Rusty's Retirement is half idle game, half farming sim. You plant crops, earn money, and use it to buy higher-tier crops, etc. Early on, there is almost no automation, but as you make money, you can build robots to assist with specific tasks. This is when you can "idle" to some extent, as the robots handle the routine work. Designed to play in the background, it occupies only the bottom or side of your display based on your preference.
The game has a nice concept and a satisfying gameplay loop. After growing crops, you unlock bushes and eventually livestock, providing a fair amount to do. The art style is consistent and visually appealing. I'll leave it there since you can read the other 6,000 positive reviews for pros.
My main qualm with the game is that certain design choices feel off. For example, there are two currencies (biofuel and coins), but you can convert biofuel into coins in unlimited quantities at any time. Since biofuel makes up the majority of your income, you almost never run out. So why have two currencies at all? It unnecessarily complicates the economy when a single currency would make more sense.
Another design issue involves livestock. Unlocking them requires a specific building that lets an NPC mine for "fossils," which are required to acquire more animals. Because these fossils only spawn under your crops, this miner constantly wrecks your farmland. To make matters worse, livestock offer little benefit; their manure can be turned into fertilizer to slightly buff crops, but that's about it. To keep them fed, you must grow low-value crops (otherwise they will eat your high-value ones). You also have to intervene manually because robots won't replant tiles damaged by the miner, and certain animals add extra growth cycles that mess up auto-replanting. On net, livestock generate zero profit (and likely lose money) while drastically increasing your workload. The entire system needs a rework.
Gripes aside, the game is decently fun if you simply opt out of livestock (just avoid "testing" them, as the game doesn't let you delete them once unlocked!). It is a solid time-waster while procrastinating on real tasks. For achievement hunters, nothing missiable and the hardest ones just require idling. Overall: 7/10.
