farming Simulators, more machines will arrive, deriving from real-life top brands. In particular, John Deere, Fendt, and New Holland will be a part of the collection, adding?? a touch of authenticity to your virtual farming experience.

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After teasing news on the future of the Farming Simulator series last week, developer Giants Software has now officially revealed Farming Simulator 25. The game will be released later this year on November 12, 2024, and it's coming to PC, Mac, PS5, and Xbox Ser??ies X/S.

Farming Simulator 25 is a huge step up from the last mainline entry in the franchise, Farming Simulator 22, and a world away from the mobile and Nintendo Switch entry Farming Simulator 23. It boasts, for the first time in series history, Asian farming, over 400 machines to buy, ride in, and master, new crops, and even extra animals. The main focus of this entry's cinematic trailer is, as you might expect, Asian farming techniques and crops, which are a huge change of pace from European and US farmi?ng.

Create a never-ending farming experience in Farming Simulator 25

In Farming Simulator 25, you can set up a virtual farm anywhere in the world, including the newly added East Asian landscape that is packed with rice paddies??, a North American environment with ample open spaces, or the classic European locations that space o??ut lush green fields with drives and ponds you must contend with.

Playing cooperatively with others or a?s a solo farmer, you can grow two types of rice, spinach, and other new crops, with more than 20 on offer for you to eventually conquer the farmer's market. While I had enough trouble with chickens and pigs, this game adds buffalos and other new animals into the mix alongside new production chains that open up new business op??portunities. These features haven't been revealed yet, but I'm pretty excited for an extension of the business side of things.

Of course, what we're all in these games for is the farming machinery, and there are hundreds to drive in Farming Simulator 25. Over 150 international brands like CLAA??S, Case IH, Fendt, John De?ere, Massey Ferguson, New Holland, Valtra, Kubota, and more have their machines here. Excitingly, there are also machines specifically designed for rice farming, so you can specialize and figure out the best way to get the highest yield.

The GIANTS Engine 10 has been upgraded to provide enhanced physics and better weather in Farming Simulator 25. You'll see ground deformation more clearly, feel the droplets of rain on your weather-beaten cap, and ??fall in love with virtual farming all over again. Fans can get their hands on a collectors edition that includes an 18-b??it soundtrack and USB ignition lock.

Fans have been farming in video games for decades now. There's so much variety out there, but the Farming Simulator series is unmatched when it comes to hardcore simulation of the work you see farmers doing around you in the countryside. It's certainly not for everyone, but I'm hopeful that with deeper business mechanics to complement the millions of buttons you need to remember for a combine harvester, Farming Simulator 25 could finally offer something that fans who generally prefer Stardew Valley or Harvest Moon could enjoy.

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Developer Giants Software has caused a surge in excitement in the Farming Simulator community by posting a teaser on Twitter for a video that will go live on June 25, 2024, on the subject of the future of farming simulation. Fans can barely contain themselves because they think it's a hint at Farming Simulator 25.

On June 19, 2024, the official Farming Simulator Twitter account shared a cryptic post showing two Hex Codes and their respective colors. This teaser was followed up with a post for a YouTube video titl?ed The Future of Farming Simulator, set to premiere on June 25, 2024. Needless to say, fans are incredibly excited that this video could be a reveal for the next ga?me in the series.

Giants Software to reveal what the future of Farming Simulator is ahead of FarmCon 2024

In the wake of this teaser and video posting, fans have wasted no time speculating about it. The Farming Simulator subreddit is alive, with fans hoping that this will be the reveal of a new game in the series, Farming Simulator 25.

Reading through the comments on this post, it's apparent that fans have grown tired of the endless stream of DLC for Farming Simulator 22 and 23. The last entry that had a physical release on PC and console was Farming Simulator 22 in 2??021, and the game is quite dated at this point.

User _Barrtek_ explains it all with their comment. "I hope they announce something interesting�some features and news, I? don't want a new DLC." In terms of the systems and mechanics you get to play with and the range of farming vehicles now on offer, it's top-of-the-line, but fans want a meaningful upgrade instead of even more vehicle bloat to pack their barns with.

It's impossible to say whether this teaser is for a new game. What I do know is that those who play a Farming Simulator game and get sucked into the gameplay loop stay with the series for life. If a new game were to be announced, it'd likely be slated for a release late??r this year based on the release pattern of previous titles.

Farming Simulator may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the series has amassed a huge fan base over the years. I live in a farming community, and it feels like I meet a new player at least once per week. The franchise's annual physical event, FarmCon 2024, takes place from July 6 to 7, 2024, and fans are convinced that they'll get more details about this announcement, be it Farming Simulator 25 or something else.

As a fan of Farming Simulator 22, I was crushed that Giants Software went down the ??rou?te of a free-to-play mobile game with the next title. I'd like to see a new full release for all major platforms, and I'm certainly not alone in that.

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I’m not entirely sure I needed another game to sink hours of my life into, but I think I’ve found one in Fields of Mistria?. The farming sim from NPC studio has released a demo as part of Steam Next Fest, and will enter Early Access on August 5.

Fields of Mistria is essentially Stardew Valley with added magical abilities? and the bonus of being able to both jump and swim. You play as an adventurer who has answered the call for someone to come and help rebuild Mistria after an earthquake has cut it off from the outside world. 

As someone who has sunk many, many hours into Stardew, I cannot help but draw huge parallels between the two games. The pixel art style is obviously similar, as are the movement style, tools, and more. However, Fields of Mistria does offer a few things that Stardew Valley doesn’t. 

You can go bug hunting, for one thing. It’s something I got pretty good at in my hours playing Palia, so I’m excited to go and grab some butterflies in Mistria. You aren’t limited to the land in Fields of Mistria,? either. You can jump, for starters, something which immediately filled me with?? joy, and you can also swim. 

Swimming comes into its own when it comes to catching certain fish, like the Crayfish needed for the first request in the demo. To catch a Crayfish, you’ll need to go diving in a dive spot, before popping up with one in your hand. The fishing game itself is reminiscent of Animal Crossing, where you?? need to fish directly in front of fish shaped shadows, which will nibble on the bait a couple of times before biting. 

One of the best things about Fields of Mistria is the fact that you can change your appearance at any time. Your character is fully customizable, and all of the clothing items come i?n various colors, so you really can design your little pixel self in your own image. There’s no payment to be made or quest to unlock this feature, and you can even make preset outfits.

Fields of Mistria isn’t short of things to do, either. There’s a whole museum to fill with crops, forageables, fish, and items (again, very Animal Crossing), plus villager requests to fulfill. Those villagers themselves are romanceable, too. Even the Guardian Dragon, Caldarus, is romanceable, though I’m choosing not to ?think too much about that.

There are small things which set Fields of Mistria apart from Stardew Valley, as well. There’s a very adorable animation which happens each time you choose to go to sleep, with your character yawning and blinking a few times before drifting off. I know this is a small thing to notice??, but the details matter.

As you progress through the days in Fields of Mistria, you’ll earn Renown which will eventually increase your level?? and village rank?. You begin at Wood rank, and each time you increase your level, a reward becomes available in the chest next to the Request Board in town. 

Like I said, I wasn’t looking for a game to sink hours into when I downloaded Fields of Mistria, but I can definitely see myself doing just that, especially once it enters early access in August. It will likely never steal my heart away from Stardew Valley entirely, but it could ?very well come in at a close second, depending on the main story and whether it receives updates in th??e future. 

The only downside to the Fields of Mistria demo is the fact that you only get three in-game days to play. I found that I couldn’t explore all of the areas in this time, l??et alone get to grips with any of the features or make friends with all of the villagers. I’m excited for the Early Access release in August and I will definitely be there on day one, ready to literally jump back into action in Mistria.

The Next Fest demo features some things which w???on’t be available immediately in the full release, such as the mines being unlocked straight away, spells ready to be used, and some tools at your disposal as soon as you arrive.

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Back when Stardew Valley received update 1.5 on PC and consoles way back in December 2020, it also received an entirely fleshed out new island called Ginger Island and let me tell you, there's a lot to do there. Now with some new additions in the 1.6 update of March 2024, there's never been a bet??ter time to find?? paradise.

To reach Ginger Island, which is essentially your home away from home once you've established yourself, you'll first need to complete the Community Center bundles â€?or the equivalent JojaMart questline, if you're a Stardew Valley player with a wild side.

