If you haven’t swung by Steam’s front page this week, you might not realize that the platform is in the middle of Steam Farming Fest, which features all kinds of farming-related titles, some of which we’ve even covered here plenty, like Fae Farm and Stardew Valley, and some of which we have not (things I learned today: There’s a lot of overlap between smut games and cozygames!). Anyhow, buried in the onslaught of gardening puzzlers and town builders is Farm Folks, which caught my attention because it’s super pretty and emphasizes its multiplayer survivalesque features.
Studio Crytivo promises a solarpunk aesthetic, farming, romances, building customization, animal taming, and vehicles, all in a “persistent and dynamic world” set on “islands inspired by the archipelagos of Sicily.” It’s not quite an MMO; the studio says it aims to support 8-player co-op but is “considering the possibility of expanding this further, depending on network performance and game design considerations.”
“Immerse yourself in a multiplayer, third-person open-world survival game that, for the first time ever, seamlessly merges resource management and automation into a farm-building experience, enriched by both PVP and PVE elements, along with extensive customization options. Personalize your character’s appearance and design your farming setup, focusing on innovative resource management and automation strategies. Engage in PVP battles and face PVE challenges as you navigate the complexities of survival, all within a vibrant community setting. Showcase your creativity and strategic prowess in a world designed for unparalleled personal expression and thrilling multiplayer interaction.”
The downside here is that it looks pretty far away from launch; the official website simply says it’s under active development and will hit closed alpha after the Kickstarter, which is supposed to run “between Q1 and Q2 of 2024” (that would be in the next two months).
Another downside is that this is apparently not going to be Farm Folks’ first Kickstarter. Apparently, the game was originally Kickstarted in 2018 by a different team called Overgrown. Crytivo says that “the original development team was not able to deliver on their promises due to budget mismanagement” – so Crytivo, a studio with multiple games and Kickstarters under its belt, bought it to save it. The new team has vowed to fulfill all of the rewards from the original Kickstarter.
Incidentally, Crytivo stumbled into the dumbest social media discourse this week as a certain notorious segment of gamers piled on the studio for *checks notes* possessing class in quantities sufficient to prompt the team to apologize for its insensitive remarks about boob physics. Luckily, if an apology like that really bothers you, you can just head over to Steam’s Farming Fest to peruse the aforementioned list studded with bizarrely smutty farm games and play one of those instead. Everybody wins, really.
