This is really hard for me to thumbs down, but I feel there is more meh than fab going on here.
First off, let me say this isn't a bad game in any way, I was just disappointed, so I think that has colored my overall opinion. I checked the discussion boards to find info on the game (where is the recycler? PS it's in the barn, you construct it from one of the little tabs) and saw the Dev was there responding to stuff in 2025. So, I absolutely love an active Dev~! Thanks, friend! I hope this review isn't gutting and is instead helpful criticism! I like what you made.
What worked:
+Cute idle game, very nice graphics and style
+Functional in every way- no crashes, save errors, didn't make my PC clunky or anything
+Simple mechanics feed an ever-forward momentum
+Easy, no stress
+The balloons and birds are fun
+Some customization options, via the Worker outfits
What could be improved:
-The rates at which skills level up is very uneven.
This is in part due to uneven worker counts (can have 6 miners and 4 of nearly everything else, but only 3 construction workers and 2 smiths), but that isn't the only problem. The farm is too small or the AI spends too much times walking around, I'm not sure, but the farm levels up slowly. Many workers use a tool that you can improve and upgrade over time, but sadly some workers do not. The ones without a tool are so slow to level up. I think the band saws could be upgraded, and maybe the smiths could get hammers and the farmers get clippers or something. IDK, but having more usable items that impact gameplay would be fabulous
-There's a point where the game is over but still going... you have your workers and they've automated the whole map. So you just have to stop by to make new tools for the ones who have them and wait for the levels to roll in. That was a little disappointing. Since this game opened in full screen I thought that it was a little meatier than some idlers, and it turned out to be less than some idlers I've played. I got so much hype when it was this big screen filling game with a map of locations, etc, but it fell flat after a while
-I gotta say, I am super mad at my Chefs because they burn food. I know it's probably a low rate, but something about them literally standing at their station and watching the food burn makes me feel enraged. When I was running around doing the cooking myself burnt food felt like a just punishment, but now? Come on, just pick up the food!!! I don't believe there is any other mechanic that wastes supplies, and sure it wouldn't matter, except it is the principle of the thing! If it's all just made to sell than why is the burnt food worth $0? If they had a skill tree I could improve to avoid this that would make it fun, but no other workers make "mistakes", so IDK, I felt bad for them. We need systems, Chef!!
-I bought all the little outfits but IDK if they are meaningful, like if they buff the workers, or matter, at all. Are they just cute? I would love to be able to influence the workers.
-The barn on the farm needs a decorator, even just one person, maybe another mushroom who is the homemaker and just stays there. IDK, it felt very underutilized IMO
-I wish there were more recipes or just more to do with all this stuff, I have thousands of fish that are worth coins but nothing else. Feels weird to just sell whole stacks of stuff like that. Now I have all this gold and nothing to buy, really.
-As I mentioned before, the leveling up becomes just a waiting game after a while, and some of my skills are leveling up very slow. For example, I got level 50 in my fishing yesterday morning, and earned a couple over the day. today, about 24 hours later, I still have Husbandry (48), Smithing(46), Construction(49) and Farming (46) left. The farm was the first place I bought workers and I expanded it in good time. So I'm not sure how Farming, with 4 workers in a full farm, is doing the same as Smithing, which only has 2 furnaces and 2 workers and that skill was slower to start than farming. IDK, honestly, what to think of that. I took down all my farms and made them eggplant (there's no point in growing something just to sell it, but I guess I could find meaning in growing something to cook and sell) but IDK if the eggplants spawn really slow so the skill takes longer or...? I thought I would be able to influence the skills more but they are sort of just progressing at the rate they are going to, and I am waiting for my blue ribbon :)
All in all, an okay game. I wanted more, and I think that's a good problem, because more could always be added if the opportunity presents itself! The Dev said they were thinking of adding more but nothing new had made its way in- I think there is room for improvement, but it's also fine the way it is.
Ultimately, I think the fullscreen presentation created an expectation for me that wasn't exactly delivered. I think if you went into this knowing it was just a little bit of management and a whole lot of "just leave it open" then you'd like this game!