This means there's? potentially a ton of setup if you're a new player who hasn't already gone through the game's "main quest." If you have, there isn'?t too much extra work.

Trust me, though, it's worth it �Ginger Island is one of the best parts of Stardew Valley.

How to fix Willy's Boat in Stardew Valley

Once you've finished up your Community Center bundles or JojaMart pa??yments, if you're that way inclined, Willy will mail you a letter saying that he has unlocked the back room in the Fish Shop. It can take two days for the letter to show up, so hang in there.

Prior to update 1.5, this ominous black door inside the shop didn't serve a purpose, but now it's your ticket to Ginger Island. Inside the Fish Shop's unlocked room, you'll find a decades-old boat in need of repairs. As is often the case in Stardew Valley, your job is only just getting started.

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To get the boat in? working order, you'll need to gather up a selection of items which each take a fair amount of work to get. There's no other way to reach Ginger Island without repairing the boat, so strap in because this might take a while.

Five Iridium Bars

You need these to fix the anchor of the boat, otherwise you're going to float right on past Ginger Island and nobody wants to see paradise ?slip through their fingers or disappear over the horizon. There's a few different ways to get your hands on these:

• By placing 5 Iridium Ore and 1 Copper into a Furnace. Iridium Ore can be found while exploring the Mines or breaking rocks within the Quarry
• Golden Fishing Chests
• Possible drops from the following monsters:

  • Shadow Shaman (0.2%)
  • Shadow Brute (0.2%)
  • Iridium Bat (0.8%)
  • Purple Slime (0.9%)
  • Iridium Golems

• The Statue of Endless Fortune has a 25% chance to drop one Iridium Bar every day, as long as it isn’t a villagers birthday
• Occassionally sold at the Traveling Cart for between 3,000 and 5,000 Gold
• Purchased from Maru at the Desert Festival for 50 Calico Eggs each

Five Battery Packs

There’s no use fixing the boat if you haven’t fixed the? machine that will give you your ticket to Ginger Island. You’ll need 5 Battery Packs to fix the ticket machine and?? thankfully, these are pretty easy to get:

• Created by Lightning Rods during a thunderstorm
• Created by a Solar Panel after seven sunny days
• Occassionally sold at the Traveling Cart for between 1,500 and 2,500 Gold
• Possible drop from Iridium Bats (5%)

200 Hardwood

Of course the most important thing is making sure that the boat doesn’t sink before you reach your destination and ??for that, you’ll need Hardwood. 

This Hardwood is possibly the most challenging ?resource in this quest to get your hands on, but if you plant some Mahogany Trees on the farm they’ll grow into trees which eventually can be chopped down to get Hardwood. On top of this, the Secret Woods (to the west of Cindersap Forest) has daily regenerating Hardwood stumps, which can be broken to provide 12 Hardwood per day.

How to get to Ginger Island in Stardew Valley

After repairing Willy's boat, you'll be allowed into the Fish Shop at 8:00 a.m. every day. This is worth mentioning since time is money in Stardew Valley, and? it's important to maximize it unti??l you can set up a new beachfront property. You don't want to doze off.

Traveling to Ginger Island works in the same way as traveling to the Calico Desert once you've repaired the bus. Simply purchase a ticket, enter the boat and sit back while Willy does all ??the hard work.

One last note! Before you take off with Willy, make sure you bring a watering can on your first trip �it's not necessarily a tool that you use day-to-day at this point in your playthrough, but you'??ll need it if you end up poking around ?the Volcano Dungeon.

What's on Ginger Island in Stardew Valley?

After an initial cutscene the first time you visit, you'll be free to explore the part??s of Ginger Island that are currently unlocked to you, but Ginger Island holds a myriad of secrets to uncover and areas to unlock.

Unfortunately, unlocking new areas and features of Ginger Island requires something a little unusual �Golden Walnuts. These can be exchanged with Parrots, who will grant you access to new locations. You'll need at least 100 of these nuts held aside to unlock Qi's Walnut Room, where you can find a few new things to keep you occupied, such as the Per??fection Tracker.

There are also new NPCs to meet on Ginger Island, puzzles to complete, an entirely new collection which works in exactly the ?same way as the Museum back in ??Pelican Town, and a whole new dungeon to go diving into.

However, possibly the best part about Ginger Island is the climate. Not only is it a tropical paradise where you can feel the sun on your skin, the farm here also follows the same conventions as the Greenhouse back on the farm. You can grow absolutely any crops here,?? regardless of seasonal limitations which would usually apply b?ack home.

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Create your own celestial colony

Freedom Games announced today that their upcoming space farming simulator One Lonely Outpost will be heading to Steam Early Access on June 26. As intrepid pioneers, players will land on a curiously empty alien world with the goal of introducing some much-needed life to the barre??n planet.

As you introduce new flora and fauna to the ecosystem you will terraform the planet into a thriving space colony on a new galactic frontier. Similar to other farming sims, you will forge friendships and perhaps even find love while trying to perfe?ct your farm.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDqmEPYyA9o

Farm your own final frontier

Building an efficient space colony from the ground up isn't easy. Alongside your trusty robotic pet, you will build up your outpost via exploration, crafting, farming, ??fishing, and more. It is your job to create a? community to carry on humanity's legacy.

It seems as though terraforming the planet won't be easy, though. Players will have to overcome?? a variety of challenges along the way. Unbreathable air, inedible food, unfertilized ground, and inaccessible water? sources are a few examples we have to look forward to.

[caption id="attachment_384921" align="alignnone" width="640"] Image via Freedom Games[/caption]

Space meets farming sim

One Lonely Outpost gives off Stardew Valley vibes of course. The cozy graphics look bright and vibrant. Like Stardew Valley, it looks as though the many ways of farming the lands available to you will be simple to learn but difficult to master. Furthermore, the ability to forge meaningful relationships is reminiscent of the classic Harvest Moon and Story of Seasons games. Nevertheless, I'm excited to see what crazy sci-fi creatures there are for me to domesticate and bui??ld my farm around.

Even though the game will be launching ??into early access exclusively on PC via Steam, the 1.0 version of the game will release on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStat?ion 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

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Dreamlight Valley: where all of our dreams come true

If you're a fan of farming/community sims, there is no shortage of awesome new games to try. One of them is Dreamlight Valley, Disney's answer to the Stardew Valley-inspired craze. In the game, you play as a character who finds themselves in a magical land in ruins after an event known as "The Forgetting" �which is just as ominous as it sounds. Players are tasked with ridding the land of the insidious night thorns, as well as doing the usual fare for these kinds of games: farming, fishing, cooking, mining, digging, and filling requests for the townspeople (who also happen to be beloved ??Disney characters).

The siren song of another cozy simulator game is enough to draw out gamers in droves, but add on the juggernaut that is the Disney brand? Yeah, it's no surprise that this game is seeing the success that it is. So much success, in fact, that Dreamlight Valley has managed to accrue over a million players only ten short days after its release.

Dreamlight Valley was developed by Gameloft, which has been notable in? the mobile market for decades. This certainly isn't their first wider release for consoles, but I think it's fair to say that this is the studio's most notable release so far?.

I'd consider myself to be a casual Disney fan, but this is a game I certainly can't wait to try for myself. The idea of seeing a b??unch of my favorite characters in a game genre I ??already go out of my way to play as much as possible, well, that's just something I can't resist.

From the classic characters like Mickey and Donald all the way up to new characters like Elsa and Moana, the roster is pretty stacked. All I had to hear was that the Tangled characters were included to know I was on board.

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Do you think it has sommelier-m assist?

Train simulators, farming simulators, even goat simulators �here I was thinking we had exhausted all of the best simulator ideas. Well, Broken Arms Games is here to prove us wrong with their wine-making sim, Hundred Days, which is free on the Epic Games Store until next week.

The game is described as a "tycoon game with a narrative twist," and has three different game modes so players can personalize their wine-making experience to their preferences. For beginning players all the way up to experts, Hundred Days gives players complete control ??over their own winery �from which vines to grow to choosing which yeast and bacteria to add for the fermentation process to deciding on the bottling details.

Every choice you make along the way will determine the quality and quantity of wine that you end up producing, making Hundred Days the perfect choice for any prospective winery o??wners. There's even a couple of different DLCs you can purchase, like the Napa Valley expansion that allows players to "explore a new American wine region," and the Grape Lab expansion that allows players to "create and produce [their] favor?ite grape variety."

