Square Farm

[b]2024 edit:[/b] didn't edit the review below but an update in may added fishing, pets, new seeds, villager requests, a fertilizer system and a bunch of other stuff to an already excellent game. [b]square farm[/b] is a tetromino-based placement puzzler, much like the fantastic [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/1102080/]planaris 2+[/url] or [url=https://steamcommunity.com/id/dohi64/recommended/716010]inline[/url], but this one has a really nice farm-flavored coat of paint and other farming sim elements. each day/level is a grid, gotta place veg seeds to either fill a row, a column or a 3x3 area. combos (e.g. completing both a row and a column with one placement) yield better produce. pieces appear in 3s at first, plant them all and another batch becomes available. keep planting until you run out of energy, which is not a timer but based on the number of planted seeds. if the board fills, the farmer helps you out once per day, otherwise the day ends early. 10 days per season, 4 seasons per year. remember when that was a thing? 4 seasons, I mean. it's [b]endless/repeating, play as long as you want[/b], but there's new stuff to unlock even in year 3, [b]plenty of content for a relatively small game[/b]. seeds don't cost money, so basically [b]you can set your own difficulty and choose a preferred risk/reward ratio[/b]. and it doesn't matter if a row has different types of veg, as long as it's a full line, it's fine. you can [b]select 4 things to work with on any given day[/b], more stuff becomes available as time passes and as you [b]buy farm upgrades[/b] with the money gotten for sold crops. some are cosmetic, others provide [b]tools and even animals[/b]. the former lets you have a bigger selection of shapes and better conditions (water, fertilizer) for better results, plus [b]eventually the ability to rotate pieces[/b], and some animals can be farmed, e.g. in winter when you can't grow much. [b]veg isn't just cosmetic[/b] either. they all come in various tetris shapes, might be harder to place but more beneficial, and some might be worth about the same money regardless of quality, while others are worth a lot more if planted with care. plus of course there's the whole season thing, best to plant spring stuff in spring, etc. there are season-specific tasks to do for some extra cash as well. [b]villagers (and a village) got added in an update[/b], a staple in the farming genre, not so much in the world of tetris-likes. harvest random flowers on your farm (include them in a valid configuration twice) and give them to people to make them like you and tell you more about themselves. there was an insane amount of ellipses in the dialog, but it got trimmed in a patch, should be a better reading experience now. it's all optional though, [b]nothing to gain whatsoever[/b]. the graphics are great, audio is functional. some windows should be resized or rearranged to remove excessive scrolling, keep that for the mobile version. [b]no instant text display toggle[/b] but clicking reveals the whole sentence instantly and quietly. still [b]a lot of unnecessary clicking[/b]. when will devs ever stop forcing the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ typewriter effect? [b]there's a slider for the annoying text display sounds[/b] at least. music and sound sliders are the rest of the settings, [b]no windowed mode, resolutions or anything else[/b], pretty lazy. and there shouldn't be any mention of tapping in a pc game. other than these annoyances, it's a [b]really cool, fun and relaxing tetris-like/farming thing, easily worth the full price of 4 eur[/b]. addictive as hell too, hard to stop playing, just one more day, a few more of this, a bit more of that.

Only two hours in, but I'm hooked! Wearing its Stardew inspirations on its sleeve, Square Farm makes great use of its familiar setting to introduce new mechanics. The gameplay evolves with the seasons as different crops come into season, in turn changing the shapes you're placing in the puzzle. Each day is just the right length to be satisfying, with your strategy changing from setup to execution to cleanup across a few dozen moves, trying to get those 3+ combos without leaving any unpicked produce at the end of the day. Saving up for the next farm upgrade is a nice motivation, as well! So far, a well-crafted game!

Pretty good, good progression, good art style. Worth the few bucks. Would recommend.

This review isn't really about the game itself because I can't really play it. I bought this at release a year or two ago and found it unplayable because the meat of the gameplay involves clicking and dragging things repeatedly. But it was so affordable, I was willing, instead of refunding it, to take a gamble on something being patched in to address this, be it a click toggle or controller support. To the dev's credit, several significant updates have happened since then, but none addressing this. So I suppose this is just a warning to anyone with CTS/mouse arm syndrome/whatever. Obviously if you have these issues, you know the workarounds for this (mouse keys, clicklock, scripts/macros) but I found them all a bit too fiddly in this context ultimately.

I enjoy tile-placing games and Stardew-likes, and I really enjoyed this! The farming, buying, and befriending processes are really easy to understand, and it didn't take me too long to start feeling like I was pretty good at the game. The end of the game feels unfinished to me - the whole experience was fun, but I wanted some resolution, especially after obtaining full friendships with everyone and buying all upgrades. Not sure if that's planned, but that's how I feel! I hope we keep seeing updates on this one :)

It's a cute idea, like the tetris feel to it! It didn't let you alter your character name though or your character, the story wasn't existent, and progression by the time you unlock things didn't seem rewarding.

I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH I DON'T HAVE MANY HOURS HERE ONLY BECAUSE I PLAY THE MOBILE VERSION NOW I LOVE SQUARE FARM i'm obsessed it's so satisfying (but not mindless) and the dev keeps updating it!!!!😭💕💕💕 honestly it's the best

The game is very cute. It's a good time waster. But in terms of the town and the people, it's very linear and not very interesting. I don't hate the game, but I don't think I'd suggest it to any of my friends..

I am the perfect combo of target demographics for this game. Here's what it offers: Mindless-ish puzzle meditation Cute graphics Cozy farm sim packaging around what is basically an achievement list It's like a simplified farm game without all the walking everywhere and hitting things, and instead of walking and hitting things, you get to do puzzles. No time pressure. Extra points for that.

Square Farm is an incredibly charming puzzle game with a farming theme. The puzzle mechanics are amazing: easy to learn but tough to master. The difficulty level comes from your own choices very fluidly, which I think is just genius. Also, the game is perfectly balanced and the pacing of new mechanics is well-thought out. The dialogue is way above average - in fact, some of the characters are written better than I have ever encountered in a game, ever. And that is huge praise coming from me, who has actively played computer games since 1986, many of them RPGs. There is just something to be said for how realistically the young townsfolk are portrayed with their struggles. Of course, the characters are also somewhat over the top, but I say that in the nicest possible way. Square Farm costs mere pittance compared to how much gameplay is actually there. At the time of writing, I have spent over 10 hours in the game and I am clearly not done yet! So much love has gone to massaging all the mechanics together to utmost perfection that I have to say the puzzle side is a thing of great beauty and elegance. The smallest of gripes I have are truly minor indeed. The artwork is simple pixel art and many elements are noticeably repeated. It may bother some folk but I say it just focuses you on the most important parts of the screen. The music and soundscape are average - nothing there stands out to me, which is both good and bad. But I think the gameplay itself makes up for these minor shortcomings. Overall, I am impressed and will continue to play more! If you love quality puzzle games, with solid mechanics and fun gameplay, get this, now! You will not regret it! This unexpected gem is also a great purchase for younger gamers out there, pre-teens and older would probably work just fine.