Yet another farming game / match 3 puzzle game but is it any different to the others, read on and find out!
Looking very similar to a mobile game or something you would find on a popular social networking website, Hope`s farm 2 is part farming sim, part match 3 puzzle game.
It`s no surprise this looks, feels and plays like a mobile game as green sauce games are mobile game developers, and have made lots of them, you may already be familiar with their back catalogue and even played the original original Hopes Farm, I haven't, neither had i played or heard about them until coming across this game.
There is a simple story of a young lady inheriting a farm, she now has to run it and hopefully turn a profit from selling crops and produce form the various crops and animals you can purchase.
Your general gameplay loop involves you planting crops by placing them down on the grass, watering them, then harvesting, to start with this is pretty much instant, later on things take time to grow or replenish, and as with most of these "mobile type" games you can speed this up by spending gems.
Orders come in and are placed on the notice board, if you have enough crops and/or produce you can take the order, if not you need to harvest more etc.
When finally taking your first order the game changes to a "match 3 puzzle game" which most of you will be very familiar with, this requires you to match 3 or more of the fruit, veg etc. which then adds to your order, each item has an amount you need to collect, these puzzle mini games start off simple but soon become more challenging, especially if you have the challenging mode on which limits your moves, there is also a tougher mode that adds time and a relaxed that offers you unlimited time and moves, so there is something for everyone.
Money and gems are earned from completing orders, these are used to buy stock, decorations for your farm etc. and the gems are used to speed up things like the chicken feed replenishing and buying items in the match 3 puzzle game.
Power ups can be obtained during the puzzle games, rockets that shoot left and right, bombs that explode, coloured spheres that let you target one crop and collect them all, matching 4, 5 crops and getting certain letter combos like L or T earns you even more, other obstacles and power ups also on the later levels, extra challenges like dirt to clear, crates to break, once you unlock chickens and starting collecting eggs, these needs to drop down to the bottom of the screen and not matched in order to be collected.
The actual farm building is pretty straightforward, you need money to buy things and a certain level requirement to unlock more, this is increased by everything you do, from watering to harvesting and completing orders.
During the review stream I levelled up quite a bit and unlocked chickens, fruit trees and lots of decorations, for those of you who love to decorate and enjoy games like the sims, this will probably appeal to you.
The game can become addictive, especially if you love these type of games, trying to get that item you want but you're not high enough level or you cant afford it can be fun to overcome, but this wont be for everyone, its a cozy game so don't expect any fast past action, you either like these type of games or you don't, I did find it quite relaxing and nice a change of pace, the simple farming was fun, the puzzle games get more challenging and I enjoyed seeing what each level gave me to improve my farm.
Graphics are much improved over the original as I mentioned above, the game has a very "cute and colourful" visual style and will probably appeal to cozy game fans more then others.
Just simply comparing the graphics, this looks much more detailed then the first game but it wont push your PC so a high spec. is not required.
There is very limited sound, the occasional voice, chicken cluck, power ups bang, boom or whizz and a background tune which I turned down plays in the background are all OK.
I wasn't expecting much from this, especially as I've played a lot of these type of "farming" and "match 3 puzzle" games. on various websites, mobiles and tablets.
Overall Hope`s Farm 2 was fun, relaxing and I actually really enjoyed it, this may not be my "usual type" of game to play but its nice to take a break from "the norm" as they say and do something different.
Price wise some may feel nearly £10 is a little high, but there is a lot to do, tons to unlock and for puzzle fans, especially match 3 you will love this.
Thank you to green sauce gaming for providing me with the free review code through Keymailer.
Video Review - https://youtu.be/0cRkE_J5v20?si=XrHUIeepuNfPsjmN