On top of the in-depth simulation mechanics, I also just love Hundred Days' art style. It's kind of cartoony and saturated with color, and I have to admit that seeing those deep purples does get me in the mood for a wine-making experience. Finally I will be able to live the glamorous Napa Valley fantasy that was instilled in me as a child after watching the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap. I don't think the game allows you to play as a sexy Dennis Quaid who rides horses all day, but here's hoping that's the next ??expansion pack.

Hundred Days will be free to download from the Epic Games Store, along with a bundle for battle royale shooter Realm Royale Reforged, until September 15.

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The long-awaited update is 'making very good progress,' according to ConcernedApe

While fans have understandably grown impatient waiting for the much-later Stardew Valley 1.5 mobile update, the game's creator assures us that it is still on the way. In the latest status check, Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone said on Twitter that 1?.5 may be ready before the end of 2022 �a far-off ETA, for sure, but something to latch onto at least.

"The 1.5 update for [Stardew Valley] mobile is making very good progress," he tweeted. "It should be out before the end ?of t?he year. Mobile players... thanks for your patience."

Update 1.5 includes Ginger Island, a new getaway to explore and expand, as well as numerous improvements to the core game. You can ha?ve a fish tank, watch ducks swim, move your bed, sit on chairs, raise ostriches, and try a beach farm layout. The ?list goes on.

[caption id="attachment_337736" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _{Ginger Islands is one of the best parts of Stardew Valley.}[/caption]

From the sound of it, all Barone can really do is relay and reiterate information as the Stardew Valley porting team continues working on the expansive update. And, in the meantime, he's busy working on his upcoming life-sim game, Haunted Chocolatier.

Whenever the day comes, there's going to be a huge sigh of relief. An??droid and iOS players have been waiting?? for anything concrete, and with today's news, we're getting there.

This is the kind of long-lasting game that players (and the creator) can't seem to walk away from, and update 1.5, in particular, is a culmination of everything it represents as a wh??olesome slice-of-life experience. I've said it before and I'll say it again �Ginger Island is a highlight, and it's wild that it's a free update. I loved searching for collectibles.

_{[Image credit: Nico-Kun]}

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The joy of a game that just... keeps... going

Some of my all-time favorite games have the same thing in common: no matter how much time I sink into them, it feels like there's always a chance I'll discover something new, either organically on my own, or in an off-the-cuff community discussion. These games are very clearly finite, but they have this ethereal "Today I Learned" quality to them. One of the best examples, for me anyway, is Stardew Valley �this game has leeegs.

Case in point, Reddit user the_changinator shared their latest find "after four playthroughs" and "over 500 hours of gameplay" in Stardew Valley: the Auto-Petter.

//www.reddit.com/r??/StardewValley?/comments/twn75n/after_4_play_throughs_over_500_hours_of_gameplay/

While you'd normally want to pet your animals to form a clo??ser bond with them (and because they're just plain cute), overworked or overwhelmed farmers can use the Auto-Petter in coops and bar??ns to at least keep their critters feeling "content." Who knew?

I never found this invent????ion, and I'm certain plenty of you could say the same.

The Auto-Petter first appeared in the now-pretty-legendary 1.5 update, and it's tied to the conniving JojaMart questline �kind of. That's arguably the "easy" way of getting the tool. You can outright buy it for 50,000g after finishing the Joja Community Development Form. Or, if you're not a corpo, you can try your luck at finding an Auto-Petter in a chest i??n the Skull Cavern. I haven't done the Joja quest and I never will. It's not worth the guilt!

(If you're determined to go the luck-based route, here's a helpful guide.)

On a wholesome note, the Auto-Petter isn't meant as a total replacement for hand-petting animals in Stardew Valley to raise their mood and friendship levels; for the best results, you'll want to bond with your flock as well. I doubt I'll ever get this tool, ?and that's neat. Knowing it even exists as a possibility makes me appreciate this game even more.

I wish more games had this community spirit

Given the gradual nature of Stardew Valley, I feel like these tidbits are cyclical �folks find something cool, share it, and move on, only for the next wave of players to repeat the same cycle of tip-sharing down the line. It's a hell of a way for a video game to stay relevant long after its original release and content updates have come to an end. I super admire games that can maintain a lively and welcoming vibe in? which new players don't feel closed off f?rom asking questions and sharing well-meaning fluff. I live for the fluff!

There are surely ways to build a game that encourages this communal behavior from t??he ground up �but I feel like the best ones just seem to snowball as fans keep the conversation going out of continued passion. Even if you're done actively playing a game, that doesn't mean you're ready to stop talking or reading about it. That's why we're here.

The post Stardew Valley has an Auto-Petter, and I love that I’m just now finding out appeared first on Destructoid.

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

Last month, I posted a preview of Rune Factory 5 detailing its first two hours? and the opening dungeon. Mostly, I complained about how that just isn't enough time to really get a feel for how a game of this nature is going to b??e. This is a franchise where you can easily put more than 100 hours into a single game without seeing everything it has to offer.

I needed more than two hours. Thankfully, after that preview went up, I got to spend the nex??t several weeks immersing myself in this wor?ld. That's more than enough time to really dig into the experience and unearth the good and the bad buried within.

Rune Factory 5 (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Hakama Inc.
Publisher: Xseed Games
Released: March 22, 2022
MSRP: $59.99

If you’re tired of role-playing games featuring a protagonist with a crippling case of amnesia, I have bad news for you. The series staple trope is back with a vengeance in Rune Factory 5, which sees players exploring dungeons and slaying monsters as they try to save the w?orld, get the guy or girl, and maybe build up an agricultural empire. The blonde-headed hero of this tale comes to the quaint town of Rigbarth following a monster attack in the woods. They can’t remember who they are or what their deal is, but it takes no time at all to find ou??t that your hero is an Earthmate. Like with other games in the series, this means they have a special connection to nature and dragons, and stand as Rigbarth’s only hope in saving the town and the kingdom at large from a nefarious villain.

Someone or something is stealing rune power from the world, and that is throwing nature into disarray. As the hero of this tale, it’s up to you to figure out who’s behind the madness. But hey, no rush or? anything. Saving the day can sit on the back burner as you grow level-10 tomatoes or try to catch that rare monster you so desperately need for your stables.

That’s because Rune Factory 5 employs an open-ended structure where you’re free to take the game at your own pace. If you don’t want to do some dungeon diving, you don’t have to. Those dungeons ain’t going anywhere, so you might as well take your sweet time and get yourself ??prepa??red for the challenge ahead by engaging in the wide array of side activities. From growing crops to catching monsters to crafting new tools and armor, there are very few doldrum days in the town of Rigbarth.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq1B5qLpL0k

For veterans of the series, or even those hopping over for the first time from Story of Seasons or one of the other farming sims out there, none of this will be a surprise. The farming genre is very much about making your own schedule. If you’re coming into this game cold turkey, however, you might inadvertently go about proceeding through Rune Factory 5 in a less than ideal way. That’s because there’s nothing here that says you need to properly divide your time between farming and fighting, and it is possible to blow through most of the story before you ever see the first day of summer. Obviously, th??at’s not the ideal way to play the game. But it is a possibility, especially if you’re the type who likes to focus on a more structured game experience rather than an open-ended one. Your first few days in Rigbarth feature a slew of short tutorials that teach you about the many different aspects of the game. But with ?so much knowledge thrown out in such a short time, it’s really up to the player to sift through it and figure things out. And there is a lot to figure out here.

One of the first things you should learn in Rune Factory 5 is how to level up your skills. The good thing is, nearly everything in this game contributes to character growth. Even something as simple as walking or going to sleep at the end of the day will help you skill up. And those skills carry real results. Bathing at the bathhouse, for instance, is a skill that will increase your health points, rune points (action point?s), and vitality the more you do it. If you want to see greater benefits from love spells, you’ll need to increase your love skill. Fishing, chopping wood, talking to neighbors, watering crops, tending to your monster livestock, and opening treasure chests are just some of the everyday activities you’ll perform that’ll slowly ready your hero for the task at hand.

Building up your skills outside of battle will ultimately aid you when you do decide to dive into some dungeons. With increased health points and rune points, you’re more likely to survive the swarms of monsters awaiting you. However, as I found out the first couple of days of playing the game, even if you neglect all your activities outside of combat, you’re probably not going to have too much trouble getting through Rune Factory 5.

