Super Farming Boy | PC Demo Review
Remember Harvest Moon from the SNES? I sure do. I spent many, many hours lining up crops to satisfy my mild OCD tendencies in my teen years. My hope was that Stardew Valley might have fulfilled that void in my life that’s been absent since 1996. Unfortunately, I couldn’t stick with its more complex mechanics. When the demo for Super Farming Boy graced my Steam Deck this week, I had high hopes to relive my fond memories of this popular genre. I’m happy to report that this one shows quite a bit of promise, even if I can’t rely on the nice, neat little rows from my childhood.
A Green Hero With a Green Thumb
Super Farming Boy has you playing a young super hero on a farm. It may seem like an odd setup for a video game, but trust me here. You start with a fully functioning farm and a ton of abilities at your disposal. Out of nowhere, an evil entity acting as a corporation takes away everything from your farm, including your mother. To make matters worse, the game pulls a Metroid on you and strips you of almost all of your abilities that make farming easy. You now have no choice but to rebuild your farm, share the profits with this entity, and try your best to earn enough money to “buy” back your mom.
I’m with you. It’s a crazy setup that comes across as just trying to be different from other games in the genre. In a way it is, but I appreciated the tongue-in-cheek approach to the formula. It gives you a bit more to work towards instead of, “guess I need to earn more money”. Sure, you’ll be purchasing supplies and upgrades for your farm, but now you’re working towards a goal that makes it feel even more like a roguelike.
Managing your farm is much more complicated than what I remember from my Harvest Moon days. Each day, you can choose to plant/water/harvest your crops, clear weeds/rocks/trees, or even gather precious stones to earn extra money. As expected, you’ll use that money to buy back the upgrades you started with at the beginning of the game and slowly work your way back.
Keep That Energy Flowing
Two aspects of Super Farming Boy that stand out to me from other games like it are a stamina meter and the ability to fly. Everything you do expends energy. Whether you choose to plant, clear the land, or harvest goodies, you’ll lose a bit of energy. If that energy depletes before you decide to go to sleep, you’ll pass out on the job and lose a chunk of your hard-earned money. The easy way to stay alert is to keep yourself fed with food purchased from a vendor. It might cut into your bottom line, but it’s worth it in the long run.
And yes, you have the ability to don your cape and fly like the super hero that you are. As far as I played, this merely allows you to fly around the farm at a much quicker pace. This is particularly handy, since the game has a day/night cycle. You only have a limited amount of time to get tasks done during the day, so flying helps quite a bit, even if it does expend a good amount of energy.
Efficiency is the name of the game when it comes to farming your land. One of the core mechanics of Super Farming Boy is combos, which allows you to harvest your fields much faster. If you position your crops correctly, you can harvest an entire field with only a couple button presses. Each type of plant has a unique layout to perform these combos. For instance, if you harvest a corn plant, it will automatically harvest the plant directly to its right. Therefore, if you plant a straight row of corn, you can harvest the entire line by harvesting the one on the far left. Other types of vegetables have more complicated rule sets, but they also offer higher yields. It’s incredibly clever and satisfying to set up.
Super Farming Boy Early Access Final Verdict
I played Super Farming Boy on my Steam Deck, but I think this one might be better played with a mouse and keyboard. Don’t get me wrong, it works just fine with a controller, but I’d be much more efficient clicking on my crops instead of running over to them and pressing a button. Since I don’t have a PC, however, I’m eagerly looking forward to checking this one out when it comes to console. Its goofy theme and Saturday morning cartoon art style are more inviting than I would have guessed from the trailer, and it’s genuinely hard to put down once you get going. If you’re a fan of farming games and roguelikes, this hits the sweet spot quite well, and I’d keep my eye on this title when it hits full release.
To hear me talk more about Super Farming Boy, be sure to listen to our July 3rd podcast episode.
This review is based on a PC demo copy of Super Farming Boy provided by Jesus Fabre for coverage purposes. It is exclusive to this platform.