The dungeon-crawling side of Rune Factory 5 is extremely basic in its execution. The one-button combo combat doesn’t lend itself to much experimentation, and when you’re not smacking down one or two foes with a succession of strikes, you’ll likely be dodging attacks coming at you from off-camera. Unlike most of the games in the franchise, Rune Factory 5 does not have a fixed camera. Its position to the main character is close enough that it can be easy to take hits from enemies you can’t even see. And some of these hits can kill y??ou in one shot. It’s annoying, but it's workable, which is more than I can say about the auto-targeting system.

Rune Factory 5 just might have the worst auto-targeting system I have ever experienced. Truly awful, it is pretty unpredictable in not only which enemy it will target initially, but also which one it’ll shift to if you hit the right control stick. Will I target the monster in the center of my screen or the one closest to me? It’s honestly a crapshoot. I had rooms where I’d hit the auto-target button and it would lock onto a monster clear on the other side of the room with plenty of creatures standing between us. I only died a couple of times playing through the game–and Rune Factory 5 has a generous save system that’ll let you skirt death if you don’t mind restarting–but nearly all?? of those deaths can be attributed to the targeting system’s failure to focus on the appropriate enemy.

Equally as annoying in battle is what I'll call the SEED savior system. For much of your adventure, your character is a member of SEED. The organization is responsible for investigating what’s happening with the rune energy as well as protecting Rigbarth from monster attacks. In the back corner of the Rigbarth SEED Outpost, a nondescript SEED officer stands at t??he ready. If you talk to them b??efore you go exploring, they’ll agree to come aid you should you need their help. This means if you’re stricken with a status effect like sleep, they’ll pop in and restore you. They’ll also come to your aid if your health falls too low, and this is where I have a problem.

Because this SEED recruit has a lengthy recharge between rescues, I want to do my best to hold off the need for their aid until the situation is dire. However, they will pop in anytime my health falls below a certain point. And it’s not even a low point like I’m sitting there with only three health points remaining. I can still have a decent measure of HP left, but if it’s below this threshold, they’ll barge in. Not only is it annoying to lose this last-second save when I don’t need it, but the unpredictability of their arrival can actually throw me off my rhythm, leading to me taking some damage ??I probably wouldn’t have otherwise.

These two elements of combat can combine for a particularly frustrating experience, especially when playing on a harder difficulty level. But that’s pretty much the only way to see a consistent challenge from the game because most everything here doesn’t pose much of a threat. The dungeon bosses are big and bold, but there isn’t much variety between them. If you’ve recruited monsters or townsfolk to fight on your side, you can easily just let them?? do all the work while you lob spells at the beast from afar.

It’s actually kind of insane how much damage recruited monsters will do as they level up, and they can level up quite quickly. There is one dungeon in the game where I was joined by the first three monsters I captured. At the beginning of it, they barely posed a threat. By the end, they were doing more damage individually than I was with my strongest weapon. Inviting monsters and townsfolk along on your quest is obviously encouraged by the game’s design—and a central element in Rune Factory 5’s romantic ventures—but it pretty much breaks the combat, especia?lly i??n those boss battles.

Because of this, as well as the repetitive nature of the dungeons and their far-too-simplistic puzzles, I didn’t really enjoy the combat half of this game. The hack ’n�slash action works decently enough, but most battles just boiled down to me repeatedly dodging offscreen attacks and healing my companions as they took a brunt of the damage. Suffice to say, I had a better time with the farming sim half of the Rune Factory equation here, but ??even that side has its issues.

First and foremost, this is not really a pretty game. There is some interesting art direction, namely in the boss character designs and a few spots on the overworld map, but everything here looks a few generations old. There’s one corridor you’ll frequent on the northeast side of Rigbarth that honestly looks like it fell out of an early bargain bin Dreamcast game. The framerate never seems to hit a consistent 30 fps and will routinely take a dive every time you walk through a door. Elements in the world can take a long time to render in and it can sometimes feel as though the game is about to crash, but thankfully, that never happened with me. The worst error I ran into during my pl?aythrough was when everyone in town started talking about a hurricane that was supposed to arrive tomorrow and it didn’t get there until two days later.

Rigbarth itself is pretty underwhelming. It feels as though the developers had a few ideas they wanted for this little burg but couldn’t figure out how to connect them in a natural way. ?The town is sparse and spread out with most of it remaining pretty dead for a good chunk of the calendar year. Special events and holidays will bring focus to certain parts of town, but these too are underwhelming. Artistically, most holidays don’t do anything more than paper the screen with confetti as the townsfolk stand around in a location outside their normal haunts for a dozen or so hours. Occasionally, you’ll have a mini-game or contest that’ll eat up about 30 seconds of your time. I was really disappointed when I reached my first Beach Day expecting some type of fun in the sun. Sadly, nobody was playing volleyball or surfing or any kind of activity that would require a unique animation. Instead, they just stood or sat around until the sun went down.

As disappointing as some of these holidays can be, it is worth getting out there and exploring Rigbarth every day as you might come across a unique cutscene that’ll bring you closer to the cast. The denizens of the town are a real bunch of winners in Rune Factory 5 and I have to complement the localization team for doing such a good job giving these characters some unique and dynamic personalities. One thing the game does well is it really gets you to learn about the people who populate this vill?age, with little scenes that play out from time to time that reveal a bit more about each of them. If you’re ever around town and see a big red dot on the map, it’s marking the spot that’ll either advance the story or advance your relationship with the townsfolk.

The marriage candidates this time around are a pretty good bunch too, though you may want to hold off pursuing a partner until you’ve cleared a good chunk of the dungeons. As you advance through the story, more characters will arrive in town and some of them are better marriage material than those who initially call Rigbarth home. Getting to know these characters and beginning your romantic pursuits provides what I think are the best moments of the whole game. In fact, this is the first time I've played a game with a marriage option where I didn't make an immediate beeline for my initial crush. I played the field a bit and the experience was all the better. Eventually, I settled on settling down with Reinhard, though it was a toss-up between him and wolf-man Murakumo. Rune Factory 5 is the first game in the series to include same-sex marriage, and you bette?r believe I gayed it up whenever possible.

Feel free to take as much time as possible to meet your mate because you have a long road ahead of you. Each day in Rune Factory 5 takes more than 30 minutes to get through, which means you’re realistically looking at a 60- to 70-hour playtime to make it through a single calendar year. Obviously, that much time on the cl??ock is good when you want to explore a dungeon or tend to your farm. However, on days where you’re supposed to stay up until a certain time to advance the story, it can be mind-numbingly slow.

The best way to pass the time on the days like this is with farming. Growing crops and tending to fields works as well here as it has in any other Rune Factory game. There is a lot for players to keep track of, including soil quality and seed level, but you’ll learn best by doing. Your farming area will expand as you advance through the story, unlocking farm dragons where you can keep the monsters you recruit. Those monsters can be assigned to farm duties once ??you hit a certain relationship threshold with them, making it pretty easy to keep an efficient farm running. Just make sure you have enough fodder to feed them, something the game really doesn’t stress as much as it should.

If it sounds like I’ve hammered down too much on how little information the game gives you, it’s because I believe Rune Factory 5 is inadequate in providing the necessary knowledge to the player. The little bits of info you can access are too sparse and some of the requests you take from villagers don’t give enough information for new players or those, like me, who may need a refresher on everything after not playing a Rune Factory game for near??ly a decade. Like I said above, there is a lot to keep in mind here with all the different aspects of farming, fishing, fighting, and raising monsters, and I just wish the game included a more detailed glossary to a?ssist players who may need some extra help.

I also wish this game didn’t have so many weird and outdated design choices. Like, at the SEED Outpost, there is a magical talking box doll named Eliza who you can speak to when you want to schedule festivals for the town or change the game’s difficulty. With those types of options, you’d think Eliza would also be capable of handling name? changes and giving you information on your monsters. But that isn’t the case. Instead, the dev??elopers constructed a house in the town and created two NPCs whose sole existence is to perform those two tasks. That just seems like a waste of time, space, and money for something that could have easily been taken care of by the magical talking box.

That’s just one example, but there are a lot of elements I came across throughout my adventure that I just wish would have been given more time and thought before the developers settled on the design they did. I’m talking about things like furniture placement lacking a grid for precise placement or recipe bread really restricting how many recipes players can learn every day or having to craft several different cooking surfaces to account for all the different cooking styles instead of just repeatedly expanding the sa?me one. The L pocket, which gives you quick access to your bag, is not nearly as intuitive a??s it could be, and while time does stop when searching through your things, you may find yourself scrolling relentlessly to find the one item you’re looking for.

There’s more, but I don’t want to bog down this already too-long review with nitpicking. If you’ve read through what I’ve written and are coming away with the idea that I don’t like this game, that’s not the case. I do like Rune Factory 5. It has a great cast, a wealth of a??ctivities, and much of the farm sim experience I love. But every time I found myself smitten with the game, something would come along to point out just how underwhelming it is as a whole.

For those who are already fans of the Rune Factory series, I imagine any complaints I’ve listed above might be easy to overlook. For everyone else, you may want to try your hand at a previous entry in the franchise to see if you even like Rune Factory’s combinat?ion of farmin?g and fighting before giving this one a go.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Rune Factory 5 appeared first on Destructoid.

Giddy up, gamers

Long gone are the days where only the highest octane shooters and MOBAs make a name for themselves as esports �now, as long as any aspect of a title can be turned into a game that's competitive in nature, it too can become a spectator sport. Stardew Valley is a perfect example of this, as its creator held a tournament to complete various in-game tasks for over $40,000 in prize money. I personally love that indie games are breaking down the dudebro culture that is still pervasive in the esports scene, and now Farming Simulator has also been added to those ranks.

Apparently, this isn't news to those in the know, because the Farming Simulator League has been going strong since 2018, whe?re the name of the game is who can stack hay bales the ?fastest. Which like, yeah, what else did you expect it to be?

The League's third season is coming to a close this weekend, when the world championships will be taking place. The tournament will include eight different teams competing for a prize pool of â‚?00,??000.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaekYYSLMQI

So what exactly does a match look like? (Or is it a game? Round? Help me out, Farming Sim enthusiasts.) First the teams go through a pick-ban phase, where they can choose which pieces of equipment will be sidelined �this is similar to how the competitive League of Legends teams ban certain Champions. Next, the players take turns picking out their equipment, which is used to bale and stack hay, and then the game finally starts, where players race?? around the map collecting as much hay as they can and delivering it back to their barn.

It sounds simple in theory, but in practice there's a ton of strategy that goes into ?it, j?ust like any other esport. There are other mechanics involved, too, like power-ups and bridges, which adds even more complexity.

I was never much of a sports fan, so esports aren't really my thing either, but it's cool to see how this part of the gaming community has grown over the past few years. Farming Simulator certainly wasn't the esport that we expected, but it sure as h??ell is the one that we deserve.

The post Farming Simulator is a??n esport, because of course it is appeared first on Destructoid.

The PC update lets you buy or craft stacks of 25 items, and there's also an item buyback option

There's really no such thing as a "small update" when it comes to Stardew Valley, as every little bit helps reinforce this game's (arguably) best-in-class status. So while this week's PC update 1.5.5 isn't going to make huge waves with everyone in the community, it's got some great quality-of-life stuff tucked in, especially for Stardew Valley modders.

While the modding changes are more behind-the-scenes right now with a "future-proof" shift from XNA to MonoGame and "various internal changes" to accommodate Stardew Valley mod creators, who can now access "more than ?4 GB of RAM," there's more to come.

If mods aren't your scene at all, there's still something here for yo??u �namely, small but helpful new features and functionality. Here's a recap of the quali??ty-of-life improvements:

• Holding the CTRL key in addition to shift now lets you purchase/craft stacks of 25 items at a time.
• When starting a new save, many settings now default to what they were the last time you played the game. Some settings like zoom level, gamepad mode, and multiplayer server privacy aren't copied over.
• You can now build or move farm buildings onto artifact spots. This destroys the artifact spots.
• You can now nudge pets out of the way while building/moving a building by clicking on them.
• You can now buy back items accidentally sold in the same shopping session.
• The in-game time is now shown on the upper-right hand corner of the screen when playing Journey of the Prairie King in multiplayer.
• Grass placed using Grass Starter during Winter no longer disappears when the game is reloaded (but it still won't grow or spread).
• If, for any reason, you want to play on the "legacy" 32-bit version, it's still available on Steam (right-click Stardew > properties > betas > select "Compatibility" version).

You can see the full patch notes, including bug fixes, over here. It's live on PC.

Following 1.5.5, another PC update for Stardew Valley, version 1.5.6, will partially be a collaboration with SMAPI creator PathosChild; it'??ll bring "some long-requested 'holy grail' changes which should make some aspects of modding much easier in the future."

According to Stardew designer ConcernedApe, players can even expect "some new content in 1.5.6, too, but it's n??ot going to? be anything huge like 1.5."

Clearly, the creator can't stay away from Stardew Valley for long �not even when he's got another cool sim game in development. His de??dication is the gift that keeps on giving.

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Game creator "fully committed" to seeing the 1.5 update on iOS and Android

Stardew Valley isn't fully caught up on iOS and Android, and that's been a tough pill to swallow for mobile players who want to play the excellent 1.5 content update that PC and console players have been enjoying since late 2020 and early 2021, respectively.

This is the big one �the update that adds Ginger Island, which ended up becoming one of my favorite parts of Stardew Valley, period. I??t makes a great game even greater. Update?? 1.5 has taken longer than mobile players were expecting, but it's not canceled.

As creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone said in a tweet, "the 1.5 update port is actively in de?velopment by the porting team, and there is continuous progress being made."

//twitt?er.com/ConcernedApe/status/14?50973637398257670

"I remain fully committed to seeing the 1.5 update on mobile," Barone added. "I real??ly appreciate your patience with t??his."

Considering Barone just announced his next game, Haunted Chocolatier, it seems smart to say something, anything, to p?layers who might feel ??like they're being passed over.

With the way Stardew Valley was devised as a solo creator's vision, with assistance from other developers as needed, there's some give-and-take here. It's easy to lose patience, but there's a reason Stardew turned out so well and why all of these updates are free. The game wasn't designed by a committee; it's personal. I definitely need to remind myself o??f that fact with the next game, too �I'm sure it'll be a slo??w and steady buildup.

??Even if the news isn't good, it's good to hear it. It keeps your faith going. There's nothing more frustrating than becoming head-over-heels invested in a game only to feel abandoned by radio silence f??rom the developer when legitimate concerns pop up.

As one Reddit user put it, "reassurances like this make? a huge difference."

The post Stardew Val??ley 1.5 mob?ile update is still happening, says ConcernedApe appeared first on Destructoid.

It's hitting pre-alpha soon, too

Singularity 6, a new studio made up of developers from companies like Blizzard, Riot, Epic, Zynga, and Sony, has announced their first game: an MMO with a bit of town life called Palia.

As shown in the short trailer released today, Palia sees players awaking as a human in a world and venturing out towards a quiet town. Humanity was once a legendary race, but in Palia it disappeared thousands of years prior.

Given a plot of land to b??uild their home in, they'll have ??the chance to establish themselves in this village, while also uncovering the greater narrative mysteries.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP009fvbt8c

In this "community sim," players can create their ??own character, decorate their home, and participate in activities with others. Fishing, cooking, and other ventures look to be available, and according to a press release, players can "meet, befriend, and romance" a compelling cast of characters.

It gives me major Stardew Valley MMO vibes with a fantasy twist, and the idea of creating a Neighborhood (Palia's version of guilds) with my friends and building our community together sounds like a great way to burn hours upon hours together. The mixture of massively multiplayer adventures and community with the town life of an Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon could be pretty rad.

Currently, Palia is looking to launch into pre-alpha this summer on PC. You can sign up for that pre-alpha on the Palia site here.

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The spoils of the harvest

It's the little farm that could. Marvelous has announced, (via its latest earnings report), that mystical farming/adventure game Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin is just a little short of hitting the one million sales milestone, having harvested over 950,000 shipme?nts and digital sales since its 2020 launch on PS4, PC, and Switch.

Developed by studio Edelweiss, Of Rice and Ruin sees a mischievous and carefree Harvest Goddess exiled to the troubled Hinoe Island, where she is tasked not only with taking ?care of the people's agricultural demands, but also defending them from attack by an army of ravaging monsters and demons. All in a day's work for a sweetie-pie with a rake, right?

As Sakuna fights off those who would do the villagers harm, she will come to know trusted friends and allies. In turn, she will increase her bountiful harvests and help bring Hinoe Island back to prosperity, all while learning just a little more respect and responsibility than in her formative, hell-raising days. Of Rice and Ruin is by no means a perfect game, but it has won players over with its genre-blended gameplay, delightful art, and infectious sp?irit.

Edelweiss has already expressed interest in developing a sequel, and should Of Rice and Ruin's sales continue to rise, that endeavor would be inevitable. As the old saying goes: "If you plant seed in the field of gami?ng, fruit will grow and one million people will eat it and say 'I enjoyed that, despite its flaws.'"

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Just add a market and I'm sold

April Fools' Day. My Favourite. When your job is writing news, and the annual day of w-w-w-wackiness rolls around, it's frankly a pain in the ass. This is especially true of recent years, when companies have taken to revealing very real products while relishing the idea that the public might not believe them. Let?'s see if I get through today unscathed.

Still, I'm not without humor, and as such wanted to start the day sharing this fun trailer for Square Enix's upcoming remaster NieR Replicant, which re-purposes the hack 'n' slash adventure as a "slow life sim" in the vein of titles such as Stardew Valley and Harvest Moon. The video sees protagonists Nier and Grimoire Weiss indulging in a spot of crop-gr?owing and animal-rearing, while eavesdropping on the neighbors and enjoying some obligatory fishing. Frankly, I'm all for it, and would gladly take respite from all the slicing 'n' dicing to just spend all my time growing a pumpkin patch. Any marriage options?

You can check out the most cyberpunk farming sim ever made in the video below. Meanwhile, back in pseudo-reality, NieR Replicant will ?launch on PS4, PC, and Xbox One April 23. And th?at's no foolin'

The post Suspicious NieR Replicant trailer turns the remaster into a Stardew Valley?-style life sim appeared first on Destructoid.

Meet your Maker

Reviewing Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town has been an interesting couple of weeks, to say the least. When I first got my review code, I was told there would be a day-one patch that would aim to alleviate many of the issues that have plagued the title since its initial release in Japan. While those who buy it on day one will get all of the updates?? at once, I’ve been playing through it as it’s been slowly fixed in a piecemeal fashion.

It’s real shame the developers ha??ve had to spend the past month scrambling to fix the game because it's is supposed to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the series. And generally, when you’re celebrating a milestone year, you don’t want a public apology to be part of the festivities.

Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town (Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Marvelous
Publisher: Xseed
Released: March 23, 2021
MSRP: $49.99

Like the many Story of Seasons of yore, Pioneers of Olive Town starts with an escape from the city to a more laidback life in the country. The titular Olive Town was founded years before by your character’s grandfather, who set up the local farm you’re about to take over. He’s no longer with us, ?but there are those in town who remember him fondly and have high hopes for you to get his old farm back up and running. The only thing standing in your way is the quick passage of time, a low stamina meter, and a fickle-beast known as Mother Nature.

Unlike what we've seen in past Story of Season titles, the farm in Pioneers of Olive Town isn’t rundown; it’s nonexistent. Whateve??r your grandfather built all those years ago has been reclaimed by nature, and a forest now stands where his fields were once laid. I almost feel bad for even trying to rebuild the farm because I’m going to have to decimate an ecosystem to do it. But that’s the name of the game, and to its credit, the flora is ready for a fight.

What was most surprising to me about Pioneers of Olive Town is that for the first year or so of my time on the farm, growing crops was the least of my concerns. I had a small garden outside my house, sure, but most of the early days were spent trying to get ahead of what nature threw at me. Trees grow at an alarming rate, rocks appear everywhere, weeds fill my farmland, and puddles show up whether there was rain or not. I know the elements threw farmers curveballs in past titles, but the way nature regrows and stifles progression here is almost aggressive. The only way I could make progress of any kind was to dive head-fi?rst into the game’s expansive crafting system.

Olive Town's progression loop places a heavy emphasis on the use of Makers, machines you put ingredients into to make items that can be sold, crafted, cooked, or inserted into other Makers. Outside of the basic crafting recipes you start with, you’ll need a Maker to convert just about everything you grow, chop, collect, or mine into something more valuable or useful. Want to turn that honeycomb into honey? Put it in the Honey Maker. Somebody asking for a gold ingot on the request board? Mine some gold ore and put it in an Ingot Maker. Want to buy a new outfit? First, get some grass and put it in the Thread Maker to make thread. Then put that thread into the Textile Maker. Don’t forget the dye. You can make that in a Maker as well. Makers are not new to the series with Olive Town but they are more prevalent, and you should't be surprised if your farm has a lot of these?? ??machines taking up space as you expand.

Tying progression to the Makers certainly gives the game some long legs, but it makes for a frightfully slow first four seasons. As I said, I didn’t get a lot of farming done until I was in the spring of my second year. Most of my first year was just preparing myself for when I could actually find the time to farm. I can’t remember the last Story of Seasons game where I spent so much of my tim?e upfr??ont in the mines, but it's necessary to even have a shot of moving things along in a timely fashion. It was also the only way I could help the town improve.

There are a few small storylines your character is a part of in Pioneers of Olive Town, but the centra??l narrative has to do with improving the town to boost its profile and attract tourists. No matter how small, when changes are made around town, they are visible and do indeed class up the joint. Not only do your efforts help give the town a glow up, but they also add some substance to it.

One of the central locations in this little burg is the museum, and if you’ve played Animal Crossing,?? this will sound very familiar. When you first get to town, the museum is all but barren. In order to fill it with exhibits, you’ll need to donate fish you catch, treasures you find buried, and photographs of wild animals you take that are turned into little statues. There’s also a woman there who’ll analyze the unknown items you bring in.

Like the Makers, the museum adds a hefty dose of content to the game as it’s unlikely players will be able to fill it up too quickly. Unfortunately, despite all the work that goes into completing it, it??’s not a rewarding endeavo??r. The museum is rather bland with tiny displays that don’t really show you the details of the artifacts or fish you’ve donated. It’s one of the clear indicators that, despite this being the game to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary, it’s still a budget title like all the ones that came before it.

Now, there is nothing wrong with being a budget title as the industry needs more games that aren't AAA bank-breakers. But, with Olive Town launching in the state it did in Japan, and the issues the game still has as it nears our shore?s, it’s not hard to think this game could have used a few more weeks in a Maker of its own.

Depending on your tolerance for loading screens, the biggest issues you’ll probably deal with if you play this day one are the frame rate and occasional instances when the game will freeze momentarily. If you’re l?ike me, it won’t be that noticeable at the beginning. But as you continue to build your farm, build those Makers, and build the new sprinklers that can take the pressure of watering large fields off your back, the frame rate starts to slow more often, and those momentary freezes begin to happen with concerning frequency. In other words, the more I played, the worse the game ran. I also keep running into a bug where the sound effect from my mop??ed just won’t stop until I move on to the next day.

Bugs and performance issues aside, there are also smaller elements that could have used more time. Take food, for instance.?? You can order a variety of dishes at Olive Town’s two restaurants, but it doesn’t matter if y?ou’re having a four-course meal or simply a cup of coffee, the developers created just one model for food: a four-plate meal with fish, soup, salad, and bread. That’s it, for every meal everybody eats in this game.

There is also the matter of tourism. While tourists do show up during the game and walk around the town, they sure do seem to be ?absent whenever there is a big event to be had. None of them bother checking out the museum, and despite the fact I’m told my farm i??s part of the reason why we’re getting visitors, nobody seems very interested in stopping by for a little agritourism.

I would have like to have seen the effects of increased tourism beyond just watching people wander aimlessly through Olive Town’s pristine streets. Get them into the restaurant??s or the hotel or the salon, something to adequately illustrate how their presence here is a boon.

I only say that because I truly want what’s best for this village. I think Olive Town is probably my favorite location since Grand Bazaar’s Zephyr Town. And I've come to enjoy the dynamic theme songs and personalities of the town's residents, but those only s??hine through when you raise your relationship w??ith them high enough to unlock one of their events. Any other time, they fall prey to how residents acted in past games: standing lifelessly and speaking in short, personality-free sentences or just referencing whatever town event is coming up or has just passed.

It would be nice if there were context-based dialog sewn into the game, like? when I’m riding my moped around town or wearing a giant buffalo costume. It would also be nice if there was a secret way to unlock Jacopo as a bachelor because he really is the best marriage material here.

I get that my complaints probably sound like I’m nitpicking the game, and maybe I am asking too much of a budget title, but really, these issues illustrate that despite the fact Pioneers of Olive Town marks the silver anniversary of the franchise, the developer didn't really go out of its way to make this entry something special. This is a safe and standard Story of Seasons game. It doesn’t rock the boat, it doesn’t try anything groundbreaking like when Marvelous released Rune Factory to mark the franchise’s tenth anniversary; it’s just more of what we?’ve seen before with a few small twists on the for??mula.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town appeared first on Destructoid.

D.A.R.E. to be a drug kingpin

In today's contest you can win a Steam Early Access copy of Cartel Tycoon!

Management sims stress me out. My day jo??b is essentially a management sim -- I sure as hell don't want to continue to manage things in my free time, as well! Drugs also stress me out, so this one is a hard sell for me.

But hey, we're all different people so Cartel Tycoon might be right up your alley! Win a copy and become the drug kingpin you'??ve always dreamt of being.

Read all about it below:

A tropical paradise and Cumbia rhythms is the perfect set up for an ‘80s crime drama.  Rise from nothing to become a legendary drug kingpin. Conquer a vast continent by expanding operations and winning the people’s loyalty. Start under-the-table relationships with local governments, grow small coca and cannabis farms into ma??ssive productions, and build a sprawling supply chain of farms, workshops, laboratories and smuggling fronts. Set up intricate laundering enterprises ??to clean dirty cash flows with a variety of cover businesses.

Similar to the likes of Frostpunk or Rise of Industry, Cartel Tycoon is designed to be a challenging experience. Drug superprofits are both a blessing and a curse, with rapid growth of business making  survival difficult. The kingpin’s life gets more dangerous as they find more success. Rival ?cartels will try to reclaim territory, local authorities watch for suspicious money moves, and the DEA, FBI and CIA wait like vipers to clamp dow??n on the entire operation. Flows of product and cash always leave trails that will attract attention from your enemies. Death is inevitable, whether from a knife in the dark, a mutinous lieutenant, or a gang war gone south.

If I stub my toe I'm out for weeks, so anything more high-stakes than a door frame sca??res me. Goo??d luck out there!

Use the widget below to enter ??for your chance to win a copy. You can enter daily. Be sure to click around for your bonus entries, and comment below telling us upon which object you last ??stubbed your toe.

We have 15 Steam Ea?rly Access keys t?o give away; we'll draw winners next Monday.

Cartel Tycoon is available now via Steam Early Access.

Dtoid Contest: Win Cartel T?ycoon, new to Steam Early Access

The post Contest: Win Cartel Tycoon, new?? to Steam Early Access appeared first on Destructoid.

Rated E for eww

We're a week away from the launch of Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town in North America, and if you've been following it all in Japan, you know things haven't been going so well. The game released there with a slew of issues that were so bad, producer Dai Takemura actually issued a public apology over the state of the game.

That hasn't stopped people from playing it and exploring one of the chief ne?w features developers created for this entry. Photography plays a pretty decent-sized role in your farming life as you??'re asked to snap candid photos of wildlife. Of course, you can take pictures of whatever the hell you want, as evident by the photographs that populate the loading screens.

Most of these pictures are nothing out of the ordinary. There are shots of the town, shots of ??animals, and shots of people, about half of which are out of focus. There is also a ni??ce collection of glitches people have captured, like this boulder owl.

That's all good and fine, but ??every once in a while, I'll run into a loading screen that has a real creeper vibe to it. The first one I came across was this shot of Laura, one of the bachelorettes you can woo in the game.

Not really the worst thing to pop up on my screen, but photos of sleeping people are just kind of unset?tling to me. That's definitely a picture a stalker would send to their victim with the message "I'm always watching."

But that was just one picture. The next few loading screens I got had some nice photos of the different dogs and cats you can adopt in the game, real pleasing-on-??the-eyes shit. Then, as I went to turn in fo?r the night, I got this one.

Yep. That's Laura again, but this time, whoever took this picture decided to just go straight for the no-face boob shot in a game that's rated "E for Everyone." Not only?? did I get that loading screen photo when ending the day, but it was also the first loading screen I s?aw the next morning.

After that, I was treated to three loading screens in a row with the image of bachelorette Blaire's boobs you can see at the top of this article. In the game's defense, a lot of the pictures you see in these loading screens repeat multiple tim??es in a row, so it's not just the weirdly pervy ones.

At this point, I was ready to just accept that I would randomly get a photograph of boobs in my laid-back, family-friendly farming sim, but the boob shots actually started to die down about then. They were replaced by a lot of extreme close-ups of faces and spoilers for things I'll be doing later in the game. Just?? when I thought I'd maybe gone through all the questionable pics, things took a hard right directly into Reina's thighs.

That's right, zettai ryÅiki. And if you're thi?nking, "Well, that's not nearly as shameless," I ??present to you exhibit A and exhibit B.

That's right, those are two different attempts at upskirt shots of Reina. Are there normal pictures of her on the loading screens? Sure, but those ones don't really stand out as much as the ones that look like they wer?e taken by so??me dude riding the M train.

To be fair, these are just a handful of the loading screens I've come across during my review so far. Most of the pictures are harmless, and you can avoid them entirely by opting to not enable the internet connect??ion when you play. However, some photos are quite good and have been something of an inspiration to me in my own photography excursions. I don't want to miss out on those gems, so I guess I'll just have to put up with more exhibits from the creeper collection, which as of last night, also includes a bunch of crotch shots of Olive Town's male population.

Yeesh. Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town&nbs??p;will launch in North America on March 23, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.

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When the RNG isn't right and you hopelessly grind for a Mummified Bat anyway

[Update: ConcernedApe says the "notorious mummified bat issue" is fixed as of the July 18 update.]

When's the last time you genuinely struggle??d to get a rare drop in a game and put in hour after hour only for your unlucky streak to persist well beyond reason? What stopped you from calling it quits?

I'm trying to hatch an ostrich egg in Stardew Valley �my first and only �but I can't, and I'm not alone.

You see, I'm on this island, and each day, I bomb the hell out of hundreds of rocks in a volcano while kinda-sorta-but-not-really dodging lava beasts. I'm trying to get a particular fossil to pop out that I can donate to a professor in exchange for a specific incubator that will let me hatch my new animal buddy. But there's a problem, at least for some of us: the item we need �a Mummified Bat �just won't drop.

Am I one of the unlucky few? How unlucky is too unlucky? Let me back up for a minute.

_{This could be me! [Image Credit: Lord_Evanshire]}

I've been playing an unholy amount of Stardew Valley lately, and despite owning it on a few different platforms, only now �with the 1.5 update that added split-screen co-op �have I gone this overboard.

I never thought I'd be one of those people who strive to "do everything." I was perfectly cool with having a dodgy-looking farm, a few animals, and sticking to my quiet loner life, but not anymore. With a second Stardew player to share the daily load, there's so much more room for activities. One of us could focus on fishing while the other mined. One of us could tend to the crops while the other was on animal duty. One of us could be the gift-making chef while the other harvested materials. The list goes on. 

Having graduated from "someone who occasionally consults the wiki" to "someone who plays Stardew with a phone practically glued to their hand," I've now reached the point, some 70 hours after starting our co-op farm, where I need to hatch this dang ostrich egg. It's a need, not a want. I've gotta do it!

Here's how it's supposed to go down:

• You get yourself situated on Ginger Island by finding enough Golden Walnuts to unlock the major areas and buildings, including Professor Snail's Island Field Office.
• You go about your day-to-day on the island, earning Journal Scraps along the way. You finally find the tenth clue, allowing you to smack a dig spot near a tree by the Volcano Dungeon entrance. The ostrich egg is yours â€?don't eat it or cook it or lose it.
• You slowly but surely collect all of the distinct fossils needed for Snail's collection, and in turn, he gives you rewards, the last of which is the Ostrich Incubator.
• You live happily ever after, the end.

For some console players, the process works. For the rest of us, everything is easily obtainable except for the Mummified Bat. There's a lot of speculation as to what's going? on, why it's such? a struggle for a portion of players, and whether or not you can go to extreme luck-boosting lengths to get the bat.

For his part, ConcernedApe says he's heard hundreds of reports and feels "certain something is wrong."

The latest update fixed the weird blue floors on Ginger Island, but not this bat business. "There will also be another round of patches on all consoles for a few other bugs, including the shaking stones and the mummified bat issue," the developer said on Feb. 23. There's still hope. We should wait it out. Should.

Of course, that's easier said than done. I keep telling myself I'm over these bombing runs. The sentiment never sticks. I've heard of Stardew players spending full in-game years on this egg-quest, while others had no trouble whats??oever. I've even tried a few player-sugg?ested tricks to no avail.

jhoff80: On my main Switch save, I've probably spent 75-100 in-game day?s in the?? volcano and haven't gotten a single one (save existed pre 1.5). I don't use bombs frequently, but I use the napalm ring so I guess that has the same effect.

An online coop game hoste??d on a friend's Switch (also a save that is pre 1.5), literally the first rock I broke in the volcano was a Mummified Bat.

River-Zora: I couldn't find the bat for an in-game month/season of digging, then over the last few in-game days I've found about 10. I don't know if there's some timer that makes them more likely after a certain amount of time looking - but right now I'm drowning in bats (??on Switch)! Haven't found a single Snake Vertebrae though.

wojuff: Found a solution that should help everyone, I got Qi seasonin??g and made gold star ginger ale and pumpkin soup to give a total of +5 luck and got it on the third floor the first time after trying this. It was on my fifth bomb so I would advise people to try this and if ??you have a luck ring that might help but it's not necessary.

aware_nightmare: Took me a while to find it but I only went into the volcano on super lucky days, eat ??Spicy Eel to increase my luck, and wear a lucky ring to also increase my chances of finding it. Bring lots of cherry bombs to bust open the rocks faster.

Hopefully your gam??e isn't g?litched like mine. In nine years I never organically found a Rare Disk. I had to use the Marnie item number cheat to complete my museum collection.

You know you're in too deep when you're tr??ying to crowdsource a solution to a problem that's near-guaranteed to be fixed in the co??ming weeks. That's the awe-inspiring power of the ostrich.

Is this going to be one of those "desire sensor" cautionary tales? Will I suddenly be flooded w??ith Mummified Bats the moment I give up the grind and move on with my life? I'd be fine with that!

You might not have my exact ostrich woes, but I bet you can rel??ate with one game or another.

The post Unlucky Stardew Valley players can’t hatch their ostrich egg and I share their pain appeared first on Destructoid.

The Nintendo Switch version was updated today to fix the blue floor bug and a 'zoom offset' issue

After a few weeks of playing Stardew Valley 1.5 on Nintendo Switch, I'm at the point – 60-some hours into the game, and a bit into Year 3 – where I'm prioritizing G??inger Island now that I'm cool with most of the villagers and the Community Center and Movie Theater quests are wr?apped up. Ginger Island is a huge time-sink with lots to do everywhere I look. There's just one problem: the ground is blue!

One of the known issues with Stardew version 1.5 on Switch is that in certain areas – namely, the northern part of Ginger Island near the Volcano Dungeon – there's a "blue floor bug." It doesn't affect the whole map, of course, but it's ??pretty distracting. There's also an issue with the zoom-out options, though I haven't seen it yet as someone who now exclusively plays in split-screen co-op.

Both of these bugs were fixed today in an update, according to Stardew creator ConcernedApe. I booted up the game this morning to t?ake a look and had to resist playing "just one more day.?"

Here's what the blue?? floor bug looked like before, near the Volc?ano Dungeon entrance:

And here's what that it looks like after updating Stardew Valley to Ver. 1.5.4.1:

It's a jarring comparison!

The only other gripe I've had with Stardew on Switch is that there's stut??tering in split-screen. The stutters are short – and only really cause problems if you're fighting enemies or fishing, if at all – but they can be prevalent day-to-day. We've gott?en used to them, but not everyone will be able to adjust.

Now, if I could just scrounge up more Golden Walnuts??...

The post Stardew Valley fixed those blue floors on Ginge??r Island appeared first on Destructoid.

Also slated for Steam

We're seeing a resurgence of farming sims, as indie developers chase the success of Stardew Valley and extend the life of the genre beyond Story of Seasons.

Littlewood recently came out on Switch, and now, we have confirmation of another farming-centric adventure coming to the same system: Coral Island. The team recently smashed all of their Kickstarter goals and snagged a cool $1.6 million in funding, and are aim?ing for a late ??2022 release, with a 2021 Early Access build target.

The gist, according to developer Stairway Games, is to "reimagine" the farming sim genre, but also take notes from the classics. You'll be able to "grow crops, nurture animals, and befriend the islanders" while staving off a greedy company (like Stardew). The inaugural trailer also gives us hints of how farming will work, including the Stardew-esque sprinkler system layout.

There will be 16 romanceable characters (a child mechanic is teased), as well as 16 townsfolk, and the abi?lity to build your own farm, tending to seasonal crops. The "adventure" conceit comes in via diving, which you'll do to save the town and clean up the ocean, and there's a twist with support for skill trees as well.

You can find the full tentative schedule below!

Coral Island [Kickstarter]

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One to watch for Stardew Valley fans

I'm pretty into the idea of a Stone Age farming sim, even if the game in question, Roots of Pacha, has a lot left to prove and won't be read??y for Nintendo Sw??itch and PC until 2022 at the earliest estimate.

The game recently reached its baseline goal on Kickstarter, and while the funding drive is ongoing, that's my cue to dip my toes in with some initial coverage for my fellow Stardew Valley obsessives.

Apart from the must-have activities we've come to expect from the farming-life genre – fishing, friendship, and festivals – I like the notions of domesticating ancient animals, imagination as a mechanic, and tapping into the "spiritual world." Games aside, the brothers behind Roots of Pacha, Timo and Jhony, say they were inspired by the prehistoric novel The Clan of the Cave Bear from 1980.

It's also nice to hear that the game is being "developed from scratch with multiplayer support in mind." Having played something like 50 hours of Stardew split-screen, I now feel? that co-op is essential.

It'll be some time before we see if Roots of Pacha can come together and live up to its potential. Soda Den is aiming for alpha access in ??April, beta access in Q1 2022, and the full release in Q2 2022.

I'm always down ?for more soothing life sims – especially if mammoths are involved.

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Playable alone or in four-player co-op

The hard-to-put-down farming sim Stardew Valley has been reinterpreted as a board game �officially, I mean! The project is a collaboration between game creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone and designer Cole Medeiros, and after two and a half years, it's done, ready to be bought for $55 in the United States.

//www.youtube.com/embed/31Sz4vMWYes

You can play alone or with up to three others, and you'll want to set aside "about 45 minutes per player" if you're opting to play the "standard" experience: a full in-game year. The rule book is posted over here.

Much like its video game counterpart, Stardew Valley: The Board Game is all about rallying with the humble community, gaining items and skills along the way �except, in this case, you have to drive out Joja. To win, you'll need to complete four of Grandpa's Goals and restore six Community Center rooms.

The goals can be things like catching one Legendary Fish per player, reaching the bottom of the Mines, or donating two items to the Museum per player. In other words, everything scales up. "Goals and Bundles require more effort when there are more players, but you'll also have more actions as a team," according to the rules. Also, yes: you can (and should) give gifts to the villagers. Here we go again.

The rules can be modified for m??ore or less complexity, including Seedling, Honest Farmer, and Artisan modes. The creators also say that the game is "easily playable solo," whic?h is fantastic to hear.

Asked about how in-stock Stardew Valley: The Board Game will be going forward, ConcernedApe said "If there's more demand for it, then we'll definitely do more print runs, and maybe slowly expand... we're kind of just testing the ?waters for now and see what the response is." It's produced? by Delano Games.

[Update: The first printing of Stardew Valley: The Board Game is sold out, according to ConcernedApe. "We're working on getting a second printing started, and I'll let you know when there are updates."]

[Update 2: A restock for Stardew Valley: The Board Game is planned for November 3 at noon Pacific.]

As for the current?? shipping restriction, "We are working to make this available outside of the US, but because of the complexity involved at the moment we're still figuring out the details."

I'm not typically a board game player �like, at all �but this seems like a great match.

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